SummerFest Pre-concert Talk: Motown Meets the Movement and concert

6:00 pm: Grounds open for seating, food stand & bar open for service
6:00-6:45 pm Pre-concert talk in the Community Room (pre-register)
7:30 pm: SummerFest Concert Begins (no registration needed)

Registration is required for this free talk at War Memorial website.
The talk takes place in the community room in the War Memorial.
No registration required for the concert. Bring a chair or blanket if attending the concert. Free parking is available on site.

Prior to the SummerFest concert series finale, featuring Drey Skonie & the Klouds, presented in partnership with the Motown Museum, join us for a pre-concert talk led by Chris Hemler, Cynthia N. Ford Chair of History and the Social Studies at University Liggett School.
“Motown Meets the Movement” explores the powerful role of music in the 1960s, a decade marked by war, protest, and social change. Hemler will examine how artists across genres—folk, rock, soul, and especially Motown—used music to reflect and influence the era’s most urgent issues, from civil rights to the Vietnam War. Once known primarily for love songs and dance hits, even Motown responded to the cultural moment, proving that music could not only echo the times, but help shape them.

## About the Speaker

Chris Hemler is an award-winning history and social studies teacher at University Liggett School, most recently being named the 2025 History Teacher of the Year by the Historical Society of Michigan. He has been teaching social studies for two decades, and served as the education manager at The Henry Ford before coming to University Liggett School. He is the lead teacher of ULS's place-based United States history course and also teaches electives on the Sixties, Native American Studies, and technology. Chris is also an educator-partner of the Smithsonian Institute and will be a presenter at the 2025 Smithsonian Education Summit.