Entrance to the Walter P. Reuther Library at Wayne State University. All photos by the author.
The archival collections housed at the Walter P. Reuther Library’s Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs are vast, a treasure trove for anyone studying the histories of working people and the trade union movement in the United States, though there are also ample collections that point to international worker and trade union connections. As someone whose research centers the experiences of Black workers, trade unionists, and community activists in the United States and South Africa, a visit to the Reuther Library was essential.
The Reuther Library is located on Wayne State University’s campus, which is a conveniently short drive from downtown Detroit. Wayne State itself is an urban campus, embedded within the fabric of the city.
“Old Main” building, Wayne State University. Located on Cass Avenue in Midtown Detroit.
The Reuther reading room is located on the third floor of the library, and offers striking views of the campus. I opted for a desk adjacent to the windows, where I could watch the afternoon summer rain showers while parsing through papers.
Thanks to the library’s organized archivists, research was seamless. I spent the majority of my visit absorbed in the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) collection, focusing on the organization’s connections to the anti-apartheid movement, emerging South African trade unions, and Black South African workers. I also referenced labor union activist Owen Bieber’s papers and a few United Automobile Workers (UAW) collections.
With many windows inside the archive, there are plenty of enjoyable views of the Wayne State campus.
After a couple days of research, it became apparent that South African-U.S. trade union connections were more salient than I had initially imagined. Correspondence between CBTU President William Lucy and the Secretary of South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Cyril Ramaphosa, highlighted the shared solidarity between African American trade unionists and their Black South African comrades. In an August 7, 1985 letter of support to Ramaphosa and striking mine workers, Lucy proclaimed that it was “imperative that trade unionists, especially Black trade unionists, stand together in unity.”1 In response to Lucy’s call for solidarity, the CBTU wrote letters of support to Ramaphosa and the South African mine workers striking for higher wages. Ramaphosa, with roots in the South African trade union movement, is currently the President of the Republic of South Africa.
While engrossed in the CBTU collections, I stumbled upon the name of a South African whom I had interviewed for my oral history project. A prominent leader of South African community organizations, Thozamile Botha, flew to the United States to speak at a 1985 Congressional Black Caucus-hosted labor seminar.2 Black South Africans like Botha traveled to the United States with some frequency, often to educate and share their plight with the U.S. labor movement. Similarly, African American trade unionists traveled to South Africa, and in general espoused frequent contact with South African trade union movement leaders.
Kresge Court at the Detroit Institute of Arts Museum.
After a few morning hours of research, I often took strolls around campus during my lunch break. The archive itself is closed for an hour every day, from noon to one. This was a nice respite from the pace of research, and gave me an excuse to experience Midtown Detroit. I walked about five minutes away, to the neighboring Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) Museum. Although I had little time to explore the collections, I grabbed a quick lunch and coffee at the DIA’s Kresge Court, an indoor courtyard laced with brick and populated by patrons reading and studying under the canopy of natural light. A visit to the DIA is worth it, if even just to dine at the Kresge Court.
The Detroit Industry Murals, painted by Diego Rivera in 1932–33 and later designated as a National Historic Landmark. This mural is found in the Detroit Institute of Arts Museum.
After a long day at the archive, there was much more to explore and experience in greater Detroit, a city steeped in civil rights and workers’ rights history. I had long hoped to visit Detroit, in part due to my research and work on the automobile industry. Prior to my visit to Detroit, I spent many months living and researching in Gqeberha (formerly known as Port Elizabeth), South Africa. As the manufacturing and automobile industry center of South Africa, the city regularly draws comparisons to Detroit. Upon visiting the American “Motor City,” it was clear why. Beyond the obvious automobile industry connection, the city of Detroit, like Gqeberha, has a rich labor, working class, and activist history. Memorials and artwork commemorating workers dot the city.
My evenings were spent running or walking alongside the Detroit River, where I passed by both the towering General Motors skyscraper, as well as memorials dedicated to the cities’ workers and unions. The architecture and artwork bewilders at nearly every corner, from the Michigan Labor Legacy Landmark to the Diego Rivera “Detroit Industry” murals depicting the assembly lines at Ford Motor’s River Rouge plant.3 It is very fitting for the Reuther Library, home to one of the world’s largest collections of labor history, to be located in Detroit.
Michigan Labor Legacy Monument, located at Hart Plaza in Detroit. The Michigan Labor History Society spearheaded the monument with hopes to educate the public about labor’s history.
The author extends her thanks to the UCSB Department of History and the Walter H. Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion, and Public Life for funding her research trip to Detroit.
- William Lucy to Cyril Ramaphosa, Aug. 7, 1985, Box 5, Folder 20, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists Collection, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University.
- Congressional Black Caucus Workshop, Sept. 25 1985, Box 1, Folder 32, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists Collection, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University.
- For more on the history of the Michigan Labor Legacy Monument, see Labor’s Legacy: A Landmark for Detroit (Detroit: Michigan Labor History Society, undated).
