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The Doctor, the House and the Mob: The Ossian Sweet Trial
Season 7
Episode 29
Published 2 weeks ago
Description
In September 1925, Dr. Ossian Sweet moved his family into a brick house at 2905 Garland in a white Detroit neighborhood. The next evening, a crowd gathered, rocks struck the house and gunfire erupted from an upstairs window. One man was killed, another was wounded and all 11 people inside were arrested.
The resulting trials became a national test of race, self-defense and equal treatment under Michigan law. Backed by the NAACP, a legal team that included Detroit’s Black attorneys and famed courtroom lawyer Clarence Darrow argued that the Sweets had the same right to defend their home as any white family.
This episode follows the disputed events outside the house, the competing courtroom accounts and Judge Frank Murphy’s historic instructions to an all-white jury. It also addresses a fact the prosecution could never settle: Who fired the fatal shot?
The End of the Road in Michigan is a production of Thumbwind Publications
The resulting trials became a national test of race, self-defense and equal treatment under Michigan law. Backed by the NAACP, a legal team that included Detroit’s Black attorneys and famed courtroom lawyer Clarence Darrow argued that the Sweets had the same right to defend their home as any white family.
This episode follows the disputed events outside the house, the competing courtroom accounts and Judge Frank Murphy’s historic instructions to an all-white jury. It also addresses a fact the prosecution could never settle: Who fired the fatal shot?
The End of the Road in Michigan is a production of Thumbwind Publications