Half-century anniversary coverage of Detroit's flashpoint summer isn't appearing only in this city's and state's publications, and on screen in Kathryn Bigelow's upcoming film.
As part of its reporting, The New York Times this week tries a bit of crowdsourcing research. Its Midwest bureau chief, Monica Davey, asks readers for the identities of any of the seven detainees or the rifle-holding Michigan State Police trooper in this Associated Press photo. It was taken July 24, 1967 on 12th Street a day after fires and looting began. The two women and officer in the background also could be named.
The Chicago-based journalist posts:
Are you in this photograph or do you know someone who is?
We want to talk to the people in this image, which has appeared again and again over the last half-century when people talk about what happened in Detroit. We want to find out what the people in the picture felt that day and what they think now about Detroit and what the unrest meant.
A four-question interactive form seeks names and contact information that won't be published. "A Times reporter or editor might contact you to hear more," Davey writes.
-- Alan Stamm
