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Famous Detroiters

People who were born here, moved here or built their careers in Detroit: musicians, carmakers, athletes, writers, inventors, civil-rights leaders and a few notorious names. With their dates, their Detroit story and the places where they lived, worked and played, closed ones included.

1,940 famous people
515 Detroit places
21 fields

Hungarian ties 22 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →

5 people

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Politics · born 1945David Boniorpolitician, labor advocateDetroit-born Macomb County congressman (1977–2003) who rose to House Democratic whip and led labor's fight against NAFTA.Born hereGrew up here

Labor · 1941–2014General Bakerautoworker, labor organizer, revolutionary activistDetroit autoworker who co-founded the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement and the League of Revolutionary Black Workers in the late 1960s.Born hereGrew up here

Labor · 1929–2020Owen Bieberpresident of the United Auto Workers (1983–1995)West Michigan parts worker who led the UAW from Detroit through the shrinking 1980s auto industry, backed the anti-apartheid cause and hosted Nelson Mandela at the Rouge.Detroit career

Civil rights & activism · 1919–1993James Boggsautoworker, activist, authorAlabama-born Chrysler worker and radical thinker who, with his wife Grace Lee Boggs, spent five decades organizing for change on Detroit's east side.Moved hereDetroit career

Auto industry · 1892–1979Harry Bennetthead of Ford's Service Department, Henry Ford's enforcerAnn Arbor–born ex-boxer who ran Ford's feared Service Department, led violent anti-union actions at the Rouge and was fired by Henry Ford II in 1945.Born hereDetroit career

The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own. Famous people's places among the sights ↗

Famous Detroiters

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