A Living Archive · Detroit, the First City
Documenting the Black masculine heroic tradition in Detroit
- Figures Live
- 15
- Modalities Active
- 3
- Sources
- 91
- Documented Connections
- 12
What you can do here
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Browse the figures
Read scholarly justification essays about each figure in the archive, organized by modality.
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Explore primary sources
Access archival scans, photographs, interviews, and external references that evidence each figure's inclusion.
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Map the tradition
See where the figures operated across Detroit's geography, filtered by modality.
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Trace the connections
Visualize how figures relate to one another across time, modality, and media.
About A scholarly project, a community record
The Badman Digital Archive treats community members as sources of knowledge rather than subjects of study. Detroit is the proof-of-concept for a national framework that will eventually cover Atlanta, New Orleans, Washington D.C., Memphis, Chicago, and beyond.
Learn more about the projectGet involved Contribute a figure
Know a Detroit badman who isn't here yet? The archive accepts community submissions through a two-stage review process. If you have a story, a photograph, a memory, or an oral history to contribute, we want it on the record.
Submit a figure