Verified Document

Great Depression And Oral History Essay

The benefits of using transcripts from the Flint Sit-Down Strike are the pure honesty that the workers spoke with. Most of the interviews took place in the 1970s and 1980s, but the strike took place in 1936 and 1937. Hearing and reading about the strike worker's experiences in their own words was very interesting. The drawbacks of using such transcripts are that they weren't always audible, so important information may have been missed during transcription. The transcripts are not edited, so the information is presented to the reader exactly how it was spoken, which can sometimes be difficult to follow (and understand what the speaker was trying to say).

Most of the history that's discussed by the men and women who worked at the GM plant are memories of personal experiences. There are a lot of negative experiences that are talked about, even though some workers admit to a lot of changes following the strike and that things got better. It seems no one can forget the abuse that occurred on a daily basis.

What was likely left out was the negative stuff that was still occurring even after the strike and everything was getting better. GM undoubtedly became a better place to work, but there were most likely still many individuals who were struggling with the changing work conditions and the better working conditions may not have been right for everyone.

Conclusion

Before the Flint Sit-Down Strike, the United Automobile Workers (UAW) were workers who were isolated and poorly mistreated. The strike turned UAW into a major union, which became the standard for the American automobile industry. Originally formed in 1935, the union decided to stop using piecemeal organizing campaigns in the smaller plants.

The strike made history, because it was the first of its kind and it changed many people's lives for the better. Previously, there had been strikes of a much smaller caliber, but nothing of this magnitude. In 1978, a politic science professor at the University of Michigan-Flint by the name of Neil Leighton attended an academic conference at Duke University. There, Leighton spoke to Professor Laurence Goodwyn, and the two talked about the Flint Sit-Down Strike in great detail and the impact...

The strike had occurred between 1936 and 1937. By late spring of 2001, Michael Van Dyke and David Bailey of Matrix learned that tapes existed of the interviews from 1978 to 1984. Upon realizing that these interviews were important to American labor history, the tapes were brought to Michigan State University for the purpose of digitizing and transcribing the material.
Today, this material has been made available to study groups and websites for educational reasons. Individuals who are interested in learning about the details of the strike from the mouths of the people who were there can read through and listen to the interviews o the website.

Article Reference Points

1. James Spohn. "Flint Sit-Down Strike Transcript." Flint Sit-Down Strike. Michael Van Dyke. June 30, 1980. http://www.historicalvoices.org/flint/transcript_browser.html

2. Arthur Smith. "Flint Sit-Down Strike Transcript." Flint Sit-Down Strike. Michael Van Dyke. 2002. http://www.historicalvoices.org/flint/transcript_browser.html

3. Louis Ganscos. "Flint Sit-Down Strike Transcript." Flint Sit-Down Strike. Michael Van Dyke. May 30, 1980. http://www.historicalvoices.org/flint/transcript_browser.html

4. K. Gillian. "Flint Sit-Down Strike Transcript." Flint Sit-Down Strike. Michael Van Dyke. July 15, 1978. http://www.historicalvoices.org/flint/transcript_browser.html

5. Frank Funk. "Flint Sit-Down Strike Transcript." Flint Sit-Down Strike. Michael Van Dyke. June 21, 1979. http://www.historicalvoices.org/flint/transcript_browser.html

6. Leo Connelly. "Flint Sit-Down Strike Transcript." Flint Sit-Down Strike. Michael Van Dyke. June 30, 1980. http://www.historicalvoices.org/flint/transcript_browser.html

7. Louis Ganscos. "Flint Sit-Down Strike Transcript." Flint Sit-Down Strike. Michael Van Dyke. May 3, 1980. http://www.historicalvoices.org/flint/transcript_browser.html

8. Robert Gibbs. "Flint Sit-Down Strike Transcript." Flint Sit-Down Strike. Michael Van Dyke. May 29, 1980. http://www.historicalvoices.org/flint/transcript_browser.html

Sources used in this document:
Reference Points

1. James Spohn. "Flint Sit-Down Strike Transcript." Flint Sit-Down Strike. Michael Van Dyke. June 30, 1980. http://www.historicalvoices.org/flint/transcript_browser.html

2. Arthur Smith. "Flint Sit-Down Strike Transcript." Flint Sit-Down Strike. Michael Van Dyke. 2002. http://www.historicalvoices.org/flint/transcript_browser.html

3. Louis Ganscos. "Flint Sit-Down Strike Transcript." Flint Sit-Down Strike. Michael Van Dyke. May 30, 1980. http://www.historicalvoices.org/flint/transcript_browser.html

4. K. Gillian. "Flint Sit-Down Strike Transcript." Flint Sit-Down Strike. Michael Van Dyke. July 15, 1978. http://www.historicalvoices.org/flint/transcript_browser.html
5. Frank Funk. "Flint Sit-Down Strike Transcript." Flint Sit-Down Strike. Michael Van Dyke. June 21, 1979. http://www.historicalvoices.org/flint/transcript_browser.html
6. Leo Connelly. "Flint Sit-Down Strike Transcript." Flint Sit-Down Strike. Michael Van Dyke. June 30, 1980. http://www.historicalvoices.org/flint/transcript_browser.html
7. Louis Ganscos. "Flint Sit-Down Strike Transcript." Flint Sit-Down Strike. Michael Van Dyke. May 3, 1980. http://www.historicalvoices.org/flint/transcript_browser.html
8. Robert Gibbs. "Flint Sit-Down Strike Transcript." Flint Sit-Down Strike. Michael Van Dyke. May 29, 1980. http://www.historicalvoices.org/flint/transcript_browser.html
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Oral History and Historiography Oral
Words: 3917 Length: 10 Document Type: Term Paper

Shortly after the towers fell, Americans witnessed the horror and tragedy of those that had lost loved ones first hand. News spread quickly and within days, the event had reached the folkloric status of the assassination of JFK (McAlister, par. 3). As one recalls these horrific tales, the "War on Terror" appears to be a logical step. This is the perspective of one category of "oral account" of the events

History of Women in Law
Words: 2227 Length: 8 Document Type: Term Paper

"By the end of the 1980s many departments had set up detailed procedures to ensure equality and had employed full-time and specialist staff to promote and pursue such policies." (Heidensohn, 1995, p. 60) The number of females in law enforcement was to increase rapidly and in 1986 about 9 per cent of U.S. officers were female. (Adler 1990) One of the key issues that had to be overcome was the

History of the Media in America Media
Words: 2710 Length: 8 Document Type: Essay

History Of the Media in America Media America, a History Media incorporates mediums such as advertisements, magazines, newspapers, radio, television, and now -- the Internet. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it was only in the 1920s that people began to actually talk about 'the media,' and a generation later, in the 1950s, of a 'communication revolution,' however, the art of oral and written communication was actually quite important in ancient Greece

Daily Life During the Great
Words: 2068 Length: 8 Document Type: Research Paper

We learn that our way of life can change practically overnight. We learn that suffering on a massive scale can happen from just a few high-level missteps. But perhaps most importantly, we learn that the American spirit has an amazing capacity for resourcefulness and resilience -- a lesson that might comfort us in our own times of worry. Works Cited "Always Lending a Helping Hand: Sevier County Remembers the Great Depression."

American Education System the History
Words: 3103 Length: 10 Document Type: Term Paper

The 1892 Committee of Ten of the NEA stressed that high schools were sadly only for the elite, but in the succeeding century, there was a marked increase of national wealth, improved living standard and a greater demand for better trained labor force. This led to reorganization of secondary education into one that would cater to the population's growing industrial democracy and the cardinal principles of secondary education were

African-American History
Words: 1267 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Generations of Bondage please note I have provided references so that you may include them if you wish The book upon which this review is written is a fantastic, true story of the African-American family that shows how it survived through some of American history's most detestable and hypocritical times. This essay will attempt to answer the specific questions associated with the book review, for didactical purposes, but will strive to

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now