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- Description:
- James Cataline talks about working for the REO Motor Car Company, in Lansing, MI, as a timekeeper during World War Two and later becoming Parts Department General Manager in 1967 when REO became Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc. Cataline reminisces fondly about the social life at REO and the terrible emotional damage its closing had on workers and the Greater Lansing community. He also describes the demolition of the REO Clubhouse and the later fire that destroyed the plant, events which, to him, drove home the end of an era. Cataline is interviewed by Shirley Bradley. Recorded as part of the commemoration of REO Motor Car Company’s 100th Anniversary.
- Date Issued:
- 2004-05-06T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Mabel McQueen talks about her career at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc, in Lansing, MI, from 1953 to 1975. She describes her youth on the family farm, working at Motor Wheel through the war, her work as a secretary and bookkeeper, her supervisors, and her feelings about the union. McQueen says that many of her family members also worked at REO and that REO itself felt like one big family. She says that the bankruptcy was a terrible time and that it was heartbreaking watching friends and co-workers being fired and losing their pensions. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-06-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Sandy Dragoo relates how she came to work at Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc., in Lansing, MI, as an executive secretary, from 1971 to 1974. She talks about moving to the Capitol Area Transportation Authority (CATA), Lansing's public transit company, as REO began to die and recruiting other REO employees. She also describes the actions of Francis Cappaert, the end of the company pension fund and the emotional depression shared by REO workers. Sandy also talks about the many social activities enjoyed by workers and how much fun she had, as an executive secretary, being invited to management's "REO Men’s Club". The interviewer is Shirley Bradley. Recorded as part of the commemoration of REO Motor Car Company’s 100th Anniversary.
- Date Issued:
- 2004-05-27T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Linda Maxon discusses her early years at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc., in Lansing, MI. She says that she started as a temporary stenographer in 1967 and stayed to work as a secretary for several managers until the plant closed in 1975. Maxon shares many experiences about company social events and institutions and describes the loss of the REO Clubhouse and the burning of the factory itself. Maxon says that in the end, she was able to draw money from the REO pension fund before it was drained and describes the terrible depression suffered by other workers who lost all of their retirement money. The interviewer is Shirley Bradley. Recorded as part of the commemoration of REO Motor Car Company’s 100th Anniversary.
- Date Issued:
- 2004-06-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Jane Arnold, humanities collection coordinator at the Michigan State University Libraries, interviews poet Katherine Fishburn on why she chooses to be a poet, her book "The dead are so disappointing", the healing power of writing poems, how she brings in her relationship with her parents, especially her father, into her poems, nature as a theme in her poems, her in-progress works.
- Date Issued:
- 2000-03-31T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Earl talks about being hired in April 1963, first impressions of the factory, black workers assigned to the body shop, and union sympathies. Earl was the first black supervisor at Fisher and tells of making the transition from hourly to supervision, the effect of the BOC reorganization on managers, and comments on GM's treatment of salaried retirees.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-05-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Marilyn Chamberlain talks about working at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc., in Lansing, MI, from 1965 to 1975. She talks about her many bosses and the unique family atmosphere in the plant, which she says she never found in any other workplace. Her husband, Calvin Chamerlain, talks about coming to REO from Motor Wheel in Lansing and working his way up from machine operator to time study analyst on the truck and lawnmower lines. He says that workers often felt threatened by time studies and reacted to them with hostility. The Chamerlains recount the decline and end of the company, the loss of the REO Clubhouse, hard feelings and tension throughout the factory and leaving the plant for the last time. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-06-11T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Marvin Grinstern talks about his employment at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc, in Lansing, MI, from 1965 and 1975. Grinstern describes growing up in Lansing, farming, visiting his father at the plant, as a boy, during the 1937 strike and finally joining his father and other relatives at REO. Grinstern also talks about a fatal accident on the shop floor, managers abusing their position, the REO bankruptcy, the plant closing, and the resulting shock, depression and suicides among workers. Grinstern laments the loss of manufacturing companies and jobs in Lansing and remarks on the great changes that came to factories in the wake of unionization and women in the workplace. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-12-03T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Fonnie talks about working for Studebaker in South Bend and coming to Fisher in April 1955. He describes a workplace with few blacks placed on the worst jobs, being placed in the lead solder booth and receiving blood tests for lead exposure. Fonnie describes his move to skilled trades, racial issues, relations with coworkers and managers, and his move to supervision. He reflects on the challenges of being a lone black supervisor, his promotions, retirement and recent loss of benefits.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-02-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Thomas Morefield talks about his career at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc., in Lansing, MI, from 1960 to 1975. Morefield describes his childhood, joining REO to work with other family members, the various jobs he held, and building military vehicles. Morefield says that moving from the union ranks into management strained many of his relationships in the plant, and that losing his union seniority as a manager was an unnerving experience. The interviewer is Shirley Bradley. Recorded as part of the commemoration of the REO Motor Car Company’s 100th Anniversary.
- Date Issued:
- 2004-05-11T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection