Ed Vaughn, Owner Detroit’s First Black Bookstore, Dies At 90

A former Michigan state representative, Vaughn opened Vaughn's Books in 1965.

Edward “Ed” Vaughn, the owner of Detroit’s first Black bookstore, Vaughn’s Bookstore, and a former Michigan state representative, died on Oct. 8. Vaughn was 90.

“I was deeply saddened to learn about the passing of a legend in Detroit — Ed Vaughn,” Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said in a statement. “In addition to his fierce activism and political career, Ed was the owner of Vaughan’s Bookstore on Dexter Avenue, which last year was placed on the National Register of Historic Places for the role it played as a community resource and gathering place for Black activist leaders in Detroit and from across the country.”

Rep. Donavan McKinney said that Vaughn’s love for Black people was well reflected in the work he engaged in during the Black Power movement and that “his contributions in the national spotlight during the Black Power Movement reminds the world of Detroit’s allure and promise of Black prosperity and possibilities. He was a giant in the community and his legacy will live on in all our hearts.”

Vaughn opened his bookstore in January 1965 with the help of his aunt, and at the time, it was believed to be the second Black-owned bookstore in America, according to the Detroit News.

The store stocked books about Black history, culture, and heritage because the white bookstores in Detroit wouldn’t. The bookstore eventually became a popular meeting place for leaders in Detroit’s Black nationalist and Pan-African movements.

Vaughn was also involved in Pan-Africanism; he was the founder of Detroit’s Pan-African Congress-USA and helped to organize the Detroit chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality.

In July 1967, during the race riots in Detroit, the store was damaged by fires that neighbors alleged were set by officers of the mostly white Detroit Police Department.

Undeterred, Vaughn kept running the store and got involved in Detroit’s political scene, working for Detroit Mayor Coleman A. Young, the city’s first Black mayor. Vaughn also served two terms in the Michigan House of Representatives from 1978-1980.

In 1994, Vaughn was elected again to the House where he represented what was then the 4th House District from 1995-2000.

Duggan is hopeful that the bookstore, named to the National Registry of Historic Places in August 2023, will now be restored as “Ed’s passing is all the more reason to make sure we see this through.”