Blogs

On May 1, 2015, the Reuther Library hosted a Wikipedia Edit-a-thon to increase online visibility of our collections related to the labor movement. Editors spent the afternoon developing new skills, collaborating on ways describe collections to the general public, and brainstorming ideas to expand the Wikipedia editing group for future events. The group edited over 20 articles during the May Day event and identified several more to create, such as entries for Mary Van Kleeck, Sam Fishman, and the Association for Union Democracy.

The Reuther joined labor archives across the country in this effort  read more »

The Reuther Library is pleased to announce that the Max M. Fisher Papers are now open to researchers. This large collection documents Fisher's life and career as a successful Detroit industrialist and investor, influential Republican Party fundraiser and power broker, Jewish community leader, and major philanthropist. It includes correspondence, documents, speeches, interviews, photographs and other media, and documents from his biographer.  read more »

The Ronald Raven Annual Award provides a tuition stipend and semester-long internship in the Wayne State University Archives to Wayne State University graduate students in the fall and winter semester. The details of the award are located on the Reuther Library Scholarships page.

Kristin Kniffen was the sixth recipient of the Ronald Raven Annual Award, completing her University Archives internship in May 2015. The following is a summary of the internship in her own words.

From my very first day at Wayne State University as a master’s student in the joint History and Library Science degree programs, my professors have encouraged me to seek hands-on experience in the archival field. During earlier semesters I sought this experience through volunteer projects at the Charles H. Wright Museum, but by the time the Winter 2015 semester had rolled around I was still sadly without any formal processing experience. I finally gained that experience thanks to the Ronald Raven Annual Award. The work proved to be not only wonderfully educational, but deeply enjoyable as well.  read more »

The Reuther Library notes with sorrow the passing on May 15 of Flora Suhd Hommel.

Hommel was one of the pioneers who brought the Lamaze psychoprophylactic method of painless childbirth to the United States, establishing an important teaching organization in Detroit, the Childbirth Without Pain Education Association (CWPEA). She championed the rights of women to control childbirth, creating a grass-roots movement contemporaneous with the women’s movement of the 1960s-1970s. Hommel and the CWPEA were important catalysts in establishing similar childbirth and parenting organizations and teacher-monitrice accreditation programs across the United States.  read more »