Detroit Black
Birth Archive
Preserving the legacy. Reclaiming the stories.
Detroit holds a powerful, often untold history of Black birth work OBGYN's, nurses, midwives, doulas, healers, and mothers who carried life through systems that were never built for them. Too many of these stories have been lost. We are preserving them before they disappear.
This is more than history.
This is survival.
There was a time when Black families in Detroit were denied access to many hospitals, physicians, and systems of care.
So our communities created their own.
From midwives and neighborhood healers to Black hospitals, nurses, physicians, and community clinics, Black Detroit built entire systems of care rooted in survival, knowledge, and collective support.
Black birth has always existed. Even when institutions excluded us.
Even when history failed to document us.
But many of these stories, spaces, and contributions were never fully preserved and remain at risk of being forgotten.
The Detroit Black Birth Archive exists to help reclaim, document, and preserve that legacy for future generations.
A living archive.
A digital home.
A future museum.
The Detroit Black Birth Archive is a community-rooted digital preservation initiative documenting the history, lived experiences, and cultural memory of Black birth and maternal health in Detroit.
We are building a living archive that connects past and present through storytelling, oral history, research, and community preservation.
This work includes:
• Oral histories from Black OB-GYNs, midwives, nurses, mothers, doulas, birth workers, and community members
• Historical research and archival materials connected to Black hospitals, maternal health, and community care systems including Dunbar Hospital
• Photographs, documents, artifacts, and community memory
• Contemporary birth stories and experiences shaping the future of Black maternal health
This archive is not only about preserving history.
It is about creating something future generations can access, experience, learn from, and continue building forward.
We are building something bigger
than a website.
The Detroit Black Birth Archive is a community-led digital preservation and storytelling initiative rooted in the history, memory, and ongoing legacy of Black birth in Detroit.
This work is not just about preserving the past. It is about building living cultural infrastructure for future generations.
We are currently laying the foundation for a growing archival ecosystem where oral histories, historical records, community memory, artifacts, and birth experiences can be preserved, accessed, and shared.
The long-term vision includes:
• A fully developed digital archive and oral history platform
• Community storytelling gatherings and public history programming
• Historical preservation partnerships and research collaborations
• Educational workshops, exhibits, and intergenerational learning spaces
• A future physical museum and maternal health education hub in Detroit (Dunbar Memorial Hospital)
Help us preserve the legacy.
This is more than a landing page it is the beginning of a living community archive dedicated to preserving the stories, memories, wisdom, and legacy of Black birth in Detroit.
We are actively gathering stories, photographs, documents, oral histories, and community memories from birthworkers, parents, nurses, midwives, doctors, doulas, and families across generations.
Our community intake form is the first step in helping us document and protect these histories before they are lost.
From here, we are developing a full digital archive that will preserve and celebrate Black birth history in Detroit, past, present, and future.
Your support helps us:
- Build and design the full digital archive platform
- Collect oral histories, photographs, and historical materials
- Launch community storytelling and recording initiatives
- Create a sustainable and accessible digital preservation space
- Preserve the voices of Detroit’s Black birthworkers and families
- Lay the groundwork for a future maternal health museum and education hub
Be part of the story.
Whether you donate, share, or contribute your story you are helping build something that will outlive us all.
This is how we honor those who came before us.
This is how we protect those coming after us.
