page_title: Willow Run
section_title: Parkridge Homes
hierarchical_section_title: Willow Run / History / Employee Housing Crisis / Parkridge Homes
caption_attribution_description: Negro worker at Willow Run installs screws in wing segment of a bomber. Note underside of wing, above. Ford plant, Willow Run
context_page_description: Willow Run, also known as Air Force Plant 31, was a manufacturing complex in Michigan, located between Ypsilanti Township and Belleville, constructed by the Ford Motor Company for the mass production of aircraft, especially the B-24 Liberator heavy bomber. Construction of the Willow Run Bomber Plant began in 1940 and was completed in 1942.
context_section_description: In addition to the Willow Run Lodge and Village housing projects, another community named Parkridge Homes was also built in 1943 to house African-American Willow Run employees. Efforts to desegregate Willow Run Lodge and Village and build additional integrated housing were rebuffed by the Detroit Housing Commission and the National Housing Agency, so noted African-American architect Hilyard Robinson was contracted to design an 80-unit community. The housing complex remained in use until 2016 as public housing when it was demolished and rebuilt with new modern units. In May of 2017, the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office recognized Parkridge Homes with the unveiling three historic markers signifying the importance to Ypsilanti history. 
  Also constructed at this time was the Parkridge Community Center.
caption: African American worker at Willow Run, July 1942
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