Here sits the bronze figure that has become the city's emblem, the Spirit of Detroit. The Spirit of Detroit, sculpted by Marshall Fredericks and dedicated in 1958, is a twenty-six-foot seated giant of green-patinated bronze. In his left hand he holds a gilded sphere representing God; in his right, a family, symbolizing human relationships.
The inscription behind him speaks of the spirit of man, made in the image of his Maker. For decades Detroiters have dressed the statue in giant jerseys when the Tigers, Lions, Pistons, or Red Wings reach a championship, an act of civic affection for a monument that was nearly never built when funds ran short. He sits at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, named for the city's first Black mayor.
Step around to read the inscription, then look at the gentle openness of those enormous bronze hands, offered to the street as if presenting the whole city to whoever passes by.