Photo Credits: American Federation of Teachers
The Detroit Public Schools History Museum began with a moment of advocacy.
As a Detroit student, Dannah Elise Wilson spoke publicly about her experience navigating frequent principal turnovers, outdated materials, and systemic instability within the city’s schools. Her speech—delivered in opposition to the nomination of Betsy DeVos—reached over 9 million viewers and was later featured in Teen Vogue.
What began as a call for accountability became a deeper question: whose stories are preserved, and whose are lost?
That question now anchors this work.
Dannah went on to earn her degree in Afroamerican and African Studies from the University of Michigan, where she was selected as the inaugural Dr. Niara Sudarkasa Scholar—honoring the founder of the very program she completed.
Her work continues at the intersection of history, storytelling, and institutional building. She is a certified chief financial officer and currently a fellow with the Black Bottom Archive, where she focuses on ethical archiving and oral history practices. Her project is an oral history and community documentation of collective grief and resilience in her childhood neighborhood, Brightmoor on the northwest side of Detroit.