Dr. Janese Chapman, one of Detroit’s greatest and most fierce Protectors of its historic legacy, has passed on. Detroit Sound Conservancy joins the Historic Designation Advisory Board, the Detroit Historical Commission, Mayor Sheffield, and City Council President James Tate, as well as all the partners in historic preservation, Preservation Detroit, and many other city officials, community-driven organizations, and Detroiters – we join honoring Dr. Janese Chapman, who died unexpectedly on October 7th at the age of 70.
Dr. Chapman taught the many memory workers and placekeepers how to navigate city departments and how to effectively mount campaigns to what on the outside looked like saving historic buildings. She gave inspiration, support, and agency to an underrepresented community and uplifted its stories and the impact that each sacred space brought to the lives of Detroiters. With an eye to future generations, Dr. Chapman fought to preserve spaces that housed our Detroit souls.
At the front of our minds is her and her staff’s work securing local designation for the Blue Bird Inn. The HDAB’s final report helped secure the club’s protection from demolition and that protection is helping DSC build a strong community space that preserves, supports, and passes on Detroit’s musical legacy.
We also are reminded of when Dr. Chapman partnered with us and the previous owners of United Sound Systems Recording Studios to secure local historic district designation for the world-renowned site for at 5840 Second Avenue. This was in the spring of 2015 at the exact moment when rumblings, once again, of demolition were surfacing along I-94.
United Sound is still standing, in its place, because of Dr. Chapman’s leadership. Looking back we are not surprised she stepped up: she loved Detroit and, among many other things, she loved Parliament Funkadelic who recorded so much of their catalogue at United Sound Systems.
In the spirit of these now even more precious moments, we believe a great testament to Dr. Chapman’s efforts would be for the State of Michigan and City of Detroit to take this moment and weave United Sound into a central place in a plan for the future of the region. A fully restored and reopened United Sound, protected in perpetuity right where it stands today, would be a profound way to honor her legacy. As we have for more than a decade, we stand ready to partner on such a journey.
We share our condolences with Dr. Chapman’s family, her colleagues in history and preservation throughout the city and region, and everyone whose lives she touched.
Rest in power, Dr. Chapman.