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- Description:
- Louis Garcia discusses his career as an assembly worker, press operator, and manager at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc, in Lansing, Mi, between 1946 and 1975. Garcia talks about his Hispanic heritage and his childhood spent as a migrant farm worker. He says that in his early years at REO he was singled out and "tested" by other workers and management because of his ethnicity, but still excelled in the workplace, becoming a journeyman and later a supervisor. Garcia also talks about Francis Cappaert’s ownership of REO, the company bankruptcy, loss of the worker pension fund, the final days of plant operations, and employee depression and suicide. Interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-01-28T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Doris Dow recalls her career as a secretary at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc, in Lansing, Mi, between 1950 and 1975. Dow talks about joining her mother and other relatives at the plant and describes her first job running a blueprint copier, becoming a secretary and later working for Oldsmobile. She says that at REO, the company was more a part of the social fabric of a worker's life than at Oldsmobile and goes on to describe the "fun" she had at the REO Girls Club, and performing charity work with other employees. Dow also discusses the decline of REO, the day that the doors were locked, the aftermath of the closing, the demolition of the REO Clubhouse and the loss of the REO pension fund. She explains the complexity of selling the company as a unit because of the way owner Francis Cappaert had divided the operations from the property. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-02-19T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Jack Down, an R. E. Olds Transporation Museum volunteer and former REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc. employee, recalls his experiences with the company and his life in the Greater Lansing, MI area. Down talks about his youth in East Lansing, attending Michigan State College, his jobs prior to working for REO, the factory buildings and land around the plant, the REO Clubhouse, and the beginnings of the REO Motor Car Company and the Oldsmobile and Fisher Body operations in Lansing. He also discusses the tragedy of owner Francis Cappaert raiding the REO worker's pension fund and the turmoil of the Lansing Labor Holiday and the labor confrontation known as the Battle of the Red Cedar. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-02-18T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Doris Dow recalls her career as a secretary at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc, in Lansing, Mi, between 1950 and 1975. Dow talks about joining her mother and other relatives at the plant and describes her first job running a blueprint copier, becoming a secretary and later working for Oldsmobile. She says that at REO, the company was more a part of the social fabric of a worker's life than at Oldsmobile and goes on to describe the "fun" she had at the REO Girls Club, and performing charity work with other employees. Dow also discusses the decline of REO, the day that the doors were locked, the aftermath of the closing, the demolition of the REO Clubhouse and the loss of the REO pension fund. She explains the complexity of selling the company as a unit because of the way owner Francis Cappaert had divided the operations from the property. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-02-19T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Jack Down, an R. E. Olds Transporation Museum volunteer and former REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc. employee, recalls his experiences with the company and his life in the Greater Lansing, MI area. Down talks about his youth in East Lansing, attending Michigan State College, his jobs prior to working for REO, the factory buildings and land around the plant, the REO Clubhouse, and the beginnings of the REO Motor Car Company and the Oldsmobile and Fisher Body operations in Lansing. He also discusses the tragedy of owner Francis Cappaert raiding the REO worker's pension fund and the turmoil of the Lansing Labor Holiday and the labor confrontation known as the Battle of the Red Cedar. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-02-18T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Louis Garcia discusses his career as an assembly worker, press operator, and manager at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc, in Lansing, Mi, between 1946 and 1975. Garcia talks about his Hispanic heritage and his childhood spent as a migrant farm worker. He says that in his early years at REO he was singled out and "tested" by other workers and management because of his ethnicity, but still excelled in the workplace, becoming a journeyman and later a supervisor. Garcia also talks about Francis Cappaert’s ownership of REO, the company bankruptcy, loss of the worker pension fund, the final days of plant operations, and employee depression and suicide. Interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-01-28T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection