The Coolest Car Museum You’ve Never Heard Of

Jill Woodward grew up in Birmingham, graduated from Seaholm High School, and received her bachelor’s degree from Boston University. Her career has taken her from the Ilitch organization to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra to Michigan State University’s Community Music School-Detroit. Her background includes successful fundraising initiatives and projects to build new audiences and promote the value of arts and culture. Since 2022, Woodward has been the President and Chief Operating Officer of the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant Museum.

The Ford Piquette Avenue Plant Museum celebrates a transformative period in Detroit history. Modeled after turn-of-the-century New England textile mills, this National Historic Landmark was built in 1904 and subsequently saved from destruction by community volunteers in 2000. Now it attracts over 30,000 visitors annually from 75 countries, and is an anchor development in the resurgent Milwaukee Junction neighborhood just east of New Center. The Museum offers a variety of events, tours, and family fun activities, as well as educational programming.