Collections | ArchivesSpace@Wayne

Showing Collections: 1 - 25 of 29

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American Auto Worker Project Oral Histories

Collection

Identifier: LOH002363

Abstract While a graduate history student at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, Edward Savela conducted oral history interviews with retired Detroit-area auto workers on changes in the automobile industry as part of research for his master’s thesis. Collection consists of five interviews with retired UAW members chronicling their lengthy careers in the automobile industry in the Detroit metropolitan area. Transcripts and audio recordings available for each. Interviewees discuss apprenticeship...

Dates: 2012-05 - 2012-06

Found in: Walter P. Reuther Library

Auto-Lite Strike Oral Histories

Collection

Identifier: LOH000687

Abstract In 1973, Philip A. Korth led a project in which he and others at Michigan State University conducted interviews with individuals involved in the 1934 Auto-Lite strike in Toledo, Ohio, as part of his research on the subject. The collection consists of 30 interviews. Recordings exist for all of the interviews, and transcripts exist for 25 of them.

Dates: 1973

Found in: Walter P. Reuther Library

Bernard G. Hoffman Papers

Collection

Identifier: LP000445

Abstract Bernard G. Hoffman served as union steward at the Briggs Manufacturing Company and Chrysler Corporation in the 1940s and 1950s. He also served as secretary of the Briggs Joint Apprenticeship Committee and secretary-treasurer of the National Skilled Trades Council, UAW-CIO. The bulk of the papers are minutes, pamphlets, newsletters, agreements and personal notes relating to Hoffman's union activities. Of particular value are his daily notes on plant activities written during his years at Briggs...

Dates: 1940 - 1968

Found in: Walter P. Reuther Library

Charles White Papers

Collection

Identifier: LP000879

Abstract An active union member, Charles White served as treasurer, president, and administrative head of the Lordstown Credit Union, in various positions in United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 1112 (Lordstown, OH), and as a UAW Community Action Program representative. Mr. White’s papers reflect his work with Local 1112, particularly as the local’s Insurance and Workmen’s Compensation Representative.

Dates: 1968 - 1974

Found in: Walter P. Reuther Library

"Empty Spaces": Plant Shutdown and Displacement in the Industrial Heartland Oral Histories

Collection

Identifier: LOH001744

Abstract As part of the research for his disseration on industrial plant shutdowns in the 1970s and 1980s, Steven High interviewed numerous displaced workers across the United States and Canada. Some of the interviewees were located in Detroit. The collection consists of nine interviews on VHS tape with displaced Detroit-area auto industry workers conducted by Steven High as part of the research for his dissertation,

Dates: 1997 - 2000; Majority of material found within 1998-02-23 - 1998-02-25

Found in: Walter P. Reuther Library

End of the Line Oral Histories

Collection

Identifier: LOH001711

Abstract Plant worker and graduate history student Richard Feldman interviewed UAW Local 900 members at Ford’s Michigan Truck Plant (many of whom had also worked at Wayne Assembly Plant) for his book, written with journalist Michael Betzold, End of the Line: Autoworkers and the American Dream, on the changing nature of the automobile industry, plant management and working conditions, union activities and status, and worker perspectives in the 1980s. Collection consists of 29...

Dates: 1986

Found in: Walter P. Reuther Library

Fred C. Pieper Papers

Collection

Identifier: LP000165

Abstract Fred Pieper was an early leader in the unionization of the auto industry. His papers reflect his work for the United Auto Workers and the Congress of Industrial Organizations in the South.

Dates: 1936 - 1940

Found in: Walter P. Reuther Library

Harold Cranefield Papers

Collection

Identifier: LP000595

Abstract A labor attorney, Mr. Cranefield served with the National Labor Relations Board in Chicago and Detroit, as an investigator for the La Follette Committee, and as an associate counsel with the UAW. Correspondence, briefs, clippings, and speeches cover such topics as unionizing the J.I. Case Company in Racine, Wisconsin (1934-35); work of the NLRB in the auto industry; industrial espionage; and the shootings of Victor and Walter Reuther. Correspondents are Heber Blankenhorn, J. Edgar Hoover, Wayne...

Dates: 1932 - 1966; Majority of material found within 1932 - 1963

Found in: Walter P. Reuther Library

Industrial Workers of the World Photographs and Audio-Visual Materials

Collection

Identifier: LAV000130

Abstract The Industrial Workers of the World was founded in 1905 and is a member-run union for all workers. The IWW organizes all workers producing the same goods or services into one union instead of pooling them by skill or trade, and was notable for engaging women, immigrants, and people of color in both union leadership, membership, and throughout its support networks. Numbered among its members (known popularly as Wobblies) are lumberjacks, miners, farmhands (especially migrant workers), sailors,...

Dates: Majority of material found within 1905 - 1997

Found in: Walter P. Reuther Library

Irene Young Marinovich Oral History

Item

Identifier: LOH002329

Abstract William "Bill" Bryce and Elaine Crawford interviewed labor activist Irene Young Marinovich for Bryce's documentary on Marinovich's life and work in the UAW,

Dates: circa 1991

Found in: Walter P. Reuther Library

James Moore Audio Recordings

Item

Identifier: LAV002451

Overview In the fall of 1983 Professor James Moore recorded an oral history interview with Shelton Tappes and Catherine "Babe" Gelles, both early organizers for the United Auto Workers Union (UAW). Taped in Tappes’ Detroit home, the interviewees gave firsthand account of 1937's "Battle of the Overpass," a brutal response by members of the Ford Service Department to the UAW organizing effort against Ford Motor Company. The interview lends offers two different vantage points: Gelles’, as that of a member...

Dates: 1983-10

Found in: Walter P. Reuther Library

Kenneth Forbes Papers

Collection

Identifier: LP000801

Abstract This collection consists of the papers of Kenneth Forbes, a UAW leader in the Saginaw area. Forbes held different offices in the union including the President of Local 455 and was also active politically. His collection covers his active years in the union and his retirement and gives a glimpse into the life of the politics and challenges of an elected official in the UAW.

Dates: 1927 - 1973; Majority of material found within 1946 - 1971

Found in: Walter P. Reuther Library

M.A. Williams Papers

Collection

Identifier: LP000435

Abstract 'Bill' Williams was a prominent figure in CIO Local 76 (later UAW Local 560), Ford Motor Co. assembly plant in Richmond, CA., helping to organize workers and serve as an officer. His papers reflect events at the plant surrounding the jurisdictional rivalry between the AFL and the CIO and eventual designation as a UAW shop.

Dates: 1936 - 1967; Majority of material found within 1937 - 1958

Found in: Walter P. Reuther Library

Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO "Labor News" Photographs

File

Identifier: LAV000004

Abstract The Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO “Labor News” Photographs consist of several hundred 8x10, black and white photo prints used within the publication. Of particular note are photo prints that document the activities of the FDR-CIO Summer School. The content covers union activities, historical events, persons of interest, and civic activities, and offers a unique view into the activities of the AFL-CIO throughout Michigan, particularly in Metropolitan Detroit, during the mid-20th century.

Dates: circa 1940s-1960s

Found in: Walter P. Reuther Library

Metropolitan Detroit Auto Workers Oral Histories

Collection

Identifier: LOH002195

Abstract Oakland University professor Dan Clark conducted interviews with 40 former auto workers about their work in the auto industry and their lives, covering the period of the 1950s. The collection consists of 44 interviews: multiple interviews exist for interviewees Bob Bowen, Tom and Carolyn Romein, and Joe Woods Jr. Recordings are available for each. Interviews with Lowell Barrager and Ruth Ann Gallagher do not have transcripts, nor does the second of the two Joe Woods Jr. interviews.

Dates: 2000-08-21 - 2003-11-07

Found in: Walter P. Reuther Library

Mildred Jeffrey Oral History

Item

Identifier: LOH002295

Abstract In August 2002, Mike Smith interviewed UAW labor leader and civil rights and women's rights activist Mildred "Millie" Jeffrey at the Walter P. Reuther Library in Detroit. Jeffrey was the UAW’s first female department head and directed, in succession, the Women’s Bureau, Community Relations Department, and Consumer Affairs Department. Collection consists of recordings of two interviews. Jeffrey discusses her childhood in rural Iowa, family, education, entry into the workforce and the labor...

Dates: 2002-08-08; 2002-08-28

Found in: Walter P. Reuther Library

Paul Silver Oral History

Item — Box: Individual Oral Histories Box 3: O-Si, Folder: 10

Identifier: LOH002308

Abstract Around or before 1977, Sidney Kelman interviewed labor organizer Paul Silver. Silver was active in the UAW, including serving as president of UAW Local 351 from 1946 to 1964 and an assignment to the International UAW staff. Collection consists of interview recording and transcript. Silver talks about his family background including his socialist upbringing and its importance to his later beliefs and actions, his organizing at Detroit Steel Products and elsewhere, founding and leadership of UAW...

Dates: circa 1977

Found in: Walter P. Reuther Library

Polish-American Autoworkers Oral Histories

Collection

Identifier: LOH000659

Abstract In 1982 and 1984, for her 1987 dissertation, "A Case Study of Skilled Polish American Automobile Workers in Hamtramck," Patricia Pilling interviewed Polish-American auto workers from UAW Local 235, representing what was then the Chevrolet Gear and Axle plant in Hamtramck, Michigan. Collection consists of recordings and transcripts of the resulting 27 interviews. Pilling explores cultural factors among Polish-American auto workers, interviewing primarily skilled tradesmen, as well as...

Dates: 1982 - 1984

Found in: Walter P. Reuther Library

Radical Unionists Oral Histories

Collection

Identifier: LOH000540

Abstract In 1971, Roger Keeran interviewed seven radical auto workers and labor organizers for his book The Communist Party and the Auto Workers Unions. Collection consists of interview recordings with these auto workers and labor organizers on their perspectives on or involvement with communism and the radical left, and its influence on the development of the UAW. Audio quality on some recordings is poor.

Dates: 1971-07-26 - 1971-08-21

Found in: Walter P. Reuther Library

Ruth Milkman Papers

Collection

Identifier: LP002097

Abstract Ruth Milkman (1954-) is a professor of sociology at the CUNY Graduate Center and the academic director at the Joseph F. Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies. Her professional focus is labor and labor movements, and she has published on a variety of topics revolving around work and organized labor in the United States. She received her B.A. from Brown University and her M.A. from the University of California, Berkley. Milkman’s early research focused on women workers during...

Dates: 1975 - 1994; Majority of material found within 1978 - 1991

Found in: Walter P. Reuther Library

Studebaker Oral Histories

Collection

Identifier: LOH002225

Abstract Between 1971 and 1974, Loren E. Pennington, a professor of history at Kansas State Teachers College (now Emporia University), interviewed former Studebaker workers as part of his research for his book on the history of the Studebaker Corporation, 1945-1966. Pennington was himself a Studebaker worker and UAW Local 5 member, and this experience informs his interviews. Collection consists of transcripts for 6 interviews. Former Studebaker workers at the South Bend, Indiana, plant and members of...

Dates: 1971-06-19 - 1974-05-13

Found in: Walter P. Reuther Library

Talking Union Oral Histories

Collection

Identifier: LOH001657

Abstract University of California sociology professors Maurice Zeitlin and Judith Stepan-Norris conducted oral history interviews for their book,

Dates: 1983 - 1986

Found in: Walter P. Reuther Library

UAW Chrysler Department Records

Collection

Identifier: LR000106

Abstract The UAW Chrysler Department was formed in the year following the tumultuous sit-down strikes of 1937. Responsible of the department included planning, developing, negotiating, and administering collective bargaining agreements for Chrysler workers in the United States and Canada. The records of the department reflect its administration and activities and largely include the files of Arthur Hughes, an administrative assistant and assistant director in the department from 1940-1978.

Dates: 1938 - 1985

Found in: Walter P. Reuther Library

UAW Civil Rights Department Records

File

Identifier: LR001800

Overview Called the Fair Practices and Anti-Discrimination Department until 1983, the UAW’s Civil Rights Department oversees the union’s diversity and anti-prejudice initiatives. According to the union’s website, the “Civil Rights Department works closely with the UAW’s Local Union Civil Rights Committees to educate, mobilize, and assist” the union’s members in matters related to discrimination and sexual harassment. The department also campaigns actively in support of voter registration and turnout...

Dates: Majority of material found in 1964-2008

Found in: Walter P. Reuther Library

UAW Local 889 Records

Collection

Identifier: LR000040

Abstract United Auto Workers Local 889 was chartered in 1940 to service white collar workers at Chrysler plants and suppliers in southeastern Michigan. The records of the local reflect the activities of its many units including Amplex, Auto Equipment Co., Hudson Sales, Kaiser-Frazer, King-Seeley, Tank Plant, Jefferson-Kerchival, Dodge Main, Marysville Parts, Mopar, Dodge Truck, and John R-Highland Park.

Dates: 1943 - 1965

Found in: Walter P. Reuther Library

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