Politics / Law
Carl Levin
1934–2021 · politician, lawyer
Detroit-born Democrat who sat on the city council in the 1970s and then served Michigan in the U.S. Senate for 36 years, longest in the state's history.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Detroit, Michigan
aged 87- Birth name
- Carl Milton Levin
- Detroit years
- 1934–2021
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Carl Levin was born in Detroit in 1934 to a Jewish family active in public life and graduated from Central High School in 1952. After Harvard Law he practiced in the city, taught at Wayne State and the University of Detroit, and as general counsel of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission helped create the Detroit Public Defender's Office. Elected to the Detroit Common Council in 1969, he served two terms, the second as council president, and famously joined colleagues on a bulldozer to raze abandoned federally owned houses. He won a U.S. Senate seat in 1978 and held it until 2015, chairing the Armed Services Committee. His push to open the riverfront to visitors led the port authority to name its new cruise-ship dock and terminal after him in 2011. He died at Henry Ford Hospital in 2021.
Highlights
- U.S. senator from Michigan 1979–2015, the longest tenure in state history
- Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee
- Detroit Common Council member 1970–1977
- Helped found the Detroit Public Defender's Office
- Carl M. Levin Public Dock and Terminal opened on the riverfront in 2011
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 4
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · 1948–1952
Central High School
Detroit's oldest public high school, from which he graduated in 1952 like his brother Sander.
Worked here · 1970–1977
The Spirit of Detroit
Seat of the Detroit City Council, where he served two terms, the second as council president.
Memorial · 2011–
Carl M. Levin Public Dock and Terminal
Riverfront cruise-ship dock and terminal between the Renaissance Center and Hart Plaza, named for him in recognition of his riverfront work.
Related place · 2021
Henry Ford Hospital
The hospital where he died on July 29, 2021, aged 87.