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- Description:
- Mildred Alspaugh, daughter, sister and wife of REO Motor Car/Diamond-Reo Truck, Inc employees, talks about the company and her life in a REO workers family in Lansing, MI. Alspaugh tells of her father bringing home his "piece count pay slips" so that she could tally his earnings, of going to the REO Clubhouse as a child, listening to the REO Band, and watching the company ball teams. Alspaugh says that her husband died at the plant after forty years on the job and that other workers collected money to give to her and her children. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-02-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Connie talks about being hired in 1972 and working in Sanitation and Trim, being laid-off in June 1973 and quitting to care for her child. She rehired straight into skilled trades in April 1985 with a journeyman's card from her time with the Tennessee Valley Authority. Connie recalls being one of only a few women in the trades, relations with bosses and coworkers, life in the factory, and social time. Connie comments on her family ties to GM and her union activity.
- Date Issued:
- 2005-08-31T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Otto Aves talks about his career at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc., in Lansing, MI, from 1944 to 1972. Aves describes growing up on a Delta Township farm and following both of his parents into the plant. He also talks about building military vehicles without heaters and defrosters, trying to run the family farm while working double shifts, a wildcat strike over piece rate pay, conditions on the shop floor, building custom trucks for celebrities, and the tremendous influence of the UAW. He says that REO was much like a family and reminisces about REO picnics, outings at Lake Lansing, the REO Clubhouse, movies, bowling, and the ball teams. As in any family, he says, there were problems and he describes filing a shop grievance against his real-life father-in-law who also worked at REO. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1993-01-04T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Marilyn Shadduck talks about her career at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc., in Lansing, MI, from 1942 to 1975. Shadduck describes her youth, going to weekly free movies at the REO Clubhouse, working at REO through the war years, being selected as "Miss REO", raising a family, and being part of the "REO family" until the plant closed. She talks about the dissolution of the company, the loss of the pension fund, and the start of Spartan Motors by former REO workers. She says that REO "was a great place to work". The interviewer is Shirley Bradley. Recorded as part of the commemoration of REO Motor Car Company’s 100th Anniversary.
- Date Issued:
- 2004-06-08T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Lyle tells of being hired in August 1976 and being assigned to the Trim Shop. He tells of working on weld integrity in Quality Control, of meeting his wife, his love of music and he even plays his harmonica. Lyle also discusses the difference between hourly and salaried people, the BOC talent show, his union activity and his job as plant tour guide.
- Date Issued:
- 2005-12-15T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Dave talks about being hired in August 1976, his first day in the Body Shop jungle, and a variety of pranks. He tells of beginning his apprenticeship in 1979 and receiving his journeyman's card 1989. Dave discusses lines of demarcation, overtime, wages, family issues and working Sundays when families of the tradesmen would come to the plant and picnic outside.
- Date Issued:
- 2005-10-17T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Marjorie Koehler talks about her career at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc., in Lansing, MI, from 1947 to 1975. She says that her grandfather and father were working at REO when she came on board, after working for the State of Michigan, the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) and the Works Projects Administration (WPA). She describes working in the payroll and catalog departments at REO, shares stories of the REO Clubhouse, employee picnics and the annual employee fair and says that working at REO was much better than Oldsmobile, where her husband was worked. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of 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:
- Sue Ellen Houghtalling Brown talks about her life in a REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc. family and her father's career with the company. Brown describes a worker family Christmas party at the elaborate, company owned, REO Clubhouse in Lansing, MI and discusses her father's job as a sales and distribution manager for REO, and his jobs after the REO bankruptcy in 1975. She also gives a detailed, first-hand account of the massive January 1980 fire at the plant and of taking photos of the blaze before police or firefighters had even arrived. She says that she later hid her uncensored photos and negatives because she was afraid they would be confiscated by the authorities. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1993-03-02T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Marilyn Shadduck talks about her career at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc., in Lansing, MI, from 1942 to 1975. Shadduck describes her youth, going to weekly free movies at the REO Clubhouse, working at REO through the war years, being selected as "Miss REO", raising a family, and being part of the "REO family" until the plant closed. She talks about the dissolution of the company, the loss of the pension fund, and the start of Spartan Motors by former REO workers. She says that REO "was a great place to work". The interviewer is Shirley Bradley. Recorded as part of the commemoration of REO Motor Car Company’s 100th Anniversary.
- Date Issued:
- 2004-06-08T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection