Nacirema Club Members

The Nacirema Club was a social club located at 6118 30th Street in Detroit, Michigan; it was the first African-American social club in Michigan. In 2011 the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

A black middle class population grew rapidly in Detroit during and just after World War I. The relatively high wages of the factory workers meant that they could support professionals, skilled craftsmen and a variety of musicians and entertainers. At this time, men’s clubs were popular. Black men wished to enjoy their amenities such clubs offered but knew that prestigious downtown clubs such as the Detroit Club and the Detroit Athletic Club would not admit African Americans. Twenty-one black men in the Tireman neighborhood decided, in 1922, to form a club that would serve their needs. They selected the name Nacirema (American spelled backwards), perhaps to imply that the city’s white leaders had inverted or contorted the American system of values.

Sources: Detroit: The History and Future of the Motor City; Michigan Public Library