Posted on behalf of Maggie Collins, GHCC Archives Assistant.
The Genesee Historical Collections Center (GHCC) has long been a hub of labor history, serving as home to the UM-Flint Labor History Project and housing the papers, photographs, and films of UAW Local 599. These collections capture the history of labor in Flint across the 20th century and into the present, documenting how the 1936-1937 Flint Sit-down Strike created a new chapter for America’s middle and working classes. We are thrilled to announce that we have added another vital source that tells of that remarkable history.
A project three years in the making, the GHCC has partnered with the University of Michigan Library’s Digital Collections division to make UAW Local 599’s Headlight newspaper available, online and searchable, for the first time. With regular editions from 1937 to 2008, Headlight was the voice of Flint’s largest labor organization and a rare working-class periodical. Researchers from as far away as Korea and Japan and as close to home as U-M Flint have requested access to this material that is now completely digitized and freely available to the public. Headlight will offer researchers an unparalleled look into working-class communities, interests, and civic life.
“With every issue now keyword-searchable, curious researchers can trace how UAW Local 599 shaped debates on wages, civil rights, and urban development—month by month, voice by voice,” said U-M Flint’s Dr Thomas Henthorn. “This collection turns what was once a fragile artifact into an open, durable archive, inviting students, community members, and researchers worldwide to explore Flint’s history in unprecedented depth.”
Community members, faculty, staff, researchers, and anyone interested in exploring our community heritage can find the collection online and dive into this piece of history! Reach out with questions or comments at ghcc-archives@umich.edu.
University of Michigan-Flint
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