Politics · 1920–2009Janet Jaganpolitician, President of GuyanaChicago-born activist who became Guyana's first woman president (1997–1999); as a young woman she studied at the University of Detroit and Wayne University.DETROIT / A living lexicon / ¼
Famous Detroiters
People who were born here, moved here or built their careers in Detroit: musicians, carmakers, athletes, writers, inventors, civil-rights leaders and a few notorious names. With their dates, their Detroit story and the places where they lived, worked and played, closed ones included.
- 1,940 famous people
- 366 Detroit places
- 17 fields
Hungarian ties 22 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
7 people
Clear filtersPolitics · 1920–2009Janet Jaganpolitician, President of GuyanaChicago-born activist who became Guyana's first woman president (1997–1999); as a young woman she studied at the University of Detroit and Wayne University.
Sports · born 1938Hayes Joneshurdler, public officialPontiac-raised hurdler who won Olympic gold in the 110 meters hurdles in Tokyo in 1964 and later led metro Detroit's suburban bus system.
Politics · born 1959Brenda Jonesunion leader, city council president, congresswomanCass Tech graduate and telephone-workers' union president who led the Detroit City Council (2014–2022) and briefly served in Congress after John Conyers resigned.
Politics · 1829–1896David Jeromemerchant, Union colonel, governor of MichiganSaginaw merchant and Civil War colonel who became Michigan's 18th governor (1881–1883) and the first born in the state – in Detroit, in 1829.
Politics · 1900–1950Edward Jeffrieslawyer, mayor of DetroitDetroit-born lawyer and son of a crusading judge who was mayor through World War II (1940–1948), including the deadly 1943 race riot; the Jeffries Freeway honors him.
Politics · 1787–1846De Garmo Jonesbusinessman, mayor of Detroit, state senatorHard-driving Detroit entrepreneur, railroad director and builder of Michigan's first capitol, who served as mayor in 1839.The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own. Famous people's places among the sights ↗