Jolly Old Timers
The Jolly Old Timers (JOT) was officially organized as a social club on August 3, 1959, in the Holiday Room of the Gotham Hotel, with 49 men laying the foundation for the club. JOT is a non-profit, non-political organization that seeks "to promote improved conditions and public relations wherever possible." Their overarching goal is to aid the community, providing a space where class and color distinctions are irrelevant.
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Initially, women were not permitted to join the club until 1993, when it welcomed its first four female members.
The club's motto is J - Justice to all, O - Obedience to God, T - Truth and Loyalty to All Mankind.
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JOT's clubhouse is located at 641 W. Forest Ave.
Sources:
Jolly Old Timers - 5th Annual Charity Ball - November 15, 1963
Jolly Old Timers - 23rd Anniversary Charity Ball - November 28, 1981
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William Lambert
William Lambert was born free sometime in 1817 in Trenton, New Jersey. Reports suggest that his father was a slave, while his mother was free at the time of his birth. Lambert worked and learned under Abner Hunt Francis, a Quaker schoolmaster, during his childhood. At the age of 13, he became a cabin boy on a Great Lakes vessel that sailed to Detroit. By 15, he was already a junior conductor of the Underground Railroad, aiding fugitive slaves in their journey to freedom.
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By the age of 18, Lambert had settled permanently in Detroit, continuing his activities as an abolitionist. Alongside his efforts to assist runaway slaves, he worked as a tailor and eventually owned a tailoring and dry-cleaning business. His tailor shop stood on E. Jefferson, on the land now occupied by the Detroit Plaza.
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By the time he turned 25, Lambert was recognized as a leader in Detroit's black community. In 1843, he organized the Convention of the Colored Citizens of Michigan and delivered the keynote address. In his speech, he advocated for equality for blacks, speaking out against racism and urging Michigan's white citizens to grant blacks the right to vote and political equality. Lambert argued that blacks deserved these rights based on the promises of the Founding Fathers, the support blacks had given in America's fight for freedom from the British, and simply because Africa was the cradle of human civilization. He stated,
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"Therefore, we feel that our sufferings caused by our being deprived of our Political Rights should call forth the sympathies of the whole human race, but more especially those of yourselves, among whom we dwell and who are the authors of our calamities. For you have trampled our liberties in the dust, and thus standing with the iron heel of Oppression on our heads, you bid us rise to a level with yourselves; and because we do not rise, you point the finger of scorn and contempt at us, and say that we are an inferior race by nature."
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For years, Lambert continued to assist the citizens of Detroit. However, he began to experience mental deterioration in 1890. On April 28, 1890, he tragically committed suicide by hanging himself.
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Descendants of William Lambert. Seated is his great-granddaughter Verlie Simons Morton in 1980.
Sources:
Detroit Free Press - Proud Legacy to Pass On. December 9, 1980 - page 1C
Detroit Free Press - Took His Life. April 29, 1890. page 5