Detroit's comeback focus of History network special

What's a huge party without some home movies? A History network special on Detroit's revival was announced Tuesday during Ford's public celebration of buying Michigan Central Station.

A one-hour special titled "Detroit: Comeback City" was announced by Ford CEO Jim Hackett during the festivities attended by thousands, who got to see a trailer for the documentary.

The film is scheduled to air at 9 p.m. July 1 on the cable network.

The special will feature appearances by famous Detroiters — Smokey Robinson popped up in the trailer — and will be narrated by a metro Detroit native, Oscar-winning actor J.K. Simmons.

It will look at the rise and fall of Detroit and the new beginning for the city, within the context of what's happening at the Michigan Central Station and its planned redevelopment as a Ford hub in Corktown.

Those with Detroit ties interviewed for the project include rock icon Alice Cooper,  Pulitzer Prize-winning author Heather Ann Thompson, former NASA astronaut Jerry Linenger and Ford chairman Bill Ford Jr.

Among the executive producers for the special? Detroit rap star Big Sean and Ford vice president of communications Mark Truby.

The documentary is a collaboration between Ford and History, according to the cable network. 

“Part of History’s mission is to not just tell stories of the past, but capture history as it unfolds,” said Eli Lehrer, executive vice president of History programming in a statement. “Working together with organizations like Ford Motor Company, we are able to breathe new life into the past by working together to save our most precious landmarks for future generations.”

The History channel's historian-in-residence, Steven Gillon, will appear in the documentary and offer insights on Detroit's growth as an automotive giant and its later economic decline.

Gillon has been studying Detroit's long, complex history for about three decades. His 2018 book, "Separate and Unequal: The Kerner Commission and the Unraveling of American Liberalism," explores the study that attributed the civil uprisings like the 1967 Detroit riot to white racism and called for assertive policies to address discrimination and poverty.

Detroit's role in the first half of the 20th Century was epic, according to Gillon. "It was at one point the fourth largest city in America. It was one of the most cosmopolitan cities. It was, in many ways, the Silicon Valley of the early 20th Century."

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Gillon says Michigan Central Station has always been a major symbol, for good or bad, of Detroit's status.

"This station (which opened in 1913) really was a metaphor for the heyday of Detroit," he said. "And it also then, obviously, became a symbol for the decline of Detroit."

Now, as Ford takes over its future, the train station could continue to be a barometer of Detroit's health.

"There's an important symbolic value in restoring the station, because of what it represents and has represented in Detroit's history. I think the goal is to make Detroit once again the Silicon Valley of the 21st Century and have the station be the spark that helps make that possible," said Gillon.

Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds: 313-222-6427 or jhinds@freepress.com.