|
Container
|
Title
|
|
Series: Eugene Osmond
: 1416 East Van Buren, Janesville
|
|
|
Session I, June 8, 1976
|
|
|
Reel/Side
1/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:20
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Reel/Side
1/1-A
Time
0:21 to 8:30
|
Family background--father as a railroad worker--family's ethnic heritage--family religious background--family political background
|
|
|
Reel/Side
1/1-A
Time
8:31 to 14:35
|
Eugene Osmond as one of fourteen children--large family as “rough”--close family--self description
|
|
|
Reel/Side
1/1-A
Time
14:36 to 18:45
|
Further comments on father and the railroad, helped organize railroad union--E. O.'s reaction to father's work and unionism
|
|
|
Reel/Side
1/1-A
Time
18:46 to 23:34
|
Family's religious commitment--E. O. goes to work for Janesville Sand and Gravel at age thirteen
|
|
|
Reel/Side
1/1-A
Time
23:35 to 28:50
|
School experiences--pleased to leave school--aspiration for medical school
|
|
|
Reel/Side
1/1-B
Time
0:00 to 6:40
|
Bringing home a paycheck--Sister Thomas as a favorite teacher, gentle--dislike for farm chores
|
|
|
Reel/Side
1/1-B
Time
6:41 to 10:43
|
More on aspirations--E. O. liked to read--reading habits
|
|
|
Reel/Side
1/1-B
Time
10:44 to 15:14
|
Class awareness--family as second-class citizens--grandfather as a gardener for the Kaiser in Germany, shoe story--came to United States to escape, no desire to return to Germany
|
|
|
Reel/Side
1/1-B
Time
15:15 to 18:45
|
Union as a means of betterment, seniority as the key
|
|
|
Reel/Side
1/1-B
Time
18:46 to 25:10
|
People admired by E. O.--Mr. Hemingway, successful but tough landlord--admired parents for their sacrifices--working at fourteen
|
|
|
Reel/Side
1/1-B
Time
25:11 to 33:40
|
Early experiences at Chevrolet, 1928 to 1933--first job moving frames, made feet bleed--the bullpen, hiring--Chevrolet not good working place then--lunches, skimpy then
|
|
|
Reel/Side
1/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Reel/Side
1/2-A
Time
0:11 to 4:00
|
Further recollections of first job at Chevrolet--tacks on floor--“chew-off time” from foremen
|
|
|
Reel/Side
1/2-A
Time
4:01 to 12:10
|
Getting a job at Chevrolet in 1928--more on the bullpen--influence of friends--Mr. Coryll's help--rubber doughball problem--lodge associations too influential, Masons and Oddfellows--Knights of Columbus may have been helpful for E. O.
|
|
|
Reel/Side
1/2-A
Time
12:11 to 20:30
|
Working conditions in 1928--work formula--plant layout--rest rooms and lighting adequate--work too hard--Chevrolet as “dealing in labor”, from a personnel man
|
|
|
Reel/Side
1/2-A
Time
20:31 to 26:00
|
Very few good jobs at Chevrolet--Ford screwdriver joke--making time to go to the rest room and the water fountain
|
|
|
Reel/Side
1/2-B
Time
0:00 to 9:25
|
E. O. fired for union activities--E. O. as a recruiter of union members--won back job through the Wolman Board, appearance before the Board
|
|
|
Reel/Side
1/2-B
Time
9:25 to 14:37
|
Expectations of assembly line work--plant shutdown during 1933 World's Fair--work on truck frame line--work at Chevrolet now much improved
|
|
|
Reel/Side
1/2-B
Time
14:38 to 25:43
|
Early attitudes toward unions--influence of Harry Johnson, first union member at Chevrolet--problem with stool pigeon, trip to Chicago to track him down
|
|
|
Reel/Side
1/2-B
Time
25:44 to 26:39
|
General Motors sabotage methods
|
|
|
Reel/Side
1/2-B
Time
26:40 to 29:05
|
Fear of losing jobs, made union organizing difficult
|
|
|
Reel/Side
1/2-B
Time
29:06 to 34:55
|
Development of positive attitudes toward union--E. O. as enthusiastic union member--difficulty talking about union
|
|
|
Session II, June 15, 1976
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:15
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/1-A
Time
0:16 to 4:50
|
Good jobs and bad jobs at Chevrolet--group piece work as a problem
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/1-A
Time
4:51 to 9:28
|
Characteristics of the work force--good people with similar problems--no pronounced demographic characteristics
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/1-A
Time
9:29 to 15:20
|
Mr. Wright as manager--managers as distant--E. O. had personal contact with managers as member of bargaining committee--Fitzpatrick, the prison warden, as manager during the organizational period
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/1-A
Time
15:21 to 18:55
|
Efforts to intimidate strikers in 1937--shutoff of food and water then--Sheriff James Croake recalled as fair to the strikers
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/1-A
Time
18:56 to 28:40
|
Number in sitdown in 1937--story of Mel Jordan and his sick child, to illustrate the union's determination--workers reactions to the sitdown--three factions among the work force--definition of militant--the roles of government officials
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/1-B
Time
0:00 to 6:00
|
Further comments on the roles of local government officials during the sitdown--more on Sheriff Croake
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/1-B
Time
6:01 to 14:20
|
The anti-union workers, the Loyal Alliance--nose benders--ridicule of Alliance members--union takeover of Alliance meeting during sitdown
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/1-B
Time
14:21 to 20:15
|
Alliance leaders as weak, manipulable--selfish people--group action v. individualism--the story of “Sailor” who wanted to be a foreman
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/1-B
Time
20:16 to 23:20
|
Further comments on the Loyal Alliance--fight with Alliance members--“button day”, the end of the Alliance
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/1-B
Time
23:21 to 30:05
|
Necessary and unnecessary violence--tavern brawls
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/1-B
Time
30:06 to 32:25
|
Union and non-union hangouts, avoided by E. O. who drank little
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/1-B
Time
32:25 to 39:40
|
Justification for holding the plant during the sitdown--GM denied workers their dignity
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:18
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/2-A
Time
0:19 to 359
|
Fear during the sitdown--most strikers as family people, E. O. single then
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/2-A
Time
4:00 to 8:48
|
Mood of sitdowners--solidarity, serious
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/2-A
Time
8:49 to 10:39
|
Movement in and out of the plant during the 1937 sitdown strike
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/2-A
Time
10:40 to 12:40
|
Leadership of Local 121 during the sitdown--reliable, honest officers
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/2-A
Time
12:41 to 16:25
|
Community reaction to the sitdown--story of Manager Fitzpatrick at Mass and John Donagan's button--little reaction from Church, E. O. avoided talking with pastor about union
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/2-A
Time
16:26 to 20:26
|
Reconciling the union and religion--pride in union activities--fraternity of sitdown strikers
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/2-B
Time
0:00 to 6:22
|
Further comments on pre-union period--attitude toward capitalism--obligation to organize
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/2-B
Time
6:23 to 15:38
|
Attitudes toward socialism--reaction against UAW leaders identified as communists, Wyndham Mortimer--positive reaction toward the Reuthers
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/2-B
Time
15:39 to 21:24
|
Reaction to other national union leaders--Homer Martin of the UAW--Bill Green--John L. Lewis--reaction to the concept of industrial unionism
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/2-B
Time
21:25 to 24:13
|
Signing up under the influence of Harry Johnson--arguments at the Osmond home
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/2-B
Time
24:14 to 28:54
|
Reaction to Federal Local 19324, the first union at Janesville Chevrolet, AF of L--recollection of first meeting and earliest members--departments where the union was strongest and weakest
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/2-B
Time
28:54 to 31:42
|
Poor air conditioning in the paint dept.
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/2-B
Time
31:43 to 35:18
|
Assemblers and paint dept. as easy to organize--development of cliques later
|
|
|
Reel/Side
2/2-B
Time
35:19 to 42:45
|
Company reaction to organizing activities--role of section 7a of the National Industrial Recovery Act
|
|
|
Session III, June 22, 1976
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:25
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/1-A
Time
0:26 to 3:53
|
E. O. with nothing to lose during the sitdown strike
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/1-A
Time
3:54 to 9:14
|
Service as a picket captain, turning back armed picket--no weapons on picket line--efforts to control violence
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/1-A
Time
9:15 to 17:27
|
Spontaneous fistfights between union and Alliance members--picketing of Alliance homes--over-exuberant union members--need to control violence to preserve the legality of the strike
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/1-A
Time
17:28 to 18:23
|
Sitdown as minor legal violation
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/1-A
Time
18:24 to 23:32
|
Problem with local stool pigeons, not GM-hired spies--management always knew results of union meetings
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/1-A
Time
23:33 to 29:51
|
Planning the sitdown, small strike committee--Manager Fitzpatrick's threat to Elmer Yenney--need to build courage for the strike--role of international UAW in the Janesville sitdown
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/1-B
Time
0:00 to 3:30
|
Local union weak at time of sitdown--union leaders more cool and smarter than management
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/1-B
Time
3:31 to 13:03
|
Membership of strike committee--more on need to build courage--sitting down as spontaneous decision for many workers--extent of workers knowledge about impending strike
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/1-B
Time
13:04 to 15:49
|
Sitdown as a “time of action”, convincing people to participate--choice of strike time
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/1-B
Time
15:50 to 18:40
|
Picket captains and strike captains--head captain recruited others
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/1-B
Time
18:41 to 22:33
|
Relationship between Local 121 and Local 95, the Fisher Body union--coordination, separate strike committees
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/1-B
Time
22:34 to 29:04
|
Strikebreakers hired as sheriff's deputies--problem for Sheriff Croake who chose many of them--good timing for the strike--communication between Locals 121 and 95 only at leadership level--split between them
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/1-B
Time
29:05 to 33:35
|
Positioning of the sitdowners in the plant--gathered at front end of plant--company shut off heat, union opened windows
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/2-A
Time
0:21 to 2:39
|
Strength in numbers--need for cooperation from railroad people
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/2-A
Time
2:40 to 8:25
|
Slight recollection of City Manager Henry Traxler's role--relations in the plant between union members and workers reluctant to join union--giving up dues to keep members
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/2-A
Time
8:26 to 14:50
|
Repair department hard to organize--Alliance strength there and in conditioning department--limits on union talk in the plant
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/2-A
Time
14:51 to 19:29
|
E. O. offered foreman job, considered it a bribe attempt--hard to recruit workers from rural areas--Local 121 as a better union, more careful with money
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/2-A
Time
19:30 to 23:24
|
End of sitdown--Janesville plant not essential to UAW's national plan--E. O. pleased at ease of sitdown
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/2-A
Time
23:25 to 26:45
|
E. O.'s discontent with piece work system--recruiting union members as a learning experience
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/2-A
Time
26:46 to 30:30
|
Learning about unions, trial and error--current problems--no reading matter available on industrial unions then
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/2-B
Time
0:00 to 3:05
|
Importance of local and national leadership--the Reuthers, Walter as a used car salesman story
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/2-B
Time
3:06 to 9:36
|
Community to the Janesville locals during the mid-1930s--no support from local political leaders--unions ignored by Janesville community leaders
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/2-B
Time
9:37 to 16:07
|
No support from community religious leaders--local newspaper, The Gazette, as anti-union--no sense of isolation
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/2-B
Time
16:08 to 18:38
|
Joining the union as generally a personal decision, occasionally a group decision--many workers fearful for family needs
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/2-B
Time
18:39 to 22:14
|
Change in recruiting methods after the sitdown strike, tougher--recognition from a GM supervisor in the hospital
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/2-B
Time
22:15 to 24:45
|
Recruiting in outlying communities--use of beer and booze in recruiting
|
|
|
Reel/Side
4/2-B
Time
24:46 to 30:21
|
Further recollections about AF of L Federal Local 19324--focus of AF of L on skilled workers, no understanding of industrial unionism--transition to the CIO--E. O. supported the CIO faction
|
|
|
Session IV, June 29, 1976
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/1-A
Time
0:00 to 0:20
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/1-A
Time
0:21 to 3:40
|
Recollection of Civic and Industrial Council--suspicions of Henry Traxler
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/1-A
Time
3:41 to 435
|
Absence of support from other labor organizations
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/1-A
Time
4:36 to 12:46
|
Local 121 and the UAW international--121 generally supported those in power--opposition to communists--response to Martin-Reuther factionalism within the UAW
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/1-A
Time
12:47 to 21:07
|
International office responsive to local needs--Jack Livingston of the UAW forced GM to change the “lousy” bargaining room which had been arranged to favor the company
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/1-A
Time
21:08 to 23:08
|
UAW representatives from Detroit--more on Jack Livingston
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/1-A
Time
23:09 to 25:49
|
The 1937 strike after the sitdown ended--E. O. as picket captain, ruined car--bitterness in Janesville
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/1-A
Time
25:50 to 29:30
|
Stopping the delivery of materials and the shipment of cars during the strike--potential for violence
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/1-B
Time
0:00 to 1:50
|
Keeping informed on national strike activities
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/1-B
Time
1:51 to 9:10
|
Gains from the strike, recognition primarily--encounter with the general manager--membership drive after the strike--rural workers hard to organize--majority by 1939--company as tough
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/1-B
Time
9:11 to 10:23
|
Further comments on gaining new members--Harry Johnson as key person
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/1-B
Time
10:24 to 12:54
|
Comments on the first contract, 1937--period of ad hoc problem-solving--need for UAW local reference library
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/1-B
Time
12:55 to 16:15
|
Management's attitude after the 1937 strike, no softening--Stanley Judd, the time study man for GM at Janesville Chevrolet
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/1-B
Time
16:16 to 19:45
|
E. O. as a member of the first bargaining committee--other members--issues, wages, plant conditions--need for a seniority system
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/1-B
Time
19:46 to 22:36
|
Further comments on the seniority system--division between skilled and unskilled workers
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/1-B
Time
22:37 to 28:57
|
Typical bargaining committee meeting--chairman did most of the talking--the management team
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/1-B
Time
28:57 to 31:37
|
Trips to Detroit for a variety of purposes
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/2-A
Time
0:00 to 0:10
|
Introduction
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/2-A
Time
0:11 to 1:50
|
Problem-solving at the Chevrolet central office
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/2-A
Time
1:51 to 3:26
|
The ladies' auxiliary, soup kitchens
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/2-A
Time
3:27 to 5:22
|
UAW political involvement in Janesville--recent strength on City Council
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/2-A
Time
5:23 to 9:43
|
Comments on Harold Lewis case, trustee expelled from Local 121
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/2-A
Time
9:44 to 10:39
|
Local 121 and Janesville Labor Council
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/2-A
Time
10:40 to 13:30
|
E. O.'s work during World War II--work for Fairbanks-Morse in Beloit
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/2-A
Time
13:30 to 16:25
|
Recollection of 1946 strike against GM--bad timing--strike resulted from unfair treatment during the war
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/2-A
Time
16:26 to 21:16
|
Leadership during the 1946 strike--bitterness--continual grievances, workers unwilling to follow process
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/2-A
Time
21:17 to 30:22
|
Information on Local 121 leaders which E. O. recalls--including hometown, department in which the person worked, residence in Janesville or area, religion, ethnic background, degree of militancy, and anecdotal material--Waldo Luchsinger and Elmer Yenney
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/2-B
Time
0:00 to 5:20
|
Information on Lou Adkins, Martin Setzer, John Carter, Harry Johnson
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/2-B
Time
5:21 to 9:30
|
Information on Howard Johnson, Straus Ellis, Belle Olson, Harold Lewis
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/2-B
Time
9:31 to 17:00
|
Information on Joe Knipshield, Mark Egbert, Glenn Swinbank and John Wuksinich
|
|
|
Reel/Side
6/2-B
Time
17:01 to 24:00
|
Information on Richard Wagner, Clarence Carroll, Francis Sheridan and Frank Shumacher
|
|
