I Remember Like Today: The Auto-Lite Strike of 1934

275 Pages·1988·6.589 MB·English

by  Philip A. Korth, Margaret Beegle

I
Remember
Like Today:
The Auto~ Lite Strike
of
1934

I
Remember
Like Today:
The Auto~ Lite Strike
of
1934
by
Philip A. Korth
and
Margaret R. Beegle
Michigan State University Press
1988
Copyright © 1988 Philip A. Korth and Margaret Beegle
Printed in the United States of America.
All Michigan State University Press books are produced on paper which
meets the requirements of American National Standard for Information
Sciences-Permanence of paper for printed materials. ANSI 239.48-1984
Michigan State University Press
East Lansing, Michigan 48823-5202
Production: Julie L. Loehr
Editing: Dawn Tawa
Typography: the Copyfitters
Cover: Lynne A. Brown
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Korth, Philip A., 1936-
1 remember like today.
Bibliography: p.
1. Auto-Lite (Firm) Strike, Toledo, Ohio, 1934-History. 2. Automobile Workers
Federal Union. Local 18384-History. 3. Trade-unions-Automobile industry
workers-Ohio-Toledo-History-20th century. 4. Strikes and
lockouts-Automobile industry-Ohio-Toledo-History-20th century. 5.
Toledo (Ohio)-Economic conditions. I. Beegle, Margaret, 1952- II. Title.
HD5325.A82 1934.T655 1988 331.89'28292'0977113 87-63610
ISBN 0-87013-255-5
The main assembly plants for Auto-Lite in 1934 stood between the Elm Street Bridge
and Bush Street and the railroad tracks and Champlain Street. The main entrance gate
was on Champlain Street at the foot of Chestnut Street between the office building and
the factory building. A chain link fence with a large gate to allow trucks and automo
biles entrance connected these two buildings. Behind the factory buildings ran rail
road tracks and beyond them were open fields. The map printed on the endsheets
represents the physical layout in 1934.
Contents
Introduction 1
1 An Overview 7
2 Toledo and the Auto Industry:
1920-1934 19
3 The Auto-Lite Company 39
4 Working at Auto-Lite 47
5 Organizing at Auto-Lite 67
6 Organizing the First Strike 81
7 Crossing the Picket Line 91
8 The Curious and the Concerned 103
9 Besieged 123
10 On the Picket Line 143
11 Lifting the Siege:
The Ohio National Guard 171
12 The Aftermath 187
13 Charles Rigby: Organizer 209
14 Epilogue 229
Appendix A: The Narrators 237
Appendix B: Note on
Oral History Methods 247
Bibliography 251
Index of Narrators 253

Dedication
For Nadine,
Dirk, Kim, and Viki

Acknowledgments
A
work of this nature incurs debts to institutions and people that
its publication hopes to repay. The primary debt, upon which all
subsequent debts accrue, I owe to the Humanities Program of the
Rockefeller Foundation, for without its support this project would
never have been done. Historian Dr. Peter Wood exercised the essen
tial judgment and carried the program officer's responsibility for pro
viding the financial support that brought this project to life. Since oral
histories are so expensive to gather, not only in terms of equipment
and transcription but in terms of time and travel, the grant from
Rockefeller was crucial.
People we interviewed, whether they appear in this work or not,
generously contributed their time and patience; they gave us their
memories. I hope they feel that this book justifies their faith and trust.
Institutions that helped guide the search include the Walter Reuther
Library at Wayne State University; the Toledo Public Library, particu
larly the Local History Division; the Michigan State University
Libraries; the Toledo Blade; the Toledo Police Department; and
Toledo's Local 12 of the United Automobile Workers of America.
Special mention is due Marc Van Wormer from Toledo; Martha Jane
Soltow, MSU labor librarian; Warner Pflug, archivist at the Reuther
Library; Tana Mosier Porter of the Toledo Public Library; and Clem
Holowinski, form·er president of Local 12, UAW in Toledo.