On Thu, 8 Jun 2000, Johnette Davies wrote:

> Or as we call it just up the highway in my hometown of
> Holly, MI, "Ypsi-tucky."

The city of Ypsilanti itself, home of Eastern Michigan University, with
many academics and a large black community, does not really deserve that
moniker.  What you are thinking of is the much larger territory and
population of Ypsilanti Township, which was settled during and after World
War II by migrants from places like Tennessee and Kentucky who came to
work in the Willow Run bomber plant, and continued with the auto industry
after the war.

The accents in much of Ypsilanti Township are decidedly Southern; a
Michigan-born friend of mine, when asked -- because of her accent -- what
part of the South she's from, says "southern Michigan".

The most senior member of the Washtenaw county board is from Ypsilanti
Township: his name is Dillard Roy Craiger.  I don't know for sure, but I
think he was born in Tennessee.

Note that Ypsilanti is pronounced IP-si-LAN-tee.  No "wye" sound!

---
Lawrence Kestenbaum, [log in to unmask]
The Political Graveyard, http://politicalgraveyard.com