| Description |
1 online resource (200 pages) : illustrations, maps |
| Series |
Great Lakes Books Series |
| Contents |
Cover; Title Page; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Acknowledgments and Author's Note; Preface: Detroit's Most Congenial Host; 1. Old Hopes, New Dreams; 2. Stage Lights and Nightlife; 3. Mayor of the Valley; 4. The Twenty-Dollar Man; 5. Down on Hastings Street; 6. Idlewild; 7. Every Day Is a New Story; 8. Let It Roll!; 9. Lucky Old Fella; Sources; Index |
| Summary |
As part of the great migration of southern blacks to the north, Sunnie Wilson came to Detroit from South Carolina after graduating from college, and soon became a pillar of the local music industry. He started out as a song and dance performer but found his niche as a local promoter of boxing, which allowed him to make friends and business connections quickly in the thriving industrial city of Detroit. Part oral history, memoir, and biography, Toast of the Town draws from hundreds of hours of taped conversations between Sunnie Wilson and John Cohassey, as Wilson reflected on the changes in Detroit over the last sixty years. Supported by extensive research, Wilson⁰́₉s reminiscences are complemented by photographs from his own collection, which capture the spirit of the times. Through Sunnie Wilson⁰́₉s narrative, Detroit⁰́₉s glory comes alive, bringing back nights at the hopping Forest Club on Hastings Street, which hosted music greats like Nat King Cole and boasted the longest bar in Michigan, and sunny afternoons at Lake Idlewild, the largest black resort in the United States that attracted thousands every weekend from all over the Midwest. An influential insider⁰́₉s perspective, Toast of the Town fills a void in the documented history of Detroit⁰́₉s black and entertainment community from the 1920s to the present |
| Notes |
The publication of this volume in a freely accessible digital format has been made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Mellon Foundation through their Humanities Open Book Program |
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61 black and white images |
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Sunnie Wilson (1908⁰́₃1999) was active in the Detroit community as president of the Twentieth Century Association, a political candidacy promotions and public relations organization, and was president of the social Detroit Idlewilders Club. He distinguished himself among the city's entertainment, political, and business communities for over six decades. John F. Cohassey is a freelance writer |
| Subject |
Wilson, Sunnie, 1908-1999.
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Louis, Joe, 1914-1981.
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| SUBJECT |
Louis, Joe, 1914-1981 fast |
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Wilson, Sunnie, 1908-1999 fast |
| Subject |
Hotelkeepers -- Michigan -- Detroit -- Biography
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African American businesspeople -- Michigan -- Detroit
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SOC053000.
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BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY -- Entertainment & Performing Arts.
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African American businesspeople
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Hotelkeepers
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| SUBJECT |
Detroit (Mich.) -- History. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh94002942
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| Subject |
Michigan -- Detroit
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| Genre/Form |
Biographies
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History
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Biographies.
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Biographies.
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| Form |
Electronic book
|
| Author |
Cohassey, John, 1961- author.
|
| ISBN |
0814343880 |
|
9780814343883 |
|
