ljones's blog

The Reuther Library regrets to share the sad news that, on June 7, 2023, Edward Littlejohn, a long-time Wayne State University Law Professor and major contributor to the Reuther Library’s holdings, passed. He was 88.  read more »

The Reuther Library is sorry to report the passing of Adam Shakoor, a former Chief Judge to the 36th District Court who had also served Detroit’s Deputy Mayor under the Coleman Young. He was in private practice as a lawyer during other parts of his professional life. He was 74 when he passed on March 20.

For those interested in studying Shakoor’s life and work in public service, the Reuther Library maintains his papers, which cover the period 1981-1993.  read more »

Of the many online resources the Reuther Library makes available to its patrons, we now provide a link to another one: Historian Thomas Klug’s Bibliography of Detroit History, Politics, and Culture: Late-19th Century to the Present.  read more »

What we now know as the Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs began in 1958 as the Wayne State University Archives. For the next 34 years, Dr. Philip Parker Mason would serve as its Director. During his tenure in that capacity, he would initiate one of the first archival education programs, establish conferences and professional organizations, publish numerous books and other publications, conduct countless oral histories, serve as president of the Society of American Archivists, and build what would be considered the premier labor archives in the United States. Now an oral history documenting Mason’s life and career is available for review at the Reuther Library.  read more »