Labor museum plans Newton strike exhibits (Monroe County, Republic Steel)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070217/NEWS01/102170029/-1/NEWS

Labor museum plans
Newton strike exhibits
By: Charles Slat story updated February 17. 2007 1:08AM

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- Evening News photo by VALERIE TOBIAS Labor Museum Board President Bill Conner, Jr. (right) chats with Monroe County Historical Museum Director John Gibney after a brief ceremony Friday at the downtown Labor Museum. Dozens turned out for the event, during which the museum was presented with a grant check for almost $9,000 to create an exhibit focusing on the Newton Steel Strike of 1937 in Monroe.

It was one of the ugliest chapters in Monroe County labor history.

In 1929, Monroe city officials convinced a steel company in Newton Falls, Ohio, that Monroe would be a good place to do business. The factory moved here, bringing about 1,300 jobs with it.

In 1935, the plant was bought by Republic Steel, then a notoriously anti-union company. The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), fresh from organizing U.S. Steel set about organizing the Newton work force.

The outcome might have been predicted.

During a bitter strike in 1937, workers and police clashed. Strikers were beaten and tear-gassed. Cars were overturned and dumped into the River Raisin. A deputized goon squad that included citizens and vigilantes chased and beat workers, injuring 11 people.

The Newton Steel strike might only be a fading memory for a few long-time Monroe residents, but it now will live on in permanent Monroe County Labor History Museum exhibits.

A Michigan Council of Humanities grant of $8,855 will help finance the estimated $28,000 project, which will include exhibits online, at the museum, and a satellite exhibit at the River Raisin Battlefield Visitors Center. It's hoped that the project will be unveiled in early May to mark the 70th anniversary of what many view as a pivotal event in American labor history

Federal, state and local officials announced the grant at the museum, 41 W. Front St. on Friday night.

Called "The Nation's Eyes Are on Monroe: Second Conflict on the River Raisin," will document in words, photos and artifacts the days when labor strife turned Monroe into an armed camp, brought the National Guard to town, and riveted national attention on what then was a tiny Midwest town.

Dr. James DeVries, history professor at Monroe County Community College, said the Newton strike was "a turning point to the American labor movement."

"The CIO was on a roll," Dr. DeVries said. "U.S. Steel had been organized. The UAW had the sit-down strike at (General Motors) in Flint. They probably figured this would be easy."

It wasn't.

FULL story at link.