We have a love for the city of Detroit and wanted to combine our love with Dr. George's love of anthropology – the result is this website.
If you are wondering, anthropology is the holistic, biocultural, and comparative study of humanity. It explores human biology and cultural diversity across time and space. By examining the origins of, and changes in, biology and culture, anthropology provides explanations for similarities and differences among humans and their worlds.
As a cultural anthropologist, culture is the core of what Dr. George studies. What is culture you ask? It “…is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, arts, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.” (Edward Tylor 1871)
From anthropology you can learn not just about other cultures, but tolerance, to build critical thinking skills, and how to avoid stereotypes! Basically, you will learn people are more alike than they are different. As Dr. Detroit says, "I make adjustments to the human mind!"
The goal of this website is to explore various aspects of Detroit culture over time and space. Detroit is truly a melting pot of different cultures, races, ethnicities, etc. We cannot possibly capture every aspect but be patient as we try.
Felicia "Dr. Detroit" George
Anthropologist/Website Content Manager
I am a proud product of Detroit. I graduated from Cass Technical High School in 1991 before obtaining degrees from Wayne State University as both a “Tartar” and a “Warrior.” With three degrees from the country’s best urban university, I consider myself a Wayne Stater through and through. I graduated in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. While working on my degree, I was fortunate enough to conduct psychopharmacology research for two years. In 2000, I obtained my Master of Interdisciplinary Studies degree, and completed my thesis, “The War on Drugs: A Calculated Attack on African-American Males by the Criminal Justice System?” In August of 2015, after completing my dissertation on numbers gambling in Detroit, I was awarded my Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Anthropology.
I am a part-time faculty member at Wayne State University teaching Introduction of Anthropology, Business Anthropology, and Urban Anthropology since 2010.
I am the proud wife of Anthony, daughter of Barbara and Rayburn, and mother to Jasmine.
Barbara "The Honorary Doctor" Dale
Historical Researcher/Content Adviser
I am proud to say I have lived a lot of life. I was born and raised in Franklin, Tennessee before marrying my husband of 55 years. During those years, we moved between Tennessee and Detroit and had six great children.
During my many years of life, I lived through southern Jim Crow laws, lynching's, the recovery after World War II, the Golden Age of Television, the Korean War, the Cold War, the Space Race, the Civil Rights movement, the assignations of Martin Luther King, President John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, the Bay of Pigs, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, Black Power, the second wave of feminism, the pill, abortion rights, gay rights movement, the hippy era, Watergate, race riots, the Disco era, Motown’s greatness, the oil crisis, the war on drugs, too many terrorist attacks to count…I can go on and on. Did I mention I have seen fashion go and come back? Cars change overtime not to mention the influence of technology on our world.
It was in 2009 that I was drafted by my daughter to assist her in her research for her PhD. (She paid me in socks.) The hours we spent going through old newspapers and other historical archives made me fall in love with Detroit’s history. At the same time, I realized just how much history I have lived through.
Today, I continue to spend time going through archives and helping build content for this website…and am still being paid in socks.
Anthony George
Website Administrator
I was born in Queens, New York and spent my best years growing up in Columbus Ohio, Brooklyn New York and St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. I had the pleasure of working in all kinds of industries throughout my life and lived and visited places far and near. As an Air Force veteran, I was fortunate enough to be stationed in Western Germany (in Rhineland-Palatinate) at the Bitburg Air Base. I lived off base and was able to truly experience German culture for five years. In Europe, I traveled to England, Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, Belgium, Luxemburg and France. While in Germany during the height of the Cold War in 1985, I experienced President Ronald Reagan’s visit to Bitburg and saw the dismantling of the Berlin Wall.
Outside of the military, I worked on Wall Street before coming to the Detroit area in 1992 to manage a small cable company. It is here I met my wife and became a born again Detroiter. After working in cable for seven years, I joined General Motors where I eventually retired. Now my days are filled with gardening, golfing, painting, music, and supporting Dr. Detroit!