Detroit Black
Birth Archive
Preserving the legacy. Reclaiming the stories.
Detroit holds a rich Black birth history. It lives in our families, photographs, hospital records, newspaper archives, and in the memories of mothers, fathers, midwives, doulas, nurses, physicians, birth workers, and elders.
But much of this history has never been collected in one accessible place, and some of it is at risk of being lost. The Detroit Black Birth Archive is a community-rooted archive collecting, preserving, and sharing the people, places, stories, and traditions that have shaped Black birth in Detroit.
This is more than history.
This is survival.
For generations, Black Detroiters have created ways to care for mothers, babies, and families.
Black physicians, nurses, midwives, hospitals, community organizations, birth workers, and families all contributed to Detroit's birth history.
Some of those stories are documented.
Many are scattered across archives, newspapers, institutions, family collections, photographs, and community memory.
Others have never been formally recorded at all.
Every time an elder passes, a photograph gets thrown away, an institution closes, or a family story goes undocumented, we risk losing another piece of that history.
The Detroit Black Birth Archive exists to make sure more of it survives.
Your contribution is tax-deductible through our fiscal sponsor.
A living archive.
A digital home.
A future museum.
The Detroit Black Birth Archive is a community-rooted digital preservation project dedicated to documenting, preserving, and sharing the history of Black birth and maternal health in Detroit.
Every blog post in this archive uncovers another piece of our city's story. From pioneering Black physicians and nurses to community midwives, hospitals, mothers, and birth workers, each article helps preserve a history that has too often been overlooked.
wHAT wE pRESERVE:
The Detroit Black Birth Archive documents Black birth life across generations.
Our growing collection includes:
Oral Histories & Birth Stories
Firsthand memories from mothers, fathers, families, elders, doulas, midwives, nurses, physicians, and birth workers.
Photographs & Family Collections
Images and materials that document family, community, and institutional birth history.
Historical Documents & Records
Newspaper articles, programs, publications, hospital records, advertisements, directories, and other historical sources.
People & Institutions
Research documenting the physicians, midwives, nurses, hospitals, clinics, organizations, and community leaders who shaped Black birth in Detroit.
Contemporary Birth History
Stories and materials documenting Black birth in Detroit today so future generations won't have to search for us.
Help Us Preserve What Should Never Be Lost.
Detroit’s Black birth history deserves to be documented, protected, and passed down.
The Preservation Circle is a community of people committed to helping the Detroit Black Birth Archive do that work. Your monthly support helps us record oral histories, preserve photographs and documents, conduct historical research, compensate storytellers, create public exhibits, and build a collection that will still be here for generations to come.
The stories belong to the community. Your support helps us preserve them.
JOIN THE PRESERVATION CIRCLE TODAY
Become a monthly supporter and help us keep Detroit’s Black birth history alive, accessible, and in our hands.
We're Building Something That Should Still Matter 100 Years From Now.
The Detroit Black Birth Archive begins digitally, but the vision is bigger.
We are building toward a permanent cultural and educational resource where Detroit's Black birth history can be preserved, researched, taught, experienced, and passed from one generation to the next.
That vision includes a comprehensive digital archive, oral history collection, public exhibitions, educational programming, research partnerships, community storytelling, and eventually a permanent Black maternal health museum and education center in Detroit.
The goal isn't simply to remember the past.
It's to make sure future generations can find it.
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.
