When people hear the word archive, they usually think about old boxes, dusty photographs, and documents tucked away somewhere that nobody has looked at in years.

That’s not what this is.

The Detroit Black Birth Archive is a living archive.

It is a place where our history is preserved, our stories are honored, and our community can see itself reflected in the history of birth in Detroit.

Because Black birth history is Detroit history.

For generations, Black midwives, nurses, physicians, doulas, childbirth educators, mothers, fathers, grandparents, and families have shaped how babies were born and cared for in this city.

They delivered babies in homes. They cared for families in their neighborhoods. They created spaces of care when Black Detroiters were denied access to hospitals and other medical institutions. They became physicians and nurses, opened practices, trained others, advocated for better care, and passed knowledge from one generation to the next.

And some of that history is sitting right now in somebody’s basement.

In a photo album.

In a church program.

In an old newspaper clipping.

In the memory of an elder who remembers the midwife who delivered everybody on the block.

In the story of a mother who remembers exactly what it felt like to give birth in Detroit 50 years ago.

Those stories are history.

And if we don’t collect them now, some of them will disappear with the people who carry them.

Why This Matters

When we talk about Black maternal health today, the conversation often begins with statistics.

Maternal mortality rates.

Infant mortality.

Health disparities.

Racial inequities.

Those numbers matter. But they are not the whole story.

Black birth history did not begin with a disparity.

Before there were reports and initiatives studying what was happening to Black mothers, there were Black people caring for one another, delivering babies, practicing medicine, teaching families, organizing communities, and creating systems of care.

The Detroit Black Birth Archive exists to preserve that history too.

We are documenting the people, places, organizations, stories, and movements that have shaped Black birth and maternal health in Detroit.

That includes Black midwives and doulas. Physicians and nurses. Hospitals and maternity homes. Childbirth educators and community health workers. Mothers and fathers. Community organizations. Family photographs. Birth stories. Oral histories. Neighborhood knowledge.

Each piece may seem small by itself.

Together, they tell us who we were, how we cared for one another, what we survived, what we built, and what we passed down.

History isn’t just something we read.  It’s something we inherit.

Building Something That Will Outlive Me

I say this often: I am not building a website.  The website is simply where the work lives right now.

I am building something that I hope will still matter 100 years from now.

My vision is for the Detroit Black Birth Archive to become a permanent community resource where Detroit’s Black birth history can be collected, studied, taught, experienced, and passed down.

That means recording oral histories while people are still here to tell them.

It means preserving photographs and documents before they are thrown away or lost.

It means researching the people and institutions whose contributions deserve to be remembered.

It means creating public exhibits and educational programs so this history does not stay hidden inside an archive.

And eventually, I want Detroit to have a permanent museum and education center dedicated to Black birth history, maternal health, community knowledge, and birth education.

I want a young person 50 or 100 years from now to be able to walk into that space, see a photograph of a Detroit midwife, hear the voice of a mother telling her birth story, learn about the Black physicians who practiced here, and understand:

We were here.

We cared for each other.

We built something.

And somebody thought our stories were important enough to save.

This Is Community Work

I may have started the Detroit Black Birth Archive, but I cannot build it alone.  Honestly, I don’t want to.

This history belongs to Detroit.

That means the archive has to be built with the community, not simply about the community.

I’m looking for:

Birth stories from Detroit families, from yesterday or decades ago

Oral histories from Black midwives, doulas, nurses, physicians, childbirth educators, lactation professionals, community health workers, and other birth workers

Photographs, letters, newspaper clippings, programs, documents, and memorabilia connected to Black birth and maternal health

Information about people whose contributions may not appear in traditional historical records

Stories about hospitals, maternity homes, clinics, churches, organizations, and neighborhoods connected to pregnancy, birth, postpartum care, and family life in Detroit

Elders who remember how birth and maternal care happened in their families and communities

And please don't decide that your story isn't important enough.

You don't have to be famous.

You don't need an award.

Your grandmother's birth story matters.

The neighborhood midwife everybody knew matters.

The nurse who cared for generations of Detroit families matters.

The doula doing this work right now matters.

The father who remembers the birth of his children matters.

The photograph sitting in your family album matters.

Sometimes the things we consider ordinary while we're living them become the evidence future generations need to understand who we were.

The Preservation Circle

Preserving history takes resources.

Oral histories have to be recorded. Photographs and documents have to be digitized. Interview spaces have to be rented. Exhibits have to be created. Research takes time. And the people trusting us with their stories deserve to have those stories documented with care.

That is why I created the Detroit Black Birth Archive Preservation Circle.

The Preservation Circle is our community of recurring supporters who help make the preservation work possible. Instead of waiting on grants or large institutions to decide this history is worth saving, the Circle gives everyday people a way to help us build the archive alongside us.

And as the Preservation Circle grows, the archive grows.

Your support helps fund oral history filming and photography, interview space, archival and preservation supplies, research, digitization, community Memory Meetups, educational exhibits, and the long-term work of making Detroit's Black birth history accessible to future generations.

What Preservation Circle Members Receive

Preservation Circle members get more than updates about the Archive. You get a closer seat to the preservation work as it happens.

• Early access to oral histories:  Members get the first look at newly released Detroit Black Birth Archive interviews before they are shared publicly.

• Behind-the-scenes archive updates:  See what we're researching, who we're interviewing, what we're discovering, and how the collection is growing.

• Invitations to Memory Meetups:  Members receive invitations to community gatherings where we come together to share photographs, stories, family history, memories, and pieces of Detroit history that deserve to be documented.

• Early looks at exhibits and new projects:  See upcoming exhibits, historical discoveries, educational projects, and other Archive work as it develops.
• Opportunities to help shape the Archive:  Preservation is community work. Members may be invited to suggest people who should be interviewed, identify people in historical photographs, share leads, contribute family history, and help us uncover stories that might otherwise be missed.
• Recognition as a supporter of the Archive:  Members who choose to be recognized may be acknowledged as part of the community helping preserve Detroit's Black birth history.

Most importantly, your membership directly supports preservation.

A monthly contribution might help digitize a photograph today, support an oral history interview next month, or help us bring an exhibit into the community later.

Whether you give $5, $25, $50, $100, or more, you are helping build something bigger than any one of us.

My long-term vision is a permanent Detroit Black Birth Archive, museum, and education center where future generations can learn the names, stories, places, and traditions that shaped Black birth in this city.

The Preservation Circle helps us start building that future right now.

We are not waiting for someone else to decide our history matters.

We are preserving it ourselves.  Join the Circle Today

Help Build Detroit’s Black Birth History

The Detroit Black Birth Archive belongs to the community. There are many ways to become part of this work.

Share your birth story.

Sit for an oral history interview.

Tell me about someone whose work should be documented.

Share a photograph or piece of family history.

Connect the archive with an elder, organization, church, historian, birth worker, or institution that holds part of this story.

Partner with the archive.

Support the preservation work financially.

Or simply share the project with somebody who might have a story we need to hear.

Because somewhere in Detroit right now is a piece of Black birth history that has never been documented.  And we may only get one chance to preserve it.

The history is already here.

Now it’s our responsibility to make sure it isn't lost.

I want future generations to know more about Black birth in Detroit than mortality rates and disparities.

I want them to know our names.

Our institutions.

Our neighborhoods.

Our birth workers.

Our families.

Our knowledge.

Our stories.

Because preserving Black birth history is not separate from birth work.

It is birth work.