Kraus, Henry

Dorothy Kraus Papers

drice — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 10:30:40 -0400

Dorothy Kraus, wife of Henry Kraus, had a Jewish working class socialist family background. When married to Henry, she helped assist in local Detroit UAW strikes by organizing strike kitchens and leading the Emergency Brigade. Her efforts led to the formation of the UAW Women's Auxiliary.

Material in Part I of the Dorothy Kraus Collection relates mainly to the early activities of the UAW Women's Auxiliary, attempts to control the cost of living during the Depression, and to anti-Semitism. Papers in Part II detail Dorothy’s early life in Poland, and contain personal notebooks, correspondence and manuscripts of her later writings.

Ford Hunger March

kchinery — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 15:49:56 -0400

As the devastation of the Great Depression spread throughout Detroit, increased lay-offs and financial instability among Ford Motor Company workers led to an atmosphere of despair that reached an apex in 1932. These workers were among those who marched to Ford’s River Rouge Industrial Complex in Dearborn, Michigan on March 7, 1932. This event, famously known as the Hunger March, was orchestrated by members of Detroit’s Unemployed Councils, who had been helping unemployed workers fight evictions and seek relief from charitable agencies. read more »

Subject Focus: Remembering the Flint Sit-Down

teller — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 13:52:57 -0500

Tired of reductions in pay and jobs, increased workloads, and harassment of United Automobile Workers organizers, on December 30, 1936 automotive workers in the General Motors Fisher Number One Plant in Flint, Michigan sat down on the job. For the next 44 days workers refused to work or leave the Fisher One and Two plants, and later Chevrolet Number 4. Michigan Governor Frank Murphy refused to order the strikers out, so GM attempted to expel them by shutting off the plants’ heat and electricity and by preventing food deliveries. read more »

[Podcast] "No Labor Dictators For Us": Revisiting Anti-Union Forces in the Flint Sit-Down Strike

teller — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 08:55:01 -0500

While the 1936-1937 Flint Sit-Down is usually viewed as a pivotal success for the UAW, Dr. Gregory Wood considers more closely the influence of anti-union workers and the General Motors-supported Flint Alliance both during and after the strike. read more »