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Title: LEWIS H. MICHENER COLLECTION Type : Papers Dates: 1938-1974 Size : 6 1/2
linear feet
ID #: 178 OCLC: LC MS ©Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs |
Ø Subjects Ø Index |
HEFA.02.update
Scope &
Contents
The papers of Lewis Herbert Michener Jr. were placed in the Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs by Mr. Michener in February 1966, and by Martha Michener, his wife, In March 1976. They were opened for research in July 1986.
Lewis Michener was born in Bozeman, Montana, on December 1, 1908. After completing eighth grade he worked in the Butte mines and in a packing house, and joined the Butte Butchers Union, AFL, in 1924. He went to California in 1933 and began work at the Ford Motor Company in Richmond where he became assistant foreman in the enamel department and was involved in attempts to organize workers. By 1935 he had transferred to the Ford Long Beach plant and was active in organizing auto and aircraft workers all over southern California. In December 1936 he moved to Chrysler Corporation at Maywood, California, and joined the UAW when a local was chartered in his plant in March 1937.
In 1938 Michener was elected secretary of the District Auto and Aircraft Council and president of the Los Angeles CIO Industrial Union council. He was also appointed secretary of the CIO Unemployment and Social Security Committee.
Michener attended the 1939 UAW Constitutional Convention in Cleveland where he was elected West Coast (Region 6) Director and International Executive Board member. During the 1941 UAW-North American Aviation negotiations Michener appeared before the War Labor Board in Washington, D.C. with Richard Frankensteen to present the case for higher wages. When NAA workers walked out on June 5 he returned to Los Angeles and supported the rank and filers in their controversial strike. In August 1941, the UAW Convention in Buffalo disciplined Michener for his actions during the strike by disqualifying him from elective or appointive office that year. He served as Regional Director again in 1943 and 1944.
After a year In the
Merchant Marine, Michener returned in September 1945 to work at Ford Long
Beach. He served as president and committeeman of Local Union 406 until the
plant site was moved in 1959. The
local merged with Local Union 923, and Michener served as its president and
executive board member at various times over the next eight years. Michener married Martha Forsyth, an
active unionist and member of the Utility Workers of America, in 1955. He took an early retirement from Ford,
following her serious illness, in 1966. He remained active in the L.A. Area
Retiree Council, of which he was president from 1960 until 1968, and as Region
6 representative to the UAW International Retired Workers' Advisory Council
from 1968 until his death on March 29, 1974.
Aircraft Organizing
UAW Local 406
Retiree Councils
UAW Local 923
George Addes
John Allard
Ken Bannon
Charles Bioietti
Richard Frankensteen
Emil Mazey
Dave Miller
Walter P. Reuther
Paul Schrade
To Series 1 UAW Region 6, 1938-1944, Boxes 1-2
Correspondence, reports, memoranda, UAW International Executive Board proceedings, and transcripts relating to Michener's role in early UAW organizing an the west coast and as director of Region 6 during 1939-41 and 1943-44. Some materials also concern the strike at North American Aviation in June 1941, and the consequences for Michener and others who supported the strike. The series is arranged chronologically with IEB proceedings filed at the end.
To Series 2 UAW Local Union 406, 1945-1959 Boxes 2-6
Correspondence, memoranda, reports, executive board meeting notes, copies of the L.U. 406 Reporter, trial board transcripts, and other materials from Michener's files as president of the local during these years. Included at the end of the series are documents concerning the merger of L.U. 406 with L.U. 923 when the Ford Long Beach plant operations were moved to a new site at Pico Rivera, California, in 1959. The series is arranged with correspondence in alphabetical sequence first, followed by other local union office files in alphabetical order, and Region 6 and UAW materials filed at the end.
To
Series 3 Local
Union 923, 1959-1973 Boxes 7-8
Correspondence, memoranda, bulletins, election materials, local union newspapers, and other materials relating to Michener's membership and sometime presidency of Local Union 923. The series is arranged with correspondence in alphabetical sequence first, other local union office files following in alphabetical order, and ending with Ford and Ford Department files.
To Series 4 UAW Retiree Councils, 1956-1974 Boxes 9-11
Correspondence, reports, meeting minutes, and newsletters of the Los Angeles Area Retiree Council and the UAW International Retired Workers Advisory Council. Michener was active in both from his retirement until his death In 1974. The correspondence and meeting files for each of the two councils are arranged chronologically.
To Series 5 Personal Files, 1938-1974 Boxes 12-13
Correspondence, selective service documents, files from various civic and political organizations with whom Michener and his wife were involved, and article drafts. The files are arranged chronologically with correspondence and articles at the end.
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1-14. Correspondence, 1938-44
15. UAW-NAA Negotiations; Transcript, 21 Jun 1944
16. UAW International Representatives; Correspondence, 1944
1. UAW IEB Proceedings, 7-8 Oct 1940
2. UAW IEB Proceedings, 7 Feb 1941
3. UAW IEB Proceedings, 27 Apr and 17 May 1941
4. UAW IEB Proceedings, 9-14 Jul 1941
5. UAW IEB Proceedings, 1-10 Mar 1943
6. UAW IEB Proceedings, 1-2 May 1944
7-17. L.U. 406; Correspondence, 1946-57
18. L.U. 406; Correspondence; Health Insurance, 1957
1-4. L.U. 406; Correspondence, 1958-59
5. L.U. 406; Audits and Expenses, 1954-57
6. L.U. 406; Bylaws, 1950
7. L.U. 406; COPE, 1958
8-9. L.U. 406; Elections, 1950-58
10-15. L.U. 406; Executive Board, 1953-59
16. L.U. 406; Recreation, 1950s
1-3. L.U. 406; Reporter, 1952-58
4. L.U. 406; Reporter Correspondence, 1952-55
5. L.U. 406; Reporter Materials, 1950s
6. L.U. 406; Reporter Layout, 1950s
7-9. L.U. 406; Trial Board, 1948-1950
10-11. Region 6; Correspondence, 1955-59
12. Region 6; Quarterly Conference, May 3-4, 1952
13. Region 6; Quarterly Conference, Jul 31 - Aug 1, 1954
14-17. Ford Subcouncil; Meetings, 1945-54
1-2. Ford Subcouncil; Meetings, 1955-58
3-4. National Ford Conference, 1948
5-7. National Ford Council; Contract Demands, 1955
8-15. National Ford Department; Correspondence, 1952-59
16-17. UAW Correspondence, 1955-57
1-3. UAW Correspondence, 1958-59
4. UAW Special Convention, Jan 1958 5. California CIO Council, 1954
6-8. L.U. 406 and L.U. 923; Merger and Transfer Agreement, 1959
9-14. Seniority Lists, 1949-1959
15-16. Wage Schedules, 1948, 1953, 1956-57
1-7. L.U. 923; Correspondence, 1959-73
8-9. L.U. 923; Bulletins, 1959-63
10. L.U. 923; Bylaws, 1957-60
11. L.U. 923; Convention Resolutions, 1959
12-13. L.U. 923; Elections, 1959 and 1961
14-16. L.U. 923; Elections Public Review Board Case 87, 1961
17. L.U. 923; Election, 1962
1-2. L.U. 923; Elections Public Review Board Case 87, 1962
3-5. L.U. 923; Elections, 1963-71
6. L.U. 923; Executive Board, 1961
7. L.U. 923; Financial Reports, 1958-60
8. L.U. 923; Grievances, 1961
9-10. L.U. 923; Rank and File, 1959-62
11. L.U. 923; Reporter, 1963-64
12. L.U. 923; Rank and File, 1965-71
13. Retiree Roster, Ford L.A. Assembly Plant, 1965-69
14. Ford Department; Correspondence, 1961 and 1968
15. Ford Council, 1964
16-17. Ford Agreement, 1964
1. UAW Handbook on Retired Workers, cl956
2. UAW Guide to Local Union Retirement Committees, cl958
3. UAW Medicare Counseling Program, cl968
4. Los Angeles Area Retirees; Correspondence, 1955-1961
5-18. Los Angeles Area Retirees Council; Correspondence, 1962-74
1-8. Los Angeles Area Retirees Council; Meetings, 1959-7373
9. Los Angeles Area Retirees Council; Bylaws, 1971-72
10-11. Los Angeles Area Retirees Council; News Notes, 1973-74
12. UAW International Retired Workers' Advisory Council;
Correspondence, 1966
13. UAW Retiree Information, 1968
14-15. UAW International Retired Workers' Advisory Council;
Correspondence, 1968-69
1-7. UAW International Retired Workers' Advisory Council; Correspondence, 1970-73
8. UAW Region 4 Retired Workers' News Notes, 1972-73
9-16. UAW International Retired Workers' Advisory Council; Meetings, 1968-74
17. National Council of Senior Citizens Conference, 1971
1. Membership and Identification Cards, 1938-73
2. Maritime Service Documents, 1944
3. Harry Bridges Trial, 1949-50
4. Decision, California Emergency Defense Fund, 1952
5. Utility Workers of America, 1956-57
6. LA Examiner "Notebook," 1959-61
7. Pico Rivera Democratic Club, 1961-64
8. Committee to Reelect Governor Brown, 1962 and 1966
9-10. California Democratic Council, 1962-64, 1974
11. 51st Assembly District Council, 1963-64
12. Rio Hondo Junior College, 1963-66
13-17. Los Angeles District Attorney's Advisory Council, 1965-67
1-2. Los Angeles Attorney General's Volunteer Advisory Council, 1969-74
3. Diaries, 1940-42
4-6. Draft Deferment Correspondence, 1943-44
7-10. Personal Correspondence, 1954-74
11. Correspondence re: Michener's Death, 1974
12. NAA Strike; Article Drafts, n.d.
13. UAW 1941 Constitutional Convention Proceedings, Copies
14. "Is Walter Reuther a Dictator?" Drafts, cl959
15. "Butte Memories," Draft, cl963
16. The Justin Johnson Story, by Jack L. Rugh, 1963
17. "American Revolution," Draft,
18. "Hello to Death," Draft, n.d.
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