Browse Items (175 total)

In 1968, John Watson was selected as editor of Wayne State University’s Daily Collegian, which he changed to the, “South End,” in recognition of Wayne State’s location south of General Motors. He turned the newspaper into a resource for radical…

Booklet of articles from the publication Leviathan, it chronicles the historical origins and political philosophies of DRUM and the League of Revolutionary Black Workers, an umbrella organization formed out of DRUM that networked all the recently…

List of demands by DRUM. 1969. Source: Kenneth V. and Sheila M. Cockrel Collection, Box 6, folder 26.

Union election materials for UAW local race. Flyer lists candidates approved by DRUM, stating “VOTE THE DRUM SLATE – DAMN the others.” Marxist and revolutionary roots meant DRUM did not hold back in their desire to transform the UAW to its core.…

DRUM flyer for wildcat strike and rally. 1969. The wildcat strike, a strike undertaken by union workers without union authorization, became DRUM’s tool for addressing the grievances Black workers faced in Detroit’s factories. Source: Kenneth V. and…

Despite DRUM’s upstart status, its militant stance on race in the auto factories and criticisms of union leadership quickly caught the attention of Walter Reuther and the UAW. DRUM claimed the UAW did not care about the plight of its Black members,…

A letter from Milton Kemnitz, Executive Secretary of the National Federation for Constitutional Liberties to Jack Raskin, Executive Secretary of the Civil Rights Federation, regarding the national significance of developments at the Sojourner Truth…

A flyer announces a March 13, 1942 rally to support integration at the Sojourner Truth Housing Project as a way to combat Hitler and win World War II. 1942. Box 67.

A letter from Wendell Berge, Assistant Attorney General, to Max Wender regarding the Justice Department's investigation into the 1943 Race Riot. July 5, 1943. Civil Rights Congress of Michigan, Box 70.

A Bureau of Labor Statistics chart details work stoppages in 1943 by white employees in Detroit factories over issues related to the job advancement of Black workers. July 1943. Walter P. Reuther Library Vertical Files Collection, Box 128.

The NAACP published a pamphlet titled What Caused the Detroit Riot? An Analysis, written by Walter White and Thurgood Marshall. July 1943. Walter P. Reuther Library Vertical Files Collection, Box 128.

The Freedom Now Party, representing an element of Black nationalist political thought and theory, outlines its platform for the upcoming 1964 elections. September 28, 1964. Ernest Smith Papers, Box 1.