Upcoming Meetings

Join Preservation Dearborn on Monday, Feb. 2, at 7 p.m. at the Dearborn Historical Museum as we host historian, historic preservationist and Dearborn native Ian Tomashik.   

Arab and Chaldean immigrants first arrived in Detroit over 120 years ago. Yet, their stories have not been properly captured by historic preservationists. An ongoing project by the City of Detroit Historic Designation Advisory Board (HDAB) is changing this.

For the past three years, HDAB partnered with Detroit residents and community members to document the rich histories of its Arab and Chaldean communities. They published a context report on Detroit’s Middle Eastern history and are now nominating the Sacred Heart Chaldean Catholic Church to the National Register of Historic Places. HDAB will also nominate another site related to Arab or Muslim history.

This presentation will share some incredible stories from the past century of Middle Eastern history in Detroit. It will also honor some of the generous individuals who volunteered their time to help HDAB preserve and share their stories.

In addition to being a founding and current board member of Preservation Dearborn, Ian serves as a Historic Planner for the City of Detroit's Historic Designation Advisory Board.