Law · 1842–1908D. Augustus Strakerlawyer, jurist, civil rights advocateBarbados-born lawyer who became the first Black attorney to argue before the Michigan Supreme Court and won a landmark 1890 case against restaurant segregation.DETROIT / A living lexicon / ¼
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.
- 1,949 famous people
- 516 Detroit places
- 20 fields
Hungarian ties 31 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Origin and citizenship
Field
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Born in
A–Z (family name)
158 people · 4/4 page
Clear filtersLaw · 1842–1908D. Augustus Strakerlawyer, jurist, civil rights advocateBarbados-born lawyer who became the first Black attorney to argue before the Michigan Supreme Court and won a landmark 1890 case against restaurant segregation.
Visual art · 1867–1961
Mary Chase Perry Strattonceramic artist, founder of Pewabic PotteryCeramic artist who co-founded Pewabic Pottery in 1903, whose iridescent tiles decorate the Guardian Building, the DIA and churches across Detroit.Nolan StrongsingerHigh-tenor lead of the Diablos, Detroit's leading pre-Motown doo-wop group on Fortune Records ("The Wind"), and a key early influence on Smokey Robinson.Ron SweedTV horror host, comedian, disc jockeyCleveland's 'The Ghoul', a late-night horror-movie host whose firecrackers, Cheez Whiz and rubber frog Froggy made him a cult figure for Detroit kids on WKBD Channel 50 in the 1970s.
Zoltan Sepeshypainter, art educatorHungarian-born painter who settled in Detroit in 1921 and later led the Cranbrook Academy of Art for about two decades.
MusicHouse Shoeship-hop DJ and producerThe Detroit hip-hop scene's signature DJ, resident at Saint Andrew's Hall from 1994 to 2004, champion of J Dilla and producer for Elzhi, Phat Kat and Danny Brown.C. P. Spencersinger, songwriter, producerDetroit tenor who was an original member of the Spinners and the Voice Masters and later lead tenor of Motown's Originals.Gordon Staplesviolinist, concertmasterDetroit Symphony concertmaster who from 1964 to 1972 led the orchestra's string players on hundreds of Motown hits, from My Girl to What's Going On.
Business & brands · 1854–1924Frederick K. Stearnspharmaceutical manufacturer, owner of the Detroit Wolverines, DSO founderPresident of Detroit's Frederick Stearns & Company who owned the 1887 champion Detroit Wolverines and organized what became the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
Bernhard Strohbrewer, founder of the Stroh BreweryGerman brewer from Kirn who founded the Lion's Head Brewery in Detroit in 1850, the start of the Stroh Brewery that brewed in the city for 135 years.Aladar O. Simkoengine research engineer at FordHungarian engineer at Ford who directed development of PROCO, a direct-injection stratified-charge engine, and filed dozens of engine patents over 35 years.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 ↗
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