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Dollinger, Genora (Johnson) (audio interview #6 of 8)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This sixth interview with Genora Dollinger took place in the sunny den of her home almost three months after the previous interview. In the interim, she had attended the 40th anniversary of the strike in Michigan. In response to the slighting of women's role during the celebration, she joined with others to organize a protest. This activity seemed to exacerbate her heart condition, and although she seemed to be in more fragile health, her anger about the celebration was palpable. 4/1/1977
- Date
- 2020-09-22
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- Notes
- SUBJECT BIO - Genora Johnson Dollinger is best known for her role in forming the Women's Emergency Brigade (of the UAW) during the Flint strike, 1936-7. Born to a relatively prominent and affluent family in Flint, Dollinger developed a heightened sense of women's subjugation as a result of her father's treatment of both his wife and daughters. She became interested in socialism through discussions with Carl Johnson, the father of her future husband, auto worker Kermit Johnson. She married Kermit Johnson over her parents objections, and they had two sons, both of whom were later killed in a car accident. Together with her husband and father-in-law, Dolliinger helped to build the Socialist Party (SP) in Flint, which became one of the organizing avenues for the 1936 strike. After the strike began, frustrated with the traditional roles to which she was initially relegated, Dollinger formed the Women's Emergency Brigade, a militant group of women popularized in the documentary, With Babies and Banners. Dollinger remained active in the UAW following the strike. Later, during the war, and after her marriage to Sol Dollinger, she went to work in Detroit at Briggs Manufacturing. She was badly beaten later, in the postwar years, during the vicious anti-union campaign organized by the manufacturers. While still in Michigan, she became active in the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), worked for the ACLU, and continued to be involved in the UAW. The Dollingers moved to Los Angeles in 1967, when her third son was fourteen years old. Despite her growing health problems, she remained active in a host of liberal and progressive causes and heaped to form the Community Advisory Councils of the LA Unified School District. In 1977, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Flint strike, Dollinger returned to Michigan and, despite her health problems, led a protest against the slighting of women's role in the strike. After her death in 1995, Sol Dollinger published their jointly authored book, Not Automatic: Women and the Left in the Forging of the Auto Workers Union (Monthly Review Press, 2000), which includes an oral history of Genora by Susan Rosenthal. TOPICS - conflicts around the 40th anniversary celebration of 1937 strike; speaking engagement at anniversary celebration at Fisher Body Plant No; 2 local; sexism and gender discrimination in the UAW; organizing women for demonstration against Flint anniversary celebration; collaboration with CLUW and NOW; television broadcast featuring women opposed to their exclusion from the anniversary celebration in Flint; women's demonstration at Flint celebration; heart difficulties during demonstration;controversy surrounding 40th anniversary celebration in Flint ; organizing a demonstration; regrets about her speech; Victor Reuther; plans to discuss future anniversary celebrations and women's status in the union during May 1977 UAW National Convention; status of women in the UAW and the plants; gender discrimination; lack of affirmative action in the plants; television interview with emergency brigade women, CLUW and NOW; physical health; and likelihood of a women's caucus forming in Flint;
- *** File: lhgdollinger19.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:02-7:08)... As the 40th anniversary of the 1937 strike settlement between the UAW and GM approached, Dollinger was contacted by a representative from the UAW Local in Flint and invited to speak at their February 14 citywide anniversary celebration, along with Bob Travis and Victor Reuther. After not hearing anything further, and having learned that the GM officials were planning their own joint celebration with the UAW in Detroit on February 11, she contacted the citywide coordinator of the Flint Local. He informed her that their anniversary program had changed and would include keynote speakers Ted Kennedy and the president of the CIO Leonard Woodcock, as well as a professional actors who would portray the formation of the UAW and the 1937 strike. He reassured her, however, that she and the role of women in the strike would be mentioned. Dissatisfied with the total absence of both women and union veterans from the program, Dollinger decided to protest the matter once she arrived in Flint. (7:08-12:25)... Dollinger was angry when she learned that a joint celebration between GM and the UAW would take place on the anniversary of the 1937 strike. A short time later, she received a telegram from the UAW inviting her to the event in Detroit; she also received a separate invitation from George Morris, Jr., the vice president of GM, which was co-signed by the leaders of the UAW. Dollinger details her reaction and her attempts to get the support of Victor Reuther, who initially found the collaboration with GM just as inconceivable. However, he accepted the rationale of the UAW leadership that their participation was a bargaining chip to organize the GM factories that relocated to the South, and eventually he was invited to speak in Flint when Kennedy canceled. Dollinger did not learn about the five GM plants that were on strike during this period until the day before she left for Detroit. (12:25-19:36)... When Dollinger arrived in Detroit, she issued a statement to the press regarding the GM-UAW anniversary celebration, and was subsequently interviewed by reporters from the Detroit Free Press and the Wall Street Journal. In addition, her interview with a reporter from a Detroit television station was aired. Two days later, Macey issued his own statement opposing the celebration, calling it "class collaboration." There were no plans to issue a joint statement with veterans involved in the formation of the UAW in Flint because she was viewed as a critic of the UAW. Although people like Macey agreed with her privately, they were reluctant to align themselves with her. (19:36-20:16)... After Dollinger issued a statement to the press opposing the GM-UAW anniversary celebration, she was contacted by rank and file members of the UAW and congratulated for taking a stand. (20:16-23:08)... Due to the apathetic nature of UAW members in Detroit, no plans were made to demonstrate outside the banquet hall where the GM-UAW anniversary celebration was scheduled to take place. Dollinger did not belong to any political caucuses in the union at that time and did not contact anyone in the UAW in order to organize a demonstration. When she arrived in Detroit, a reception was held on her behalf and she was visited by her socialist and labor friends. She kept her reunions to a minimum once she got to Flint, but she accepted an invitation from the Fisher Body Plant No. 2 Local to speak at their 40th anniversary celebration on February 11. (23:08-27:05)... Dollinger was interviewed by a CBS reporter when she was in Flint, and this was aired on television. She also was involved in a television broadcast with several women from NOW and CLUW, during which she took a back seat so that they could respond to the exclusion of women from the upcoming anniversary celebration in the Flint local. Dollinger wore her red beret and red armband during all of her appearances. (27:05-29:44)... When she met with Don Ellis, the regional director of the Flint Local, to discuss the reimbursement of her transportation costs, she saw the anniversary program and noticed that all twenty-five people listed in the program were men. She told him that the program appeared to have very little to do with the anniversary of the strike and that she was opposed to any celebration that did not represent women. (29:44-33:38)... Note: there is an interruption in this segment when Dollinger pauses to check her records. After she viewed the anniversary program developed by the Flint Local, Dollinger contacted Nellie Bessen, a former lieutenant of the Women's Emergency Brigade who, in turn, put Dollinger in contact with a woman from CLUW. Other former members of the brigade, along with women from CLUW, NOW, women affiliated with Detroit "News and Letters, " all lent their support to a demonstration against the Flint Local. (33:38-39:01)... In honor of the Women's Emergency Brigade, red armbands were issued to people as they entered the auditorium for the anniversary celebration. Dollinger comments that the play portraying the formation of the UAW was "despicable" and amounted to the actors drinking beer and reminiscing about the "good ol' days". The circumstances that led her to take the platform did not go as she had planned. During the demonstration, she began experiencing difficulties with her heart, which led her to question the topics she wanted to cover during her speech. She ultimately decided to concentrate on the role of women in Flint and referred to her opposition to the celebration in a general sense because she did not feel it was right to involve the NOW women in union struggles. She was disappointed with her speech and regretted not addressing more volatile issues. After the celebration, the women held a meeting at the Unitarian Church and she suggested that a joint organization be created between CLUW and NOW. Her speech and the events afterwards were difficult to recall because she was under physical strain during that time. (39:01-42:44)... Reflecting back on the speech she gave at the 40th anniversary celebration in Flint, Dollinger regrets not mentioning that there were five plants on strike at that time and that she didn't berate the UAW regional officers for attending the GM-UAW banquet in Detroit instead of supporting workers at the nearby Saginaw Steering Gear plant. In retrospect, after meeting with Roy Reuther's widow, Dollinger thought that she should have referred to the Local's organizing efforts in Saginaw during the 1936-7 strike. End of tape *** File: lhgdollinger20.mp3 (0:00-1:24)... Both men and women who attended the 40th anniversary celebration in Flint were proud to wear the red armbands issued by the women protesting the program. As they entered the auditorium, people were informed the armbands were to be worn in honor of the Women's Emergency Brigade of 1937. Dollinger believes that the majority of people in the auditorium were wearing armbands. She regrets not mentioning this fact and explaining the reasons behind the demonstration during her speech, but she was having difficulty because of her heart problems. (1:24-4:04)... In addition to a contingent of demonstrators seated in the front of the auditorium, there also was a contingent in the balcony. The women dropped banners over the balcony to begin the demonstration and agitate for a woman speaker. The crowd chanted, "UAW needs an ERA" and "we want our speaker." During her speech, she pointed towards the balcony so that everyone in the auditorium and the television cameras could read the banners. The celebration was not well attended because of the unappealing nature of the program. There were about 1,000 people there, 25-35 percent of who supported the women's demonstration and participated in the chanting. (4:04-7:02)... During the demonstration at the anniversary celebration in Flint, Victor Reuther sat quietly on the platform with two presidents who supported her. Dollinger regrets that she failed to explain the reason for the women's demonstration and was hoping to remedy the situation at the May, 1977 UAW National Convention where a petition signed by Flint veterans of the 1937 strike was to be considered. (7:02-11:15)... Asked if the women at the anniversary celebration supported women's rights or her position against GM-UAW collaboration, Dollinger responds: "In Flint, I was a symbol of the women of 1937, but all of them were against the celebration in Detroit." She continues to ruminate about the speech she made and express regret that she failed to mention the strike that was taking place at the time, as well as the issue of plant closures, etc. She was optimistic that some resolutions would be reached at the national convention that was due to take place. (11:15-14:03)... Initially, the Flint Local allotted three rows to Dollinger's people at the 40th anniversary celebration, but she moved the marker back six rows to give their supporters more seating. Local representatives eventually removed all row markers because they did not want the demonstrators to see how many people with red armbands were seated in their section. When a man at the door barred people from sitting in their section, she confronted him. Finally an international representative stepped in, but the confrontation was upsetting enough to aggravate her heart condition. (14:03-17:10)... Dollinger and the four members of the Women's Emergency Brigade attending the anniversary celebration in Flint wore their red armbands and berets. The demonstration was organized in a matter of hours and Dollinger feels that it was not put together very well. She is self-critical for not addressing the issues that would have won the crowd over and resulted in good publicity for women. However, she was worried that if she brought NOW into the struggle, there would be repercussions for women who worked in Flint. (17:10-19:31)... The majority of women involved in the demonstration at the anniversary celebration in Flint were from CLUW, the rest were mainly the wives of the men who belonged to the Local. A small group of Black women who worked in the factories, and with whom Dollinger had previously associated though the NAACP, also attended. As an aside, she notes that a Black worker who worked his way up to a supervisory position in the plant informed her that supervisors resisted implementing affirmative action, especially for women. From the top down, there was no one representing women in the plants or in the UAW. (19:31-21:14)... During a television interview with women from CLUW, NOW, and the Women's Emergency Brigade, each woman was asked to explain why women should be represented in the anniversary program. Barbara Jennings stated that women need to stick together; another (Sherry Stevens?) stated: "We are holding our hands out to our brothers in the plants and the factories and we want you to do the same for us." (21:14-22:05)... She does not believe that a women's caucus will result from all of the activity that occurred during the 40th anniversary celebration in Flint. However, if she was still in Flint she would be able to organize the old militants in the UAW "who have come along with the times and recognize the necessity of our battle being won and that it is in the same category as every other struggle for equality." Unfortunately, this is a battle that she is physically incapable of waging. End of tape.
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