Stevie Wonder was born in Saginaw in 1950 as Steveland Hardaway Judkins. Even though numerous biographies list Saginaw as his birthplace, nothing was being done by the city to commemorate it until 2005, when a plaque was finally unveiled on a boulder to state the fact Stevie was indeed from that city.

Black history expert Lula Briggs-Galloway saw to it that Saginaw remembered & respected Stevie's roots by getting a plaque in his honor at the National Association of Juneteenth Lineage Inc., Creative Cultural Center & Museum that she opened in 2003.

The plaque states that it sits upon the former site of a place called "The Big House" where Stevie "spent some of his early childhood years" after being born just a few blocks away.

Lula passed away in 2008 and the Center closed it's doors, with the monument becoming ignored and uncared for. It's a shame, since it was the only marker in the whole city that recognized hometown star Stevie. Anyone wanna volunteer to give it some upkeep? Stevie himself hasn't been to Saginaw in over 30 years.

Instead of being renovated or refurbished, houses in the neighborhood have been torn down left & right.

You can at least pay a visit and get a great photo-op of this, which may not last much longer if someone doesn't step up and take care of it. The location is:
1314 N. 5th Ave., Saginaw. It's at the corner of North 5th Avenue and Farwell Street, in a parking lot where weeds are popping through.

Be respectful.

 

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