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.