The Golden Jubilee closing ceremonies brought together a diverse assembly of speakers, entertainers and citizens. The Community Rally which marked the close of the Jubilee festivities featured the Jubilee Orchestra, African-American soprano Dorothy Maynor, and speeches by influential personages from Trygvie Lie, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, to Victor Reuther, Director of Education for the UAW-CIO.

The Jubilee marked the beginning of a long era of post-war dominance for Detroit's automotive industries, and it could be argued that the Jubilee ceremonies did indeed succeed in inaugurating decades of peacetime prosperity for Detroit's industrial sector. Wider social unity and prosperity proved a more elusive goal, however,   one which Victor Reuther urged all Detroiters to keep foremost in their minds.

Reuther's speech at the Community Rally was entitled "Detroit's Road to Unity", and it took stock of the tribute being paid by the Jubilee--to the "inventive genius of the automotive pioneers", to the "men who took that invention and made of it a highly profitable business enterprise". He took stock of the parade, the Jubilee Queen, the pageant, and then asked of the future, "How can Detroit find unity in positive goals in peace as we found unity for the challenge of war?" and he spoke prophetically of unresolved conflicts in a way which resonates even today:

We can take common action for better housing, for fair employment practices, for better schools... we can wipe out our slums, we can bring the full benefits and privileges of American democracy to our Negro fellow-citizens...

We can work together, but will we? This I do know: if Detroit cannot find within itself the resources for building full employment, abundance and freedom, no law passed in Washington can save us, nor any slogan.

Reuther's speech brought to the fore concerns about the future which were not articulated in the in swell of parades, spectacles and carefully scripted homages of the previous ten days. As the Jubilee drew to a close and an uncertain future beckoned, Detroit stood evenly balanced between rival claims to the triumphs of the past and differing visions of the future.

above right: Distinguished Soprano Miss Dorothy Maynor was a featured soloist with the Golden Jubilee Orchestra, performing at Briggs Stadium for the official Jubilee closing ceremony.

left: Victor Reuther and George Romney, with George Mason, President of the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation at Closing Ceremonies. Each served on the Jubilee organizing committee, and Romney and Reuther would have important roles in Detroit's future. Reuther survived an assisination attempt in 1949 and continued to serve the UAW until 1973. Romney was elected Governor of Michigan in 1963 and challenged Richard Nixon for the Republican presidential nomination in 1968.