Erma Henderson, one of the most influential and respected politicians in Detroit history, was a trailblazing advocate for civil rights and women’s rights even before 1972, when she became the first Black woman elected to the Detroit Common Council. For 12 of her 16 years on the council, she served as president before leaving her seat in 1989 upon losing a mayoral primary to Coleman Young.
Among her many accomplishments, in 1975, Henderson organized the Michigan Statewide Coalition Against Redlining, which led to state legislation that outlawed the discriminatory loan and insurance practice in which minorities were given less favorable rates and terms.
Born in Pensacola, Florida, in 1917, Henderson and her family moved to Detroit within a year, where she earned a master’s degree in social work from Wayne State University.
Her first major triumph in Detroit politics was in 1957, when she successfully managed the campaign for William Patrick, who became the first Black Detroit city councilman since Dr. Samuel C. Watson in 1883. Following the 1967 Detroit civil disturbance, Henderson became the executive director of the Equal Justice Council, an organization that monitored and compiled data on the treatment of Black people in the judicial system.
Henderson later organized the Women’s Conference of Concerns, a coalition that strived to improve the quality of city life for everyone, and Women in Municipal Government, an initiative that brought women working in city government together from across the nation. Outside of Detroit, she spoke fervently about many issues worldwide.
In 1990, Henderson was inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame. On the organization’s website, she is described as being “Michigan’s own ambassador for peace and racial harmony … whether addressing the World Peace Council on disarmament in Helsinki, speaking out against apartheid at the United Nations, attending a presidential briefing on the Panama Canal, participating in international women’s conferences in Mexico City or Nairobi, touring the island country of Grenada, or leading a delegation of council colleagues to meet with sister-city counterparts in Germany, Yugoslavia, and the former Soviet Union.”
After her passing in 2009 at age 92, local, state, and national figures paid tribute, including Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm, who said in part: “Erma’s enthusiasm for helping and mentoring others, her strength, and her fight for justice will be remembered for generations.” Henderson is entombed at Elmwood Cemetery in a public mausoleum. A 34-acre park on the Detroit riverfront and an adjacent marina are named in her honor.
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