International Institute of Metropolitan Detroit

Instructor is Robert E Sullivan, Jr. (resulliv@umich.edu) has served recently as an adjunct professor of history at Macomb Community College. where he taught his History of Detroit class.    Classes are $200 for a 10 week series every Thursday, 6 to 8 p.m., starting June 25.   Contact Mr. Wojciech Zolnowski at (313) 871-8600 x 241 or email wojciech517@yahoo.com if you are interested in taking this educational and fun series.   Here is a flyer of the History of Detroit Series Word Version or Pdf Version.

Topics each week will be:

Week 1 - Pre-historic to early French settlement.

Week 2 - Early Industry and Trade: Evolution of Transportation

Week 3 - Detroit's Auto History

Week 4 - Detroit Military History

Week 5 - Detroit's Architectural History

Week 6 - Detroit's Hospitality and Leisure

Week 7 - Detroit's Art/Mass Media/Crime/Suburbs

Week 8 - Detroit's Ethnic and Religious Groups, the Civil Rights Movement and Labor Unions

Week 9 - Detroit's Sports History

Week 10 - Detroit's Institutions; Hospitals, Universities, Parks, Businesses and Notable Detroiters

The Instructor's Background information:

Mr. Sullivan has a lifelong interest in local and regional history. He is a longtime member of the Detroit Historical Society, where he worked on a committee to co-author The Days of Detroit chronology series on the history of Detroit, in annual calendars, published by R.L Polk & Co. for 1999, 2000, and 2001, leading up to Detroit’s 300th birthday, and recently re-published for 2000. He served as a member of the History Advisors’ Committee of Detroit 300 (Detroit Tri-centennial Commission). He was a winner of an essay contest on “Memories of Tiger Stadium,” sponsored by The Michigan Catholic. He is a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, The Smithsonian Institution, The Henry Ford (Museum and Greenfield Village), and the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (hereditary member). 

Mr. Sullivan is a native and 6th generation Detroiter. He was born on West Grand Boulevard at 14th Street and grew up in Northwest Detroit. His education includes a B.A in Political Science and a B.A. in Sociology from Monteith College at Wayne State University. He then obtained a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning (two year program) from the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. He then attended Oxford University and successfully completed a course jointly sponsored by Oxford University and the University of California-Berkeley in Architectural History and City Planning. He then obtained a Juris Doctor (law degree) from the University of Detroit. Finally, he successfully completed a course presented by the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, held at Northwestern University School of law, in Chicago. 

Mr. Sullivan has worked in the planning and legal fields. He first worked for a private planning firm that, at the time, was a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Smith, Hinchman & Grylls architecture firm.  He next worked as a transportation planner for the Southeast Michigan Transportation Authority {SEMTA). He then served as a Planning Commissioner for the City of Detroit, and was elected by his fellow commissioners to the position of Vice-Chairperson of the City Planning Commission. He is a certified urban planner by the American Institute of Certified Planners, a Charter Member of the American Planning Association, and a Professional Affiliate Member at the American Institute of Architects. 

Mr. Sullivan is licensed to practice law in the State of Michigan and in the District of Columbia. He is also admitted to practice before a number of federal trial and appellate courts, including the United States Supreme Court. While in law school, he served as a law clerk in the United States Attorney’s Office, In Detroit. He also served, while in law school, as Managing Editor of the State Bar of Michigan Corporation, Finance and Business Law Journal. He has been in private practice for 25 years involved in civil litigation in the areas of professional liability defense (including medical, architectural, engineering), construction, municipal liability, zoning, environmental and other areas of the law. He served for a number of years as special Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of Detroit. He has presented lectures on legal topics for the National Business Institute, Lorman Education Services, and the University of Michigan College of Architecture and Urban Planning.