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- Description:
- Matthew Wojciechowski, a student at Michigan State University, discusses growing up in Dearborn Heights, MI, the community's middle class lifestyle, adjusting to the diversity at MSU, first selecting Engineering as his major to please and impress his father, and later switching to Graphic Design. He also talks about foreign students in his classes, the competitiveness he says that they bring, and how other students resent them, career possibilities in his major, conflicts with professors, managing college life, the dorm, and blowing off steam. He says that he aspires to be married with kids and living in a rural area while pursuing his profession.
- Date Issued:
- 1988-05-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Michigan State University graduate Mark Woodhouse talks about growing up in urban Detroit with his father and suburban Ann Arbor with his mother. Woodhouse credits the environment in Ann Arbor with pushing him towards college and speculates on the apparent lack of desire for higher education among minorities. He says he enjoyed the integrated campus at MSU and talks about his freshman year and shares some of his experiences in dealing with his white dorm mates. Woodhouse explains why he majored in telecommunications after a physics class and an internship ended his aspirations of majoring in engineering. He calls telecommunications a really difficult field to break into and can't predict what he will be doing in ten years. Woodhouse hopes that he can work in film industry but says that he needs more family support to move to Los Angeles to make it happen.
- Date Issued:
- 1990-12-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Professor David Wiley, former Director of the Michigan State University African Studies Center, is interviewed by MSU Librarian Peter Limb and John Metzler, MSU Professor of Education. Wiley reflects on his youth in Harrisburg, Illinois and an upbringing of manual labor and familiarity with rural life which he says prepared him for his career studying Africa. Wiley describes attending Yale Divinity school and going to Africa on an internship to work on race issues. He talks about life in Rhodesia and Southern Africa, Apartheid, poverty, education, religion, and class. Wiley also explains why he came to MSU after teaching at the University of Wisconsin, appreciating the activism at MSU, and his relations with other faculty associated with the African Studies Center. Wiley describes a number of MSU initiatives in Africa, his activity in the anti-Apartheid movement and finally visiting a free South Africa. Part of the African Studies Interview Series sponsored by the MSU Libraries and the MSU African Studies Center.
- Date Issued:
- 2012-11-20T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Joe talks about coming from Texas at age 14, his father working for Lindel Drop Forge, and being hired by Fisher in October 1964 at age 18. He describes being placed on jobs that would "only go to Mexicans," some racial tension, relations with coworkers and managers, pranks, playing cards, the check pool, and retiring after 38 years.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-01-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Michigan State University graduate Josie Gray talks about her childhood in Rochester, MI and her dreams of going to college and having a career. Gray also discusses her experiences in James Madison College at MSU and explains why she decided to major in the very competitive field of advertising. She talks about living on and off campus during her college years and describes how difficult it was meeting the expectations of her roommates and the differences between living with males and females. Gray credits her mother with helping prepare her for a life of independence and says that she hopes to one day own her own business and live in Metro Detroit.
- Date Issued:
- 1988-09-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Dr. David Dwyer, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, Linguistics and African Studies and his wife Annabel are interviewed by Dr. David Wiley, Director of the MSU African Studies Center. Dwyer talks about his youth, education and first jobs. Annabel talks about joining the Peace Corps and credits David Dwyer and his family for being instrumental in the creation of the Peace Corp. She recalls working in Cameroon in the early 1960s, meeting and marrying David, coming to East Lansing, and earning a Masters in Urban Planning from MSU. The Dwyers reflect on working in West African countries just after the end of colonial rule and describe the creation of the African Language Program at MSU. Both reflect on their antiwar activities, founding the Peace Education Center in East Lansing, and the African Studies Center at MSU. They also talk about their anti-Apartheid work, political activism in general and how they plan to spend their retirement years. Part of the African Studies Interview Series sponsored by the MSU Libraries and the African Studies Center.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-10-20T00:00:00Z
- 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
- Description:
- Don Stevens, former Michigan State University trustee and AFL-CIO board member, reminisces about his childhood, family, farming, his early education, and his experiences with labor unions and union organizing. Stevens talks about his early work life, hearing about unions during the auto sit-down strikes in 1936 and 1937, listening to radio preachers condemn unions, and failed attempts to unionize a laundry where he worked and later success in organizing dairy and retail workers in the Grand Rapids area in the 1940s. Stevens also discusses CIO leadership during the war, union political efforts regarding health and safety, unemployment insurance, higher wages, and seniority rights and his own involvement in the growing union movement and labor organizing. Stevens is interviewed by John Revitte, MSU professor of Labor and Industrial Relations. Part one of four.
- Date Issued:
- 1983-02-08T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Michigan State University Professor Emeritus of Economics C. Patrick "Lash" Larrowe, talks about his family and childhood in Portland, OR, how his interest in working class issues and unionism grew and why he chose economics as a way of teaching about labor issues. Larrowe describes his early union experiences while in college, joining the Association of Catholic Trade Unionists, his service in World War Two, getting his first professorship at the University of Utah, and finally coming to work at the Labor and Industrial Relations Center at MSU. Larrowe discusses settling in at MSU and the people he worked with including, Jack Stieber, Charles Killingsworth, and MSU President John Hannah. He also explains the tensions between the Labor School and state conservatives and why the MSU faculty grievance system was created in the face of professors being terminated. Larrowe says he left the Labor School and moved to the Economics Department when his research and published material was threatened with censorship. Larrowe is interviewed by John Revitte, MSU professor of Labor and Industrial Relations.
- Date Issued:
- 1989-06-12T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Sal describes his childhood in Texas as a farm laborer, his Army and National Guard experience, and work in the plant cafeteria before being hired by Fisher in October 1968. He describes factory life, jobs he did, pranks, relations with coworkers and supervisors, and his role in the change to a team based system. Sal talks about his family connections to GM and his active social life in and outside the plant.
- Date Issued:
- 2005-12-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Edward Rankin recalls his career as an inventory clerk, manager, and sales representative at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc, in Lansing, MI, between 1947 and 1973. Rankin talks about his youth and being hired at REO, and speaks nostalgically about REO social life, worker sports teams and the beautiful Olds family pipe organ featured at the REO Clubhouse. He also describes sales trips to Iraq and Lebanon on behalf of REO, the intricacies of foreign markets and general market pressures in the truck business. 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:
- 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:
- Memoirist and short story writer Sue William Silverman explains how her childhood incestuous experience has influenced her writing career, her work "Because I Remember Terror, Father, I Remember You", her creative nonfiction writing style, her role as both a writer and a child welfare advocate, and her new in-progress memoir. Silverman is interviewed by Michigan State University Librarian Jane Arnold. Recorded as part of the MSU Libraries' Michigan Writers Series.
- Date Issued:
- 1999-10-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Noel Johnson recalls his career at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc., in Lansing, MI, from 1958 to 1975. Johnson describes his youth and early jobs and the variety of positions he held at REO and says with pride that Diamond-REO trucks were virtually handmade. He also talks about REO's merger with White Motors, Francis Cappaert’s purchase of the company and the final, painful bankruptcy. He says that he was retained by the company to finish the last military truck orders and was there when the gates were closed for good. The interviewer is Shirley Bradley. Recorded as part of the commemoration of REO Motor Car Company’s 100th Anniversary.
- Date Issued:
- 2004-10-13T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Willie recounts his youth in Mississippi, his service in the U.S. Army in Korea, and being hired at Fisher in December 1954. He describes the jobs blacks were placed on, discrimination, and being denied an apprenticeship. He comments on millwright work, family, neighborhood, and retirement.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-01-30T00:00:00Z
- 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
- Description:
- Retired Michigan State University Professor E. James Potchen, former chair of the MSU Radiology Department, reflects upon his early life and education at MSU, his career in medicine and radiology and his experience with with MSU's Faculty Grievance Policy (FGP). Potchen says that he returned to MSU in 1975 to become Chair of the Radiology Department and persuaded the administration that a radiology building could be a profit center for the university. Potchen also gives his opinion of the FGP, talks about various Faculty Grievance Officials (FGO) he worked with, and recalls some of the cases he was involved in while advocating for the the university administration. Potchen is interviewed by John Revitte, former MSU professor of Human Resources and Labor and Industrial Relations.
- Date Issued:
- 2019-02-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Harry E. Lester, a former district director for the United Steelworkers of America, talks about his labor and political activism in southeast Michigan, his childhood in West Virginia, coming to Michigan in 1953 to work for Ford, later working at Mclouth Steel and joining union Local 2659. He talks about why he became active in the union, receiving labor law training at Michigan State University, establishing a teachers union in Gibraltar, MI, and labor education programs at several state universities. He says that he had a difficult time transitioning from being a "gladiator type" of fighter for the workers to becoming a bridge builder. Lester is interviewed by John Revitte, MSU professor emeritus of Labor and Industrial Relations.
- Date Issued:
- 2013-07-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Norman Abeles, professor of Psychology at Michigan State University, discusses his life and career and his experiences as MSU Faculty Grievance Officer. Abeles talks about his childhood in Austria, his education and coming to MSU in 1957. Abeles tells anecdotes about several MSU Presidents and talks about attempts by MSU faculty to unionize, cases he handled as MSU Faculty Grievance Officer, and legendary MSU Economics Professor Charles "Lash" Larrowe. Abeles is interviewed by John Revitte, MSU professor emeritus of Labor and Industrial Relations.
- Date Issued:
- 2009-09-26T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Professor Ilana Blumberg talks about becoming interested in reading and writing, her Jewish upbringing, and being a typical "American girl". She mentions the tensions of navigating between tradition and modernity and the special challenge for women that it poses. Blumberg also talks about how living in Michigan has influenced her writing and how she likes to write about families and the tensions of belonging while trying to find independence. Blumberg is interviewed by Kara Gust for the Michigan State University Libraries' Michigan Writers Series.
- Date Issued:
- 2008-02-12T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Olga "Jo" Beltrame, with her husband Ed Beltrame, discusses her career as a union officer and organizer with the United Packinghouse Workers Organizing Committee and UPWOC Local 69. Beltrame talks about her childhood in Montreal, her father's union activity, coming to Detroit to find work at the age of 14, her experiences working at the Swift meat packing plant and what she later did to help organize meat packing plants, especially Swift's Detroit Hammond-Standish plant. The Beltrames both discuss unions and their shared union activities through the years, including their work in organizing meat packing plants across several states, the wage improvements and benefits which were won for workers, and their elected positions in the union. Ends abruptly. The Beltrames are interviewed by John Revitte, Michigan State University professor of Labor and Industrial Relations, and Joan Kelly, editor of the Michigan AFL-CIO newspaper. The first of two interviews.
- Date Issued:
- 1982-06-24T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Eileen Nortman talks about her brief tenure at the REO Motor Car Company in Lansing, MI. Nortman describes growing up in Williamston, Mi, starting at REO in 1943, at the age of 17 and leaving in 1945 to join the Navy. She talks about shop conditions, her jobs at REO, car-pooling, gas rationing, and women working in the plant, and how she and other women got along with male employees. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1993-01-28T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Author Tom Springer credits his mother for developing his passion for reading and explains how he came to writing, calling himself "the least likely person to be standing up here". Springer, who works as chief editor and program manager for the Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan, describes his journey from a below average, blue-collar kid in southwest Michigan to the writing profession. He reads from his collection "Looking for hickories: the forgotten wildness of the rural Midwest", named a 2009 Michigan Notable Book. Springer interjects his observations on life in Michigan and its cultural history, while reading. He concludes by answering questions. Introduced by MSU Librarian Michael Rodriguez. Part of the Michigan State University Libraries' Michigan Writers Series.
- Date Issued:
- 2009-04-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Alexis Ghorai describes his youth in Lansing, Michigan, finding high school less than challenging, but being motivated and succeeding at the University of Michigan. He also talks about his relationship with his parents, his decision to join the Navy when his parents divorced, and the conflict he feels between his liberal leanings and doing his duty as ordered. He speculates about having a family while in the Navy and then concludes by talking about his life at college, concentrating on his studies, his social life and the stresses between being a kid and being a responsible student.
- Date Issued:
- 1989-11-13T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- 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:
- Andy talks about being raised in Brooklyn, NY, attending Penn State, having his own business, and being hired in 1976 at a GM bearing plant in New Jersey. Andy talks about coming to Lansing Oldsmobile in 1982 and moving to Fisher in 1991. He describes his experiences as a maintenance supervisor and planner, relations with the UAW, and his thoughts about General Motors.
- Date Issued:
- 2005-12-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Robert D. Vassen, retired Associate Director of the English Language Center at Michigan State University is interviewed by John Metzler, African Studies Center Outreach Coordinator and Peter Limb, Michigan State University Librarian and Africana Bibliographer. Vassen discusses growing up in South Africa during the late 1940's and 1950's as an Indian and living in the Indian community of Fordsburg, near Johannesburg. Vassen says he was active in the Transvaal Indian Youth Congress and in 1962, joined the illegal military wing of the African National Congress (ANC). Forced into exile in London in 1964, Vassen says he continued to be an active member of the ANC and edited "Letters From Robben Island: a selection of Ahmed Kathrada's prison correspondence, 1964-1989."
- Date Issued:
- 2005-01-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Tom talks about his life prior to Fisher Body, growing up in Detroit, being hired in August 1978 and going to the Body Shop. Tom tells of deciding early he wanted to be in trades. He talks about his apprenticeship, women in trades, safety lockout, chemicals, duties in the powerhouse, relations with managers and his union activity. Tom comments on Lansing's success, people's attitude and talent.
- Date Issued:
- 2005-11-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Dick talks about being raised on a farm and being hired in May 1955 while on strike at REO Motor Works. He describes being scared and lost on the first day and finding the work "back breaking." Dick talks about having lead poisoning, the swing shift, commuting, pranks, long hours, and unemployment. He describes his union activity working his way up from committeeman to Bargaining Chair to local union President. Dick talks about meeting Walter Reuther and going to Black Lake.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-04-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Bill Myers talks about his career at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc., in Lansing, MI, from 1963 to 1975. Myers discusses his youth and early jobs before coming to REO, and describes how officers from the Detroit Arsenal would come to the plant to talk about military vehicle specifications during the war years. Meyers also talks about how he was recruited, with other REO employees to go to the Capital Area Transportation Authority (CATA), Lansing's transit system, as REO declined. He comments on legendary REO manger Clare Loudenslager’s style at REO and later at CATA and 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:
- 2004-06-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Sam recounts being born in Little Rock, AR, graduating high school in Kansas City, MO. and being hired at Fisher in February 1969. Sam describes the Body Shop as hot, dirty, and smoky. By contrast Sam says Trim Shop was paradise. He was drafted into U.S. Army after three months at Fisher and accrued seniority while he served. Sam talks about his union involvement, Black Men in Unions, service as Recreation and Conservation chair, and the Local 602 picnic.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-01-09T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Andres G. Guerrero, author of "A Chicano Theology," reminisces about his childhood in east Texas, his family and his education, and describes his personal evolution and awakening as a community organizer and teacher working with the poor in the Saginaw, MI Diocese. Guerrero, who holds a doctorate in theology, says that most religions are Euro-centric and do not account for a "native way" of thinking and he challenges all religious institutions to simply "teach love". Guerrero also discusses his book and suggests areas for further study in leadership, organizing, and managing power for the benefit of the entire Chicano Latino community and not just the few. Guerrero is interviewed by Michigan State University Librarian Diana Rivera for the "Mexican Voices - Michigan Lives" oral history series.
- Date Issued:
- 2013-11-08T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Dick Trierweiler talks about his career at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc, in Lansing, MI, from 1960 to 1975. Trierweiler describes his youth, early jobs, hiring into REO, and the jobs he held with the company, including test driving trucks. Trierweiler tells of his struggles to earn an engineering degree while working full-time and later becoming a Technical Service manager and engineering trouble-shooter. The interviewer is Shirley Bradley. Recorded as part of the commemoration of REO Motor Car Company’s 100th Anniversary.
- Date Issued:
- 2004-05-04T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Wickert talks about his childhood in Chicago, obtaining a Psychology degree from UCLA in 1933 and a graduate degree form the University of Chicago. He shares work experiences and comments on the Hawthorne experiments at Western Electric. Wickert served as a replacement-training officer during World War II and joined the Psychology Department at MSU in 1947. He joined the Management School in 1960 developing organizational psychology programs around the world in cooperation with the State Department, Peace Corp and MSU international outreach efforts.
- Date Issued:
- 2009-05-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Frances Barnhart talks about her brief career at the REO Motor Car Company, in Lansing, MI, from 1942 to 1953. Barnhart describes growing up in Lansing and going to the REO Clubhouse as a child, working at Kresge's in downtown Lansing, and finally being hired into the REO Navy Department to make make bomb fuses during the war. Barnhart describes the many family connections that brought her to the plant, earning 65 cents an hour, piece rate, safety issues, and being one of the older women to work at REO. She says that she moved to the lawn mower line after the war, met her husband, was soon laid off and declined a callback in 1959 to raise her family. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1993-03-09T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Poet and writer Keith Taylor, coordinator of the undergraduate creative writing program at the University of Michigan, talks about his youth, leaving college to write, how he came to be a poet and trying to be published. He also talks about how living in Michigan has influenced his writing, his work translating the writing of Greek poet Kostas Karyotakis into English and writing about Hemingway's formative years spent in Michigan. Taylor is interviewed for the Michigan State University Libraries' Michigan Writers Series.
- Date Issued:
- 2007-10-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Roberta talks about moving from Tennessee, meeting her husband Harvey in high school and hiring into Fisher Body in 1978. Roberta talks about her first day in the Trim Shop, childcare duties and working night shift. She tells about her jobs in inspection, relations with bosses, contract supervisors, racism and sexism, her UAW activity on the Civil Rights Committee, Women's Committee, and NAACP. She tells of community service, cooking at the union hall, retiree dinners, and proudly declares her kids are all college educated.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-01-19T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Calvin tells of growing up in Arkansas, working at a unionized shoe factory in St. Louis, moving to Michigan and being hired in November 1949 and being placed on one of the worst jobs. He describes his frustration with racism, sexism and unfairness. Calvin provides several examples of conflict and his eventual move to skilled trades as the first black in Jig & Fixture repair. He discusses being a strike captain during the 1970 strike.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-01-13T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Bill Faunce, professor emeritus of the Michigan State University Department of Sociology, talks about his youth, education, and what brought him to MSU in 1957 to teach industrial sociology and work in the Center for Labor and Industrial Relations which later became known as the School of Labor and Industrial Relations (SLIR). Faunce also talks about his research, the structure of SLIR, the mission of the school, working in an auto plant in his younger days, and coordinating the school's move from the basement of Marshall Hall to South Kedzie Hall. Faunce is interviewed by John Revitte, MSU professor of Labor and Industrial Relations.
- Date Issued:
- 1996-09-27T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- 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:
- Michigan State University senior Christopher Carlisle talks about growing up in one of the last, "good neighborhoods" in Detroit, his perception of the surrounding poverty, attending a Catholic high school, being a good athlete and an under achieving student. Carlisle also reflects upon successful and famous persons in history who have blazed their own trails and says that he hopes to be an artist himself, and to be a creative individual throughout his life.
- Date Issued:
- 1989-10-27T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Leslie Mitchell remembers REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc., in Lansing, MI, as a great place to work, in this interview conducted by historian Shirley Bradley. Mitchell discusses growing up across from the REO plant where both of his parents worked, starting his work life at the General Motors Oldsombile plant and later moving to REO. Mitchell describes a tragic death at the plant during his tenure which led to UAW Local 650 successfully organizing REO workers. Recorded as part of the commemoration of REO Motor Car Company’s 100th Anniversary.
- Date Issued:
- 2004-05-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Vivern Haight talks about his career as a staff person at the REO Clubhouse, the company-owned events center of the REO Motor Car Company (later Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc.), in Lansing, Mi. Haight, who worked for REO from 1945 to 1975, describes the ornate Clubhouse and his duties and discusses all of the famous sports figures, politicians and other celebrities, including President Dwight Eisenhower, who came through its doors. Haight talks about seeing the R.E. Olds mansion and the REO plant as a kid in Lansing and relates stories and local color about the Olds family. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1993-02-04T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Glen Green discusses his career as a machine repairman, tooling division worker and manager at the REO Motor Car Company, between 1937 and 1974. Green talks about his youth in the depression, hiring in at REO, his various jobs with the company, REO's eventual bankruptcy and the fate of worker pensions. He says that a family atmosphere was prevalent at REO and that much of a worker's social life was connected to the plant and its many social events and institutions, such as the company sponsored REO Clubhouse. Green also says, however that there were union-management conflicts and describes the famous Lansing Labor Holiday demonstration of 1937. Interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recording ends abruptly. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-01-23T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Michigan State University sophomore James Porter talks about growing up on a farm in Heartland, MI, his family and siblings, and his parent's careers. He talks about the transition from high school to college, says that he is living off campus now and calls dorm life "insane". Porter says that in ten years he expects to be actor, but would be happy to have any job in professional theater. Theater life, he says, does not lend itself to starting a family.
- Date Issued:
- 1989-11-28T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Denbow reflects on his upbringing, studying journalism, a stint in the Army, and his first job at Penn State University. He describes learning the craft of public relations before coming to East Lansing in 1982 and creating a coordinated public relations effort for MSU based upon portraying the university as elite, but not elitist. He describes the many challenges facing MSU as it attempts to stay true to its land grant mission and laments disinvestment in the state college system and suggests that research institutions play critical roles in solving current and future problems. Part of the Michigan State University Faculty Emeriti Association Oral History Project.
- Date Issued:
- 2011-03-29T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- 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
- Description:
- Michael Rubner, Michigan State University's longest serving Faculty Grievance Official, talks about being born in Palestine and emigrating to the U.S., his education and what brought him to James Madison College at MSU in 1970. He also talks about why the FGO position interested him and his role in the creation of a grievance manual. Rubner says that he inherited an office which did not run smoothly and discusses the steps he took to improve things and that he decided to leave the position because of two faculty members who "made his life miserable". Rubner is interviewed by MSU Professor John Revitte, who himself is a former FGO. Revitte also reflects upon some of his experiences in the office and his revisions to the grievance manual.
- Date Issued:
- 2008-09-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- John reflects on growing up in Lansing and describes how he came to be hired in September 1977. He describes his first day and the work environment. John talks about his move to supervision and various jobs he had including QWL and Labor Relations, the closing of Fisher and his move to the Delta Plant.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-05-31T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Michigan author Liesel Litzenburger talks about growing up in Northern Michigan, the characters in her writing and how she has woven in her childhood experiences. She explains how she gives her young characters voice and how she tries to tell the story from their point of view. Litzenburger also talks about her current projects. Litzenburger is interviewed by Stephanie Mathson of the Michigan State University Libraries. Part of the MSU Libraries' Michigan Writers Series. Held at the MSU Main Library.
- Date Issued:
- 2003-03-14T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Roberta talks about moving from Tennessee, meeting her husband Harvey in high school and hiring into Fisher Body in 1978. Roberta talks about her first day in the Trim Shop, childcare duties and working night shift. She tells about her jobs in inspection, relations with bosses, contract supervisors, racism and sexism, her UAW activity on the Civil Rights Committee, Women's Committee, and NAACP. She tells of community service, cooking at the union hall, retiree dinners, and proudly declares her kids are all college educated.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-01-19T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Calvin tells of growing up in Arkansas, working at a unionized shoe factory in St. Louis, moving to Michigan and being hired in November 1949 and being placed on one of the worst jobs. He describes his frustration with racism, sexism and unfairness. Calvin provides several examples of conflict and his eventual move to skilled trades as the first black in Jig & Fixture repair. He discusses being a strike captain during the 1970 strike.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-01-13T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Frances Barnhart talks about her brief career at the REO Motor Car Company, in Lansing, MI, from 1942 to 1953. Barnhart describes growing up in Lansing and going to the REO Clubhouse as a child, working at Kresge's in downtown Lansing, and finally being hired into the REO Navy Department to make make bomb fuses during the war. Barnhart describes the many family connections that brought her to the plant, earning 65 cents an hour, piece rate, safety issues, and being one of the older women to work at REO. She says that she moved to the lawn mower line after the war, met her husband, was soon laid off and declined a callback in 1959 to raise her family. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1993-03-09T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- 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:
- Bill Faunce, professor emeritus of the Michigan State University Department of Sociology, talks about his youth, education, and what brought him to MSU in 1957 to teach industrial sociology and work in the Center for Labor and Industrial Relations which later became known as the School of Labor and Industrial Relations (SLIR). Faunce also talks about his research, the structure of SLIR, the mission of the school, working in an auto plant in his younger days, and coordinating the school's move from the basement of Marshall Hall to South Kedzie Hall. Faunce is interviewed by John Revitte, MSU professor of Labor and Industrial Relations.
- Date Issued:
- 1996-09-27T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Michigan State University senior Christopher Carlisle talks about growing up in one of the last, "good neighborhoods" in Detroit, his perception of the surrounding poverty, attending a Catholic high school, being a good athlete and an under achieving student. Carlisle also reflects upon successful and famous persons in history who have blazed their own trails and says that he hopes to be an artist himself, and to be a creative individual throughout his life.
- Date Issued:
- 1989-10-27T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Michigan State University graduate Mark Woodhouse talks about growing up in urban Detroit with his father and suburban Ann Arbor with his mother. Woodhouse credits the environment in Ann Arbor with pushing him towards college and speculates on the apparent lack of desire for higher education among minorities. He says he enjoyed the integrated campus at MSU and talks about his freshman year and shares some of his experiences in dealing with his white dorm mates. Woodhouse explains why he majored in telecommunications after a physics class and an internship ended his aspirations of majoring in engineering. He calls telecommunications a really difficult field to break into and can't predict what he will be doing in ten years. Woodhouse hopes that he can work in film industry but says that he needs more family support to move to Los Angeles to make it happen.
- Date Issued:
- 1990-12-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Michigan State University graduate Josie Gray talks about her childhood in Rochester, MI and her dreams of going to college and having a career. Gray also discusses her experiences in James Madison College at MSU and explains why she decided to major in the very competitive field of advertising. She talks about living on and off campus during her college years and describes how difficult it was meeting the expectations of her roommates and the differences between living with males and females. Gray credits her mother with helping prepare her for a life of independence and says that she hopes to one day own her own business and live in Metro Detroit.
- Date Issued:
- 1988-09-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Dr. David Dwyer, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, Linguistics and African Studies and his wife Annabel are interviewed by Dr. David Wiley, Director of the MSU African Studies Center. Dwyer talks about his youth, education and first jobs. Annabel talks about joining the Peace Corps and credits David Dwyer and his family for being instrumental in the creation of the Peace Corp. She recalls working in Cameroon in the early 1960s, meeting and marrying David, coming to East Lansing, and earning a Masters in Urban Planning from MSU. The Dwyers reflect on working in West African countries just after the end of colonial rule and describe the creation of the African Language Program at MSU. Both reflect on their antiwar activities, founding the Peace Education Center in East Lansing, and the African Studies Center at MSU. They also talk about their anti-Apartheid work, political activism in general and how they plan to spend their retirement years. Part of the African Studies Interview Series sponsored by the MSU Libraries and the African Studies Center.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-10-20T00:00:00Z
- 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
- Description:
- Professor David Wiley, former Director of the Michigan State University African Studies Center, is interviewed by MSU Librarian Peter Limb and John Metzler, MSU Professor of Education. Wiley reflects on his youth in Harrisburg, Illinois and an upbringing of manual labor and familiarity with rural life which he says prepared him for his career studying Africa. Wiley describes attending Yale Divinity school and going to Africa on an internship to work on race issues. He talks about life in Rhodesia and Southern Africa, Apartheid, poverty, education, religion, and class. Wiley also explains why he came to MSU after teaching at the University of Wisconsin, appreciating the activism at MSU, and his relations with other faculty associated with the African Studies Center. Wiley describes a number of MSU initiatives in Africa, his activity in the anti-Apartheid movement and finally visiting a free South Africa. Part of the African Studies Interview Series sponsored by the MSU Libraries and the MSU African Studies Center.
- Date Issued:
- 2012-11-20T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Joe talks about coming from Texas at age 14, his father working for Lindel Drop Forge, and being hired by Fisher in October 1964 at age 18. He describes being placed on jobs that would "only go to Mexicans," some racial tension, relations with coworkers and managers, pranks, playing cards, the check pool, and retiring after 38 years.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-01-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Matthew Wojciechowski, a student at Michigan State University, discusses growing up in Dearborn Heights, MI, the community's middle class lifestyle, adjusting to the diversity at MSU, first selecting Engineering as his major to please and impress his father, and later switching to Graphic Design. He also talks about foreign students in his classes, the competitiveness he says that they bring, and how other students resent them, career possibilities in his major, conflicts with professors, managing college life, the dorm, and blowing off steam. He says that he aspires to be married with kids and living in a rural area while pursuing his profession.
- Date Issued:
- 1988-05-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Sal describes his childhood in Texas as a farm laborer, his Army and National Guard experience, and work in the plant cafeteria before being hired by Fisher in October 1968. He describes factory life, jobs he did, pranks, relations with coworkers and supervisors, and his role in the change to a team based system. Sal talks about his family connections to GM and his active social life in and outside the plant.
- Date Issued:
- 2005-12-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Leslie Mitchell remembers REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc., in Lansing, MI, as a great place to work, in this interview conducted by historian Shirley Bradley. Mitchell discusses growing up across from the REO plant where both of his parents worked, starting his work life at the General Motors Oldsombile plant and later moving to REO. Mitchell describes a tragic death at the plant during his tenure which led to UAW Local 650 successfully organizing REO workers. Recorded as part of the commemoration of REO Motor Car Company’s 100th Anniversary.
- Date Issued:
- 2004-05-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Don Stevens, former Michigan State University trustee and AFL-CIO board member, reminisces about his childhood, family, farming, his early education, and his experiences with labor unions and union organizing. Stevens talks about his early work life, hearing about unions during the auto sit-down strikes in 1936 and 1937, listening to radio preachers condemn unions, and failed attempts to unionize a laundry where he worked and later success in organizing dairy and retail workers in the Grand Rapids area in the 1940s. Stevens also discusses CIO leadership during the war, union political efforts regarding health and safety, unemployment insurance, higher wages, and seniority rights and his own involvement in the growing union movement and labor organizing. Stevens is interviewed by John Revitte, MSU professor of Labor and Industrial Relations. Part one of four.
- Date Issued:
- 1983-02-08T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Michigan State University Professor Emeritus of Economics C. Patrick "Lash" Larrowe, talks about his family and childhood in Portland, OR, how his interest in working class issues and unionism grew and why he chose economics as a way of teaching about labor issues. Larrowe describes his early union experiences while in college, joining the Association of Catholic Trade Unionists, his service in World War Two, getting his first professorship at the University of Utah, and finally coming to work at the Labor and Industrial Relations Center at MSU. Larrowe discusses settling in at MSU and the people he worked with including, Jack Stieber, Charles Killingsworth, and MSU President John Hannah. He also explains the tensions between the Labor School and state conservatives and why the MSU faculty grievance system was created in the face of professors being terminated. Larrowe says he left the Labor School and moved to the Economics Department when his research and published material was threatened with censorship. Larrowe is interviewed by John Revitte, MSU professor of Labor and Industrial Relations.
- Date Issued:
- 1989-06-12T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Vivern Haight talks about his career as a staff person at the REO Clubhouse, the company-owned events center of the REO Motor Car Company (later Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc.), in Lansing, Mi. Haight, who worked for REO from 1945 to 1975, describes the ornate Clubhouse and his duties and discusses all of the famous sports figures, politicians and other celebrities, including President Dwight Eisenhower, who came through its doors. Haight talks about seeing the R.E. Olds mansion and the REO plant as a kid in Lansing and relates stories and local color about the Olds family. The interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1993-02-04T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Glen Green discusses his career as a machine repairman, tooling division worker and manager at the REO Motor Car Company, between 1937 and 1974. Green talks about his youth in the depression, hiring in at REO, his various jobs with the company, REO's eventual bankruptcy and the fate of worker pensions. He says that a family atmosphere was prevalent at REO and that much of a worker's social life was connected to the plant and its many social events and institutions, such as the company sponsored REO Clubhouse. Green also says, however that there were union-management conflicts and describes the famous Lansing Labor Holiday demonstration of 1937. Interviewers are Shirley Bradley and Lisa Fine. Recording ends abruptly. Recorded as part of the REO Memories oral history project.
- Date Issued:
- 1992-01-23T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Michigan State University sophomore James Porter talks about growing up on a farm in Heartland, MI, his family and siblings, and his parent's careers. He talks about the transition from high school to college, says that he is living off campus now and calls dorm life "insane". Porter says that in ten years he expects to be actor, but would be happy to have any job in professional theater. Theater life, he says, does not lend itself to starting a family.
- Date Issued:
- 1989-11-28T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- 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
- Description:
- Michael Rubner, Michigan State University's longest serving Faculty Grievance Official, talks about being born in Palestine and emigrating to the U.S., his education and what brought him to James Madison College at MSU in 1970. He also talks about why the FGO position interested him and his role in the creation of a grievance manual. Rubner says that he inherited an office which did not run smoothly and discusses the steps he took to improve things and that he decided to leave the position because of two faculty members who "made his life miserable". Rubner is interviewed by MSU Professor John Revitte, who himself is a former FGO. Revitte also reflects upon some of his experiences in the office and his revisions to the grievance manual.
- Date Issued:
- 2008-09-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- John reflects on growing up in Lansing and describes how he came to be hired in September 1977. He describes his first day and the work environment. John talks about his move to supervision and various jobs he had including QWL and Labor Relations, the closing of Fisher and his move to the Delta Plant.
- Date Issued:
- 2006-05-31T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Michigan author Liesel Litzenburger talks about growing up in Northern Michigan, the characters in her writing and how she has woven in her childhood experiences. She explains how she gives her young characters voice and how she tries to tell the story from their point of view. Litzenburger also talks about her current projects. Litzenburger is interviewed by Stephanie Mathson of the Michigan State University Libraries. Part of the MSU Libraries' Michigan Writers Series. Held at the MSU Main Library.
- Date Issued:
- 2003-03-14T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Denbow reflects on his upbringing, studying journalism, a stint in the Army, and his first job at Penn State University. He describes learning the craft of public relations before coming to East Lansing in 1982 and creating a coordinated public relations effort for MSU based upon portraying the university as elite, but not elitist. He describes the many challenges facing MSU as it attempts to stay true to its land grant mission and laments disinvestment in the state college system and suggests that research institutions play critical roles in solving current and future problems. Part of the Michigan State University Faculty Emeriti Association Oral History Project.
- Date Issued:
- 2011-03-29T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Memoirist and short story writer Sue William Silverman explains how her childhood incestuous experience has influenced her writing career, her work "Because I Remember Terror, Father, I Remember You", her creative nonfiction writing style, her role as both a writer and a child welfare advocate, and her new in-progress memoir. Silverman is interviewed by Michigan State University Librarian Jane Arnold. Recorded as part of the MSU Libraries' Michigan Writers Series.
- Date Issued:
- 1999-10-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection
- Description:
- Edward Rankin recalls his career as an inventory clerk, manager, and sales representative at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc, in Lansing, MI, between 1947 and 1973. Rankin talks about his youth and being hired at REO, and speaks nostalgically about REO social life, worker sports teams and the beautiful Olds family pipe organ featured at the REO Clubhouse. He also describes sales trips to Iraq and Lebanon on behalf of REO, the intricacies of foreign markets and general market pressures in the truck business. 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:
- Noel Johnson recalls his career at REO Motor Car Company/Diamond-Reo Trucks, Inc., in Lansing, MI, from 1958 to 1975. Johnson describes his youth and early jobs and the variety of positions he held at REO and says with pride that Diamond-REO trucks were virtually handmade. He also talks about REO's merger with White Motors, Francis Cappaert’s purchase of the company and the final, painful bankruptcy. He says that he was retained by the company to finish the last military truck orders and was there when the gates were closed for good. The interviewer is Shirley Bradley. Recorded as part of the commemoration of REO Motor Car Company’s 100th Anniversary.
- Date Issued:
- 2004-10-13T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection