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Container
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Title
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Series: John Wesley Van Horn
: 349 West Grand, Apt. 206, Beloit
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1976 October 19
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Tape/Side
28/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:45
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Introduction
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Tape/Side
28/1-A
Time
0:46 to 3:51
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Family background--father as “jack-of-all-trades”, farmed in Iowa, returned to family home in Milton, Wis.--importance of 7th Day Baptist churches to the family--early work experience
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Tape/Side
28/1-A
Time
3:52 to 7:57
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More on family background--7th Day Baptist religious background--children ceased 7th Day practice, worked on Saturday--W. V. H. later attended Congregational Church
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Tape/Side
28/1-A
Time
7:58 to 15:08
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Republican family politics--W. V. H. considered radical--father worked at Badger Ordnance in Merrimac during WW II--W. V. H.'s development as a Democrat, influence of FDR and the UAW
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Tape/Side
28/1-A
Time
15:09 to 18:54
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W. V. H. grew up in Iowa, cut wood during the winter--later life in Milton
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Tape/Side
28/1-A
Time
18:55 to 24:40
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First job at Chevrolet, mounting front springs--variety of experiences--Seaman Body Co. in Milwaukee--upholstered Majestic Theater seats in Milwaukee--A. O. Smith--bartending in Milwaukee during Prohibition--return to Janesville
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Tape/Side
28/1-A
Time
24:40 to 29:25
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Getting first job at Chevrolet--arbitrary process--hard and dirty work
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Tape/Side
28/1-B
Time
0:00 to 1:35
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Front spring mounting as slave labor
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Tape/Side
28/1-B
Time
1:36 to 7:31
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Good pay at Chevrolet, pay scale in 1924--work force at Chevrolet, many farm boys--younger men--many workers from Iowa, Illinois and northern Wisconsin
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Tape/Side
28/1-B
Time
7:32 to 12:52
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W. V. H. and Elmer Yenney, president of Local 121 later, stayed at same boarding house in early years--other early friends who were later UAW associates
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Tape/Side
28/1-B
Time
12:53 to 15:23
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First union meeting--W. V. H. left Chevy for Michigan
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Tape/Side
28/1-B
Time
15:24 to 18:29
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Return to Janesville, getting on at Fisher--sporadic productions--road work on Highway 26
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Tape/Side
28/1-B
Time
18:30 to 24:25
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Tack spitting at Fisher, resultant damage to teeth--case taken to the Wisconsin Industrial Commission--company refused compensation--Glen Demrow as “guinea pig”--Leon Feingold as attorney
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Tape/Side
28/1-B
Time
24:26 to 27:41
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Illegal picketing case after the War, involved a Milwaukee construction firm
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Tape/Side
28/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
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Introduction
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Tape/Side
28/2-A
Time
0:11 to 6:36
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More on illegal picketing case--confrontation--W. V. H. and Bob Donegan charged--contractor and income tax loss--case dismissed--related to 1945-46 strike
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Tape/Side
28/2-A
Time
6:37 to 10:12
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Leon Feingold as the UAW's attorney in Janesville
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Tape/Side
28/2-A
Time
10:13 to 15:08
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Fisher work force--union activists from trim department--the headliner gang
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Tape/Side
28/2-A
Time
15:09 to 21:29
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Strong union members in other departments--highest paid, experienced workers as best union members, “different class of people”
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Tape/Side
28/2-A
Time
21:30 to 25:00
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Line speed as key problem--arbitrary hiring and firing--Manager Hurley “shooting off his mouth”--chain gang
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Tape/Side
28/2-A
Time
25:01 to 26:16
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Line speed at 72 per hour--gaps in line lowered that somewhat
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Tape/Side
28/2-A
Time
26:16 to 29:21.
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Attitudes of management--periods of unemployment
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Tape/Side
28/2-B
Time
0:00 to 2:15
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Few health problem other than tack-spitting--solder pots
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Tape/Side
28/2-B
Time
2:16 to 7:56
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Early development of Local 95--joint union for Fisher and Chevy at first--reason for dividing them--Ed Hall as UAW-AFL international representative--dissatisfaction with early union
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Tape/Side
28/2-B
Time
7:57 to 13:23
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W. V. H. not hired back in 1935, appeal to Wolman Board--the hearing, those in attendance, Ed Hall for the union--radicalizing experience for W. V. H.
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Tape/Side
28/2-B
Time
13:24 to 20:29
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W. V. H.'s early union activities, visited workers at their homes--recruiting at local taverns--little help from AFL
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Tape/Side
28/2-B
Time
20:30 to 27:45
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UAW international convention at Milwaukee in 1937--factionalism at that convention--Martin v. Thomas factions at 1938 convention--Harold Christoffel as a Communist leader--W. V. H.'s fear of the Communist Party--little problem with Communists in Janesville--suspicions, especially during the 1937 sitdown strike
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1976 October 27
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Tape/Side
30/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:15
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Introduction
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Tape/Side
30/1-A
Time
0:16 to 9:50
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Communist influence in UAW at the international level--more on Harold Christoffel and the 1937 Milwaukee convention--Communists in the UAW-CIO, Wyndham Mortimer--Ed Hall as right-wing--George Addes--Reuther brothers as socialists, distinction between Communists and socialists--recollection of Jack Livingston, “straight”
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Tape/Side
30/1-A
Time
9:51 to 13:31
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Membership in Local 95--fluctuation--the company union--membership influx after the 1937 sitdown
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Tape/Side
30/1-A
Time
13:32 to 16:27
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Recruiting members before 1937--wives often fearful--house-to-house canvassing--problems with organizing inside plant
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Tape/Side
30/1-A
Time
16:28 to 20:43
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Higher paid, skilled workers as union activists--key members in the various departments--polish department as hard work, metal finishing as hardest
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Tape/Side
30/1-A
Time
20:44 to 24:04
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Religious and ethnic backgrounds made no difference--other factors--more experienced workers more likely to join--encouraging new hires to join the union
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Tape/Side
30/1-A
Time
24:05 to 25:50
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Leadership in 1935, Straus Ellis sought management position
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Tape/Side
30/1-A
Time
25:51 to 27:56
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Company reaction to union in early years--union not taken seriously, no power
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Tape/Side
30/1-B
Time
0:00 to 2:50
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Confrontation with manager Hurley, union cigarettes, the headliners
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Tape/Side
30/1-B
Time
2:51 to 4:55
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Company union--local members in it
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Tape/Side
30/1-B
Time
4:56 to 11:20
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Local 95's executive board--AFL v. CIO as an executive board decision, board followed W. V. H.'s recommendation, after 1937--most anxious to join the CIO--Jap Michaels as international representative
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Tape/Side
30/1-B
Time
11:21 to 14:46
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Isolation of the Janesville locals from the UAW mainstream--confrontation with Frank Sihorsky from Racine Case local at a meeting of the CIO faction
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Tape/Side
30/1-B
Time
14:47 to 21:07
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The effort to strip Lou Adkins of the treasurership of Local 95 for supporting the UAW-CIO--W. V. H. lost, he and Adkins worked together on a friendly basis after
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Tape/Side
30/1-B
Time
21:08 to 26:58
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The decision to join the UAW-CIO, W. V. H. attended CIO meeting in Flint--resulting confrontation with Homer Martin and AFL leaders--W. V. H. and Elmer Yenney of Local 121 agreed on need to join CIO, 1940--fear of Communists as key reason for failure to join earlier
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Tape/Side
30/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
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Introduction
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Tape/Side
30/2-A
Time
0:11 to 9:51
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The sitdown strike of 1937--about 15% of workers as dues-paying members then--strike expected--planning for the sitdown, timing left to executives of Locals 95 and 121--one o'clock on Jan. 5, 1937, reason for that timing--W. V. H. told Coley Simmons to shut down line--subsequent events in the plant--agreement to end sitdown, Traxler forced to announce agreement
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Tape/Side
30/2-A
Time
9:52 to 12:17
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Trouble on the railroad tracks, keeping a train out of the plants
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Tape/Side
30/2-A
Time
12:18 to 15:33
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Further comments on planning--previous UAW experience in Flint--mass meeting on night before the sitdown
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Tape/Side
30/2-A
Time
12:18 to 16:03
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Community reaction--W. V. H. had no fear of plant closing--reason for sitdown, value of sitdown--spontaneous decision to sitdown
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Tape/Side
30/2-A
Time
16:04 to 20:59
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Negotiations to end the sitdown, W. V. H. not directly involved--role of Sheriff Croake--Henry Traxler's role--no arrests
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Tape/Side
30/2-A
Time
21:00 to 24:10
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News reporting of the sitdown--Rockford Morning-Star better than Gazette--coverage of the Madison Capital Times
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Tape/Side
30/2-B
Time
0:00 to 3:25
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Legality of the sitdown--W. V. H. thought it illegal--contest for power
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Tape/Side
30/2-B
Time
3:26 to 4:46
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Activites after sitdown, during strike
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Tape/Side
30/2-B
Time
4:47 to 9:22
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Grievances after plant re-opened--line speed--inconsistent pay scale--seniority--sanitation problems, toilets not cleaned--line speed dropped from 72 to 58--body banks used to keep the line full
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Tape/Side
30/2-B
Time
9:23 to 16:08
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Wildcat strikes after the big strike--“guys got cocky”--problems for union--role of Jack Cronin, a fair personnel man--cocky foreman and bosses--problem with a foreman who borrowed from his men--grievance system established prior to WW II
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Tape/Side
30/2-B
Time
16:09 to 20:49
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Response of Local 95 leaders to wildcat strikes--incident when non-union workers were thrown out of the plant--stopping a brawl at a country tavern--getting non-members into the union
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Tape/Side
30/2-B
Time
20:50 to 24:15
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W. V. H. as a UAW field representative--returned to Janesville after a few months
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Tape/Side
30/2-B
Time
24:16 to 26:36
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Work experience during WW II--wartime leave from Janesville plant--UAW field work in the Janesville area
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