Jack Down discusses his career at REO Motor Car Company and Diamond REO Trucks, Inc

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
Place:
Michigan, Lansing, Michigan, Lansing, Michigan, and Lansing
Subject Topic:
Career in automobile industry and trade, Childhood and youth, Influence, Buildings, History, History, History, Automobile industry workers, Work environment, Pension trusts, Termination, and Labor disputes
Subject Name:
Down, Jack, Down, Jack, Down, Jack, Cappaert, Francis, Reo Motor Car Company, Diamond REO Trucks, Inc, Reo Motor Car Company, Reo Motor Car Company, General Motors Corporation, Oldsmobile Division, General Motors Corporation, and Fisher Body Division
Subject Genre:
Interviews, Interviews, Interviews, and Interviews
Language:
English
Rights:
In Copyright
URL:
https://n2t.net/ark:/85335/m5df6k407