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Detroit History Podcast: They Rocked the Boat -- Walter Reuther’s Blue-Collar Revolution

June 14, 2020, 9:46 PM


Walter Reuther (Photo: Detroit History Podcast)

He came to Detroit as a high-school dropout raised in hardscrabble West Virginia. The career arc that followed -- from diemaker at Henry Ford's Ford Rouge Plant to confidant of American presidents -- marks Walter Reuther as a singular figure in the U.S. labor movement.

His vision of power-sharing and social progressivism drew the template for a blue-collar middle class. Even as technology has shrunk the workforce, and corruption allegations have stained a later generation of leaders, Reuther's place in American history is assured.

This week's Detroit History Podcast traces the Reuther saga from his first days at the Rouge to a fateful plane crash near the northern Michigan recreational haven and training facility he envisioned for UAW members.

-- Tim Kiska 


Read more:  Detroit History Podcast


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