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- Description:
- Arthur Frahm recalls his career as a bookkeeper and purchasing agent at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc, in Lansing, Mi, between 1947 and 1972. Frahm describes his job buying almost everything used in the factory, the constant turmoil as REO changed hands over the years, the decline of the company, his own discharge, and his unsuccessful class action law suit filed against REO. Frahm also talks about his education, childhood in Lansing, the Lansing Labor Holiday and the 1937 strikes, REO’s involvement in the community, the destruction of the worker's pension fund, the start of Spartan Motors, and his career after REO. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-02-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Alex talks about growing up in the neighborhood, playing around the plant and his father's experience as a Fisher worker. Alex talks about being hired in March 1981 before he turned 18, making money, life in the factory, and his union involvement. He relates a story about men being allowed to work shirtless until a woman removed her shirt.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-03-08T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Retailing legend Betty Price talks about her life, her interest in design, and her family opening Liebermann's luggage and gift store in downtown Lansing, Michigan. Price reflects on her youth in Saginaw, Michigan, experiences working in her great uncle's store, also called Liebermann's, coming to Lansing with her father in 1931 to open the store and to attend Michigan State College and finally leaving MSC to devote all of her time to retailing. Price says that her father told her that she could buy anything that she could sell and with that in mind, she set about creating a store inventory of items created by artists whose work appealed to her. She says that she went out of her way to get to know the artists personally and often entertained them in her East Lansing home which was designed by modernist Lansing architect Kenneth Black in 1946. She says that later moving Liebermann's to 113 N. Washington Ave in Lansing was a major business decision and that having modernist George Nelson design the new facility brought admirers to Lansing from around the world.
- Date Issued:
- 2011-05-10T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Theresa talks about being born in Lansing and raised in Missouri. She describes being hired in August 1977 after standing in line to submit an application. Theresa discusses working in the Trim Shop, seniority rights, the impact of night shift on family life, friendships in the factory, and a fatal accident.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-03-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Derrick tells of moving to Lansing in 1957 so his father could get a job at Fisher, growing up near the plant and being hired in August 1978. He tells about his experiences in the Body and Paint Shops, dealing with racial diversity and animosity, hazards in the plant, his union activity, and appointment to the Michigan AFL-CIO Safety Department in Lansing.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-02-13T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Willie describes being raised in Monroe, Louisiana. He attended college and hired into Fisher in August 1969. He describes work in the Body Shop where a majority of workers were black and were spread out on the line "so they couldn't talk." Willie spent a short time as a per diem supervisor but decided to get active in the UAW and was elected committeeman. He discusses racism, graffiti, and daily life in the factory.
- Date Issued:
- 2005-12-14T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Doug tells of growing up near the plant and being hired in October 1978. He talks about working in several departments including material handling, his union activity, his work as chair of the Union Label committee and Local 602 Vice President.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-02-15T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Larry Otis talks about his career at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc., in Lansing, MI, from 1959 to 1975. Otis describes his youth and early jobs before coming to REO as a truck mechanic. He talks about REO facilities and products, explains the closing of the plant, the disposal of parts and equipment and the start of the Nuts & Bolts Store by former REO workers selling salvaged REO parts. Otis says that he considered REO a good place to work and recalls employee activities in the plant and the REO Clubhouse and the sense of belonging that came with REO employment. 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
- Description:
- Karel discusses his childhood in the neighborhood near Fisher, how he got his nickname, his time in the U.S. Army, and hiring into Fisher in July 1971. Frizz talks about being hired straight into the apprentice program, being paid to learn, women on trades and life in the factory. He discusses his move to supervision and the culture difference between Oldsmobile and Fisher Body during the corporate restructuring in the mid 1980s.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-05-13T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection