Black Bottom Street View is a project to visualize and help preserve the history of Detroit’s historic Black Bottom neighborhood. The Burton Historic Collection at the Detroit Public Library has a collection of photographs of every house in a large area of Detroit's Black Bottom neighborhood. The photos were taken from 1949 – 1950 by the City of Detroit as part of the eminent domain process. They show a snapshot of life in Black Bottom right before it was demolished. The Black Bottom Street View exhibit maps the Burton's photographs as panoramic images, so that visitors can explore the neighborhood as it was. Although this story remains underacknowledged, the rich history of Black Bottom persists in the memories of its former residents, and through the efforts of local historians and storytellers. We feel that Black Bottom’s stories must be shared—especially at this critical moment in Detroit’s history. It is our mission is to build a platform for sharing family and community histories, and to promote the legacy of Black Bottom and the impact its residents have had on the city of Detroit and the whole of contemporary culture. We hope that Black Bottom Street View will help to make its history more visible for all of us—and that a better understanding of this history will teach us something about the current forms of displacement that are shaping Detroit today. The full Black Bottom Street View exhibition consists of: - Panoramas composed of over 2,000 photographs, showing 20 blocks of Black Bottom - 32 doorway portals made of plywood, and attached together with metal poles and cables - A large map that shows all of Black Bottom in 1951 - Two large occupiable “porches” that can be used as stages