Michigan--History

Al Barnes Photograph Collection

eclemens — Wed, 15 Jan 2020 17:33:48 -0500

The Al Barnes Photographs consist of 17 black and white negatives that document life in Northern Michigan during the late 19th-century. The negatives include scenes of local landmarks, both man-made and natural, agricultural labors at work in the farms of the Old Mission Peninsula, and portraits of children. Of particular note are negatives concerning the activities of local Native Americans.

Monroe S. Causley, Jr. Papers

drice — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 13:53:08 -0400

Papers consist of materials related to the utility strikes that took place in the Saginaw Valley region of Michigan in the late 1930s. The materials consist mostly of news clippings from various local and national newspapers that covered the strikes in some detail. Monroe Causley Jr.’s father was involved in the strikes and was accused of intentionally damaging electrical equipment and utility poles. Transcripts of his court case can be found in the collection. Much of the material was likely used for Causley Jr.’s 1985 book, Power Switches and Power Plays: A Brief History of Utility Strikes in Michigan's Saginaw Valley, 1937-1939.

Collection is unprocessed.

Peter Eckstein Papers

drice — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 17:35:27 -0400

Peter Eckstein has been involved with labor unions in the state of Michigan since the 1960s. Eckstein served as the research director for Michigan UAW-CAP; executive director of the Governor’s Commission on Jobs and Economic Development, where he drafted several important pieces of worker’s compensation legislation; and finally as research director of the Michigan AFL-CIO. He graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Economics and earned his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard. Mr. Eckstein also taught economics at several universities and worked on the political campaigns of Carl Levin, Jennifer Granholm and Howard Wolpe. Eckstein retired in 1999 but is still active in various political causes in
Michigan.

The material in this collection documents Eckstein’s time serving on different government committees, such as those relating to unemployment and worker’s compensation legislation. There is also some material related to his time working for UAW-CAP and on local, state, and national elections. Some of the folder headings were created by Eckstein and contain abbreviations such as WC for worker’s compensation, UC for unemployment commission or VC for venture capital. These abbreviations have been spelled out in full in the finding aid.

Jimmy Hoffa FBI Files

drice — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 13:15:29 -0400

Jimmy Hoffa (1913-1982) was born in Brazil, Indiana. He was heavily involved with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters between the years 1932-1971, first as an organizer and then serving as the union’s general president from 1958-1971. He played a major role in the development of the union, securing the first national agreement for teamsters’ rates in 1964. In 1964, Hoffa was convicted of jury tampering, attempted bribery, and fraud. Hoffa was imprisoned in 1967, but released in 1971 in accordance with a pardon from President Nixon, which blocked him from participating in the union until 1980. After attempting to run for the union presidency again, Hoffa disappeared from the front of the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Township, MI in 1975 and was declared dead in absentia in 1982. As of 2013, his body had not yet been found.

The Jimmy Hoffa FBI Files contain FOIA request copies of FBI files related to the case of Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance. These files were acquired by the Detroit Free Press in response to the settlement and order in the matter of Detroit Free Press v. Department of Justice. The Free Press received pages from a prosecutive report dated May 13, 2002, and its attachments prepared by the FBI Detroit Field Office, as well as thousands of pages from the FBI Headquarters file 9-60052, relating to the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa. The Free Press also received pages from files of the Department of Justice and other related FBI case files. Included in the collection are copies of reports that have not been redacted, given to Barbara Crancer by Mike Betzold, who found them in a discarded school locker and wrote about them in the Sunday Journal.

Michigan Labor History Society Records

kschmeling — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 13:45:49 -0400

The Michigan Labor History Society, founded in 1977, is a local organization committed to fostering interest, understanding, and research regarding the contributions of the working men and women of Michigan. This collection consists of records relating to MLHS research, events, and commemorative efforts, with the bulk of the records pertaining to the Michigan Labor Legacy Project, an art installation commemorating worker contributions to Detroit and Michigan.

UFW Michigan Boycott Records

drice — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:36:34 -0400

The UFW Michigan Boycott collection contains materials specific to the state, and the activities of the UFW within the state. The largest boycott in Michigan was of California grapes, and this is reflected in the numerous store surveys which the UFW conducted in an attempt to ascertain the amount of non-UFW wine available. In addition, the collection contains a small amount of material about the lettuce boycott.

It must also be noted that here are a large quantity of materials which focus on agriculture and migrants, and their living and working conditions in the state. (In the 1970s Michigan had the third largest migrant population in the nation.) Additionally, staff activities (other than the boycott) such as fundraising are documented. There is a significant amount of correspondence to Michigan businesses about UFW concerns, and correspondence which shows support for UFW by a wide range of groups including Michigan colleges and universities, churches, and unions, notably the UAW.

WDIV Transcripts

drice — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 10:59:56 -0500

WDIV began as WWDT in March of 1947. It was the first television station in Michigan and the sixth in the United States. The call letters were changed to WWJ-TV in May of 1947. Less than a month later, the station’s first newscast was televised. By June of 1947, WWJ-TV began with daily programming of just six and half hours a day, Tuesday through Sunday. Tiger baseball, Lion Football, Red Wing Hockey, college football, and the Detroit Thanksgiving Day Parade were some of the events of local interest that were broadcast on WWJ-TV that first year. In March of 1948, WWJ-TV joined the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). A new studio was added onto the radio building on Lafayette Boulevard in Detroit in 1952. In May of 1978, Post-Newsweek Stations, Inc. took over, changing the station’s call letters to the current WDIV.

The WDIV Transcripts contain the scripts of news broadcasts from NBC’s Detroit affiliate, WDIV-Channel 4. They consist of the actual drafts from the morning, noon, evening, and 11:00 PM newscasts, on the dates covered and document local, national, and international news events from the 1970s. Sporting events, weather, and human-interest stories are covered, as well.

Ira H. Butterfield Papers

cwesterman — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 13:39:05 -0400

The Ira H. Butterfield Papers were donated by Paul Butterfield, an associate professor in the History Department at Wayne State University. Paul Butterfield joined the faculty of the College of the City of Detroit in 1931 and retired in 1966.

Materials in the Ira H. Butterfield Papers relate to his interest and involvement in Michigan’s agricultural history. Correspondence, manuscripts, and a written history of the Michigan State Agricultural Society make up most of the papers. The collection includes four scrapbooks.

African Americans and the UAW

mosmith — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 11:53:30 -0500

The Reuther Library celebrates African American History Month with a brief review of the important role that African Americans have played in the formation and growth of the United Automobile Workers of America (UAW), one of the most powerful unions in American history, and the influence of black UAW members within the polity of Detroit. read more »

Exhibit Opening and Panel Discussion - "From the Margins to the Core: Latino Workers in the Nation’s Auto Industry"

mcourtney — Thu, 17 Mar 2016 11:04:56 -0400

This March 29th, please join the Walter P. Reuther Library for a panel discussion to celebrate the opening of a new exhibit on loan from Michigan State University. The exhibit spotlights the voices of Latin@ workers to explore their impact on the auto industry in Michigan, drawing from photographs, oral histories, and other archival records. Panelists will discuss the contributions of Latin@ auto workers from a variety of perspectives. read more »

Subject Focus: African American History at the Reuther Library

wlefevre — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 12:19:12 -0500

The Reuther Library celebrates African American History Month with a look at some of the significant collections housed in the library that deal with African American history.

A gem from Rosa Parks’s collection is a set of her hand written notes from her time at the Highlander Folk School in 1955, shortly before the Montgomery Bus Boycott. These notes showcase her read more »

Subject focus: Jewish Detroit Experience

wlefevre — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:52:44 -0400

The Reuther Library celebrates the Jewish holiday of Passover with a look at some of the significant collections housed in the library that deal with the Jewish experience in Metropolitan Detroit.

As the repository for the Jewish Community Archives (JCA), the Reuther Library has a wealth of information on the Jewish community in Detroit and surrounding environs. The JCA holdings include, but are not limited to, the papers of: read more »

Subject Focus: NAACP

jruss — Thu, 05 May 2011 11:58:47 -0400

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was formed in early 1909. It held its first convention in May of that year. This May, 102 years later, we showcase collections related to the history of this vital civil rights organization.

The Reuther holds the papers of NAACP founding member Mary White Ovington. Her papers reflect the development of the organization and the civil rights movement generally. Also documenting the growth of the national organization are the papers of NAACP stenographer Carrie Burton Overton, civil rights leader Rosa Parks, and NAACP historian Charles F. Kellogg. read more »

The Michigan Black History Bibliography Index: An Invaluable Resource

ljones — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 12:32:46 -0500

In the mid 1970s, the Walter Reuther Library produced an invaluable source of information for numerous researchers that have walked through its doors - the Michigan Black History Bibliography Index. The index contains a wealth of information that does not exist anywhere else, providing researchers with connections to unique and often obscure sources. With this blog, a wider audience will become aware of its existence and value. The index is a four-drawer card file identifying sources that are key to understanding Black history in Michigan, and its hundreds of bibliographic references span from the 19th Century until the mid 1970s. read more »

Thomas Klug’s Extensive Bibliography on Detroit — Now Available through a Link on the Reuther Library’s Website

ljones — Wed, 20 Oct 2021 14:03:15 -0400

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 »

(35042) Richard Chavez and picketers, Michigan, circa 1970s.

drice — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 14:33:39 -0400

Six men, including Richard Chavez (middle), pose at an unknown picket event. Four men hold signs: “Michigan Farm Worker Ministry says No! to Grapes, Lettuce; Please shop eleswhere; Say NO to Where Exploitation Originates; Don’t Shop Here!”

Heard It On the News: Preserving 20th Century Detroit History Through Local Newscasts

teller — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 16:15:01 -0500

Reuther Library audiovisual archivist Mary Wallace discusses the Library’s WWJ / WDIV Film, Video, and Teleprompter Scripts collection, which captures seven decades of news, current events, politics, and community life as reported by the Detroit news station from the 1920s through 1990s. read more »

[Podcast] (Re)Introducing the Michigan Black History Bibliography

teller — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 11:10:19 -0400

Reuther Library field archivist Dr. Louis Jones and former archives students and staff members Mattie Dugan and Allie Penn discuss the Reuther’s Michigan Black History Bibliography (MBHB) and the multi-year, student-led project to digitize a decades-old index card file. read more »