Ypsilanti

Ypsilanti, Michigan, home to Eastern Michigan University, is a small city where a great deal happens. This is a community with a strong sense of history and historic preservation. Homes and buildings about to fall in on themselves in the 1960s were preserved and restored and have found new uses today. It is a place of festivals, parades, concerts, and performances. There have been problems and turmoil, such as the time when the president of Eastern Michigan University needed a new house, but in each instance the people of Ypsilanti have come through stronger than before. Here, local historian James Mann shares why the people of Ypsilanti take pride in their city.