Frank Marquart, a former labor educator with the UAW, recalls relocating to Detroit in 1914 with his father in search of employment with the Ford Motor Co. after hearing about the Ford $5.00 per day wage announcement. In this interview Marquart…
In this interview George Crockett describes the Detroit Recorder’s Court, his youth and education, and activities as attorney for FEPC. Crockett also recalls his experiences as executive director of the UAW’s Fair Practice Committee and the…
Oral history interview with George Robertson, President of the UAW Local 235 Detroit. In this interview Robertson describes his experiences as production worker at Chevrolet Gear and Axle in the late 1940’s and discusses the attitude of local union…
Geraldine Bledsoe was the former director of Equal Employment Opportunity Michigan Employment Security Commission. In this interview Bledsoe describes the CIO and the black community, the Detroit chapter of the NAACP, Reverend Charles Hill and civil…
This interview with Hodges Mason, one of the first black presidents of a UAW local, takes place in two parts. Part I deals with the participation of blacks in sit-down strikes, the 1938 strike at Bohn Aluminum, and blacks and left-wing activities.…
In this interview Horace Sheffield, an administrative assistant with the UAW discusses his involvement with the organizing campaign at Ford, the involvement of NAACP on union’s side, and black and left wing political activities. Sheffield recalls…
Jack Lever is a former labor educator and organizer. He recalls his involvement with cooperatives, union organizing in the IAM-International Association of Machinists and the relationship between the IAM and black workers. Lever also discusses the…
Jack Raskin was the former executive secretary of the Civil Rights Congress of Michigan. In this interview Raskin recalls his involvement with the Civil Rights Congress and its predecessor organizations in 1940’s and early 1950’s. Raskin describes…
James Neeley was an International representative for the UAW at time of death in 1969. In this interview Neeley recalls the upgrading of black workers in war production jobs in Detroit area in 1940s. Also included are a discussion of the hate strikes…
Joseph Billups was one of the earliest black members of UAW Ford Local 600. In this interview Billups discusses pre-UAW auto unionism, black and left-wing activities, and Detroit during the Depression. Also included are discussions on the Ford Hunger…