Hudson, Joseph L. (Joseph Lowthian), 1931-

Papers of Joseph L. Hudson, Jr., Detroit (Mich.) businessman and chairman of New Detroit Committee, organization established after the 1967 Detroit Riot to investigate and remedy the causes of that civil disturbance.

From the description of Joseph L. Hudson papers, 1967-1983 (scattered dates). (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 34420964

Joseph Lowthian Hudson, Jr., was born in Buffalo, New York, on July 4,1931, the son of Joseph L. and Elizabeth (Gilbert) Hudson. He married Jean Bent Wright in 1952. In 1953 he received a bachelor's degree from Yale University and began work at J.L. Hudson's, the Detroit department store founded by his grandfather. Hudson was president of the J.L. Hudson Company from 1961 until 1972 and became chairman and chief executive officer of the Company in 1972.

In the wake of the Detroit riot of July 1967, Governor George Romney and Detroit mayor Jerome Cavanagh called a meeting of community leaders to discuss the rebuilding of Detroit. Romney and Cavanagh appointed Hudson chairman of the New Detroit Committee, a 39-member committee composed of business, labor, governmental, and civic leaders, including militant and moderate spokespersons for the black community of Detroit. The Committee was to address the problems that had led to the riot and develop proposals to improve conditions for blacks in the areas of housing, employment, education, recreation, youth affairs, economic development, community services, the law, and communications. New Detroit was to be a coordinating agency, referring proposals to the appropriate government and private agencies rather than taking action itself.

At the end of its first year of operation, New Detroit could report some accomplishments. It had facilitated cooperative programs between Detroit businesses and schools, had encouraged corporations such as Michigan Bell and the Ford Motor Company to establish recruitment and training programs aimed at ghetto residents, had pressed for open housing laws and construction of low-cost housing, and provided grants for work training and other pilot projects in the Detroit schools. Yet New Detroit had been less than successful in gaining the confidence of black residents of Detroit and was regarded with suspicion by sections of the white community as well. The Committee was also hindered by inadequate funding, as it relied on government funding and donations from private agencies. Therefore, New Detroit decided to incorporate in August 1968. Joseph Hudson resigned as chairman at that time and was succeeded by Max Fisher. Hudson continued to serve on the board of trustees through the 1970s and into the 1980s.

From the guide to the Joseph L. Hudson Papers, 1967-1983, (Bentley Historical Library University of Michigan)