Who was given the key to the City of Detroit in 1980?

Mayor Coleman Alexander Young (May 24, 1918 – November 29, 1997) served as mayor of Detroit, Michigan, from 1974 to 1994. Young was the first African-American mayor of Detroit. He also had the distinction of presenting the key to the City of Detroit to Saddam Hussein, then President of Iraq, in 1980.

In those days the Sacred Heart Chaldean Church served the largest population of Catholic Iraqis outside the Middle East. Over 40 years ago, Saddam Hussein donated nearly half a million dollars to fund the church and the cultural centre across the street.

The church’s pastor at the time was Jacob Yasso who met Hussein in 1979 in Baghdad, where the pastor gave a speech commending Hussein for his kindness to Christians. Learning that Yasso’s parish was in the red, Hussein wrote a check, the first of two, for USD 250,000. After Yasso’s return, an influential parishioner convinced Mayor Young to give Hussein the key to the city.

What was later called the “dirty key” was important to many Detroit Chaldeans, who saw it as a reward for their hard work and a sign of their commitment to the city.

Stevie Wonder was awarded a key to the city by Mayor Coleman Young in 1974. In 2018 the remaining Jackson 5 members were honoured with keys to the city and in 2010, Elmo the Muppet received the key to the city during a visit to the Children’s Hospital of Michigan. Every year, Santa Claus is presented with the key to the city at the end of America’s Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit.