| You can literally go in any direction from Detroit's | | | | classic black movie playing on the theater screen. |
| riverfront and see why this is such a major center | | | | Part museum, part vibrant historical village, The Henry |
| for African American culture. From the world's largest | | | | Ford is the largest indoor/outdoor history attraction in |
| museum of African American history or Hitsville U.S.A., | | | | North America. Here, visitors can enter the restored |
| where all Motown stars were born, when it comes to | | | | bus where Rosa Parks made history by refusing to |
| African American culture and history, all roads | | | | give up her seat to a white man in Montgomery, |
| eventually lead to Detroit. | | | | Alabama on Dec. 1, 1955. The act galvanized the |
| Near the riverfront, trace the turbulent and dramatic | | | | American Civil Rights Movement. The bus is the |
| history of the Underground Railroad at the Second | | | | centerpiece of the "With Liberty and Justice For All" |
| Baptist Church, the Midwest's oldest African-American | | | | exhibit, which focuses on the American struggle for |
| church and major Underground Railroad in the 19th | | | | freedom. In Greenfield Village, the Mattox House was |
| century. More than 5,000 slaves passed through | | | | the home to three generations of the Mattox family |
| Second Baptist on their way to Canada. Tours of the | | | | who lived outside of Savannah, Georgia from |
| basement, which served as the station, are available | | | | Reconstruction through the 1930s. |
| by appointment. | | | | Aside from the automotive industry, perhaps nothing |
| Just eight miles east of the Windsor/Detroit border, | | | | put Detroit on the map like Motown. Revisit the glory |
| visitors can also explore the John Freeman Walls | | | | years that produced such stars at Marvin Gaye, |
| Historic Site and Underground Railroad. The property | | | | Stevie Wonder, the Temptations, the Supremes, and |
| is owned by descendants of John and Jane Walls, | | | | the Jackson Five in Detroit's cultural center. Motown's |
| former slaves who made the trip from slavery in | | | | headquarters, founded by Berry Gordy, a one-time |
| North Carolina to freedom in Canada in 1846. Tour | | | | auto line worker, has been restored to its 1960s |
| leaders, or "Conductors," together with historic | | | | glory. Originally converted from a photographer's |
| buildings provide a first-hand look at what kind of | | | | studio, the Motown headquarters and studio stayed |
| challenges fugitive slaves faced. | | | | open 22 hours a day and 7 days a week during its |
| Also in Ontario, Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site offers | | | | peak years. Visitors are able to see the upstairs |
| visitors a look at what it was like to live as a former | | | | offices and the studio where vocalists and the Funk |
| slave in the 19th century. Visitors look through the | | | | Brothers created the Motown Sound. Rare |
| settlement's original buildings, including the home of | | | | photographs, gold records, and Michael Jackson's |
| Reverend Josiah Henson, who found the settlement | | | | sequined glove are on display. |
| for escaped slaves. There's also an interpretive | | | | The nation's fifth-largest art museum, the Detroit |
| museum and galleries providing information on early | | | | Institute of Arts was one of the first major art |
| African-American communities in Canada. | | | | museums to have a permanent showcase for African |
| The world's largest museum dedicated to African | | | | art. The DIA collection features works from more |
| American history, the Charles H. Wright Museum | | | | than 1,000 African cultures placing it among the most |
| features "And Still We Rise," an interactive | | | | extensive collections in North America. The DIA's |
| walk-through exhibit that begins on a slave ship | | | | Egyptian collection features a wide range of artifacts |
| where casts of slaves lay crowded together and | | | | including linen-wrapped mummies, sculptures, and |
| simulated sounds of the Atlantic surround you. In | | | | coffins. The museum's selection of West African art |
| another section of the exhibit, visitors find | | | | includes amazing Benin royal brass sculptures and a |
| themselves on an early 20th-century city street in | | | | wood palace door carved from wood by the artists |
| the middle of the museum. Guests can walk into the | | | | Olowe of the Ise culture. The museum's modern and |
| Horseshoe Bar and Grille or watch black and white | | | | contemporary art collection features African |
| TV through an appliance store window. A replica of | | | | American artists including Augusta Savage, Hughie |
| the Paradise Theatre allows visitors to check out a | | | | Smith-Lee, and Benny Andrews. |