By Jeroslyn JoVonn
Meet Michele Samuels, the first Black woman to be named “Madame President” of the prestigious Detroit Golf Club.
Carrying the legacy of an escaped slave who helped lead the 1851 Christiana Riot and served as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, Samuels feels “humbled” by the impact her trailblazing role has on the golf club and the overall community.
“I sat in a session the other day that Rocket put on about the history of Black golf
in Detroit, and that really gave me a strong perspective about where Black people in Detroit were kind of denied access to membership in clubs,” Samuels told the Detroit Free Press at DGC’s 2025 Rocket Classic.
Her historical title at the coveted golf club follows her retirement in January as senior VP, general auditor, and compliance officer at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, where she worked for 35 years. Samuels credits much of her professional success to the leadership and determination she believes she inherited from her great-great-grandfather, William Parker, an escaped enslaved person and key figure in the Christiana Riot of Sept. 11, 1851.
Parker and his wife, Eliza, were known for sheltering escaped enslaved people and played a key role in resisting slave catchers during the Christiana Riot, which led to the death of a slave owner. Parker later chronicled the experience in an 1866 essay for The Atlantic titled “The Freedman’s Story.”
After fleeing to Canada via New York, he settled with his family in Buxton, Ontario, just 50 miles east of Detroit, where he served as a conductor and station master on the Underground Railroad. It’s a deep and rich history that his great-great-granddaughter has used in her climb up the corporate ladder.
“When I learned about it, I did draw a lot of inspiration from it,” she said. “It explained a lot about my who I am, and why I’m always fighting for something and leading.”
Now, more than a decade after joining the Detroit Golf Club in 2012, Samuels has made history as the club’s first Black woman president since its founding in 1899. A passionate golfer and motorcycle enthusiast, she considers it a deep honor to lead in a space her ancestors once had to fight to even enter.
“Love the environment, love the diversity of the club,” she said. “It’s very unique. I’ve always been a supporter of Detroit, and to be able to part of a golf club that’s centered in the city of Detroit is just an honor.”
