In Perpetuity: Preserving the Black Educational Legacy of
Detroit’s Fitzgerald-Marygrove Community
The Marygrove Community Association is excited to announce the Arts Phase of the Green Arts Alley project, which is currently in development: In Perpetuity, Preserving the Black Educational Legacy of Detroit’s Fitzgerald-Marygrove Community.
In Fitzgerald-Marygrove, some of the most important stories belong to Black educators who taught, led, and built community here for generations. A key contributor to this legacy is Theresa Maxis Duchemin, a Black Catholic nun who co-founded one of the first religious orders for women of color in the United States. Her legacy is tied directly to the land where Marygrove College once stood and where the surrounding community continues to grow today. This project aims to honor and connect Theresa Maxis's educational legacy with contemporary educators who continue to uphold her belief in education and justice.
In Perpetuity honors 8–12 Black educators who sustained the Fitzgerald–Marygrove community through decades of disinvestment and change. Honorees are featured in the oral history archive and digital story map, and their painted portraits anchor the public art installation along the future-to-be-inaugurated Theresa Maxis Way, which will feature a commission by Detroit artist Tiff Massey.
The goal of this work is to ensure the story of Fitzgerald-Marygrove's Black educators is seen, heard, and remembered, not just today but in perpetuity.
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
James Baldwin, “As Much Truth as One Can Bear,” The New York Times Book Review, January 14, 1962.Engagement
Celebrating the Launch of In Perpetuity
September 26, 2026
On a bright Saturday afternoon, September 26, neighbors gathered on the lawn at Huntington Park for Voices From the Neighborhood, the launch celebration of In Perpetuity. Produced by Extra Mile Playwrights Theatre, the staged reading brought stories from the Fitzgerald-Marygrove neighborhood to life outdoors. It told of the educators, elders, and families who kept learning alive here through decades of change.
The reading marked the public start of In Perpetuity, a year-long public art and community history project honoring Black educators who sustained neighborhood schools. The project begins with the legacy of Sister Theresa Maxis, founder of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and this year honors Darnetta Banks, Glenda Price, and Gwendolyn Warren.
Thank you to everyone who pulled up a chair, listened, and shared in the afternoon. This is only the beginning. Oral history interviews, a digital story archive, and a permanent public artwork on Sister Theresa Maxis Way are still to come.
In Perpetuity is made possible with support from the University of Michigan Life-Changing Education Grants program and the Arts Initiative at the University of Michigan.
