LibGuides: Flint & Local History: Labor History & UAW

Sit-Down Strike

The largest news story ever to originate in Flint was the Sit-Down Strike at General Motors which took place at a number of plants in Flint in 1936-1937. In addition to the books listed below, the GHCC holds a number of publications more ideological in nature.

Sit-Down by Sidney Fine
Call Number: HD5325.A82 1937 F5 1969

This is an exhaustive history of the strike which credits Governor Frank Murphy for its success.
The Many and the Few by Henry Kraus; Neil O. Leighton (Introduction by)
Call Number: HD5325.A82 1937 .F5 1985

Kraus, the editor of the strike newspaper, wrote recounts his personal experiences during the Sit-Down Strike. This is a later edition of the book, which was originally published in 1947.

UM-Flint Labor History Project

University of Michigan - Flint Labor History Project
The sound recordings and searchable transcriptions of interviews of Sit-Down Strike witnesses. Under the direction of Political Science professor Neil Leighton, several members of the faculty of University of Michigan-Flint carried out interviews with many different people who experienced the strike, from leaders to casual observers, in the late 1970s and early 1980s
Flint Sit-Down Strike Audio Gallery
A presentation about the Sit-Down Strike using clips of recorded interviews from the UM-Flint Labor History Project.

United Auto Workers (UAW)

The records of UAW Local 599, 1939-2011, are available for research purposes at the GHCC. A finding aid is also available.

The GHCC has runs of local labor newspapers including:

Flint Auto Worker (1936-1939),
Flint Weekly Review (1938, 1950-1961),
Fisher News (from UAW Local 326; 1973-1977)
Members' Forum (from UAW Local 326; 1986-1987)
Headlight (from UAW Local 599; 1941 - 2012),
Fisher Flashes (from UAW Local 581; 1945-1948, 1969-1972, 1974-1977, 1986-1989),
Eye-Opener (from UAW Local 598; 1974-1977),
Searchlight (UAW Local 659;1973-1977, 1984-1985, 1986-present), and
Grand Blanc Impressions (UAW Local 1292; 1969-178, 1986-2012).

The Reuther Library at Wayne State University, however, has many more UAW records in its collection.

UAW Records from the Walter P. Reuther Library at Wayne State University
Descriptions of the holdings and finding aids for the UAW Records at Wayne State.

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Genesee Historical Collections Center
Archive of published and unpublished material about Flint, Genesee County, and UM-Flint.

Digital Collections at UM-Flint
This resource, along with other archival collections, documents various aspects of the history of Flint and Genesee County. It currently contains three collections, but others will be added.

The collections already included are:

• Donald W. Riegle Papers, 1966-1994, containing mostly photographs from his career as Democratic Senator from Michigan and newsletters from his tenure as Republican and Democratic Congressman from Flint.

• Lyman George Willcox Papers, 1830-1933, containing family photos and letters to this pioneer resident of Rochester, Michigan, and other Michigan towns. One photograph is the earliest known photo of Traverse City.

• University of Michigan-Flint Labor History Project. This significant oral history project, carried on from 1978 to 1988 under the direction of Prof. Neil Leighton of the Political Science Department, contains over 160 interviews relating to the General Motors Corporation Sit-Down Strike of 1936-1937. The digitized collection includes almost all interviews, including the actual recordings and digitized transcripts. Keyword searching is possible, which makes this a unique and valuable resource for not only labor and radical history, but also for many aspects of the history of Flint.

Your Librarian

Colleen Marquis

227 Thompson Library
810.762.3402

cmarqui@umich.edu