Eldridge Cook, African-American GM Manager, discusses his career at the Fisher Body plant in Lansing, MI
Cookie talks about college and teaching in Mississippi, coming to Lansing in 1963 and 1964 to work summers in the factory and returning south to teach in the fall. In 1965, Cookie permanently hired into Fisher. He describes a workplace with few minorities and one black supervisor. Cookie comments on the 1970 UAW strike, discrimination and race. He recalls applying and being tested for supervision but was told he failed the test. In 1971 he felt he was forced onto supervision to help GM comply with new laws. Cookie recalls that some workers would not accept their paychecks from a black. He talks about cooking a roast in the paint ovens, area dinners, the salaried dining room and retirement.
Read
- In Collections
-
Lansing Auto Town
- Copyright Status
- In Copyright
- Date
- 2006-01-10
- Interviewees
-
Cook, Eldridge
- Interviewers
-
McQuaid, Cheryl
Nicholson, Earl
Coulter, Marilyn
Smith, Jerri
Judy, Gary
- Subjects
-
Cook, Eldridge
African American automobile industry workers
Automobile factories
Discrimination in employment
Diversity in the workplace
Middle managers, Retired
Racism in the workplace
Strikes and lockouts--Automobile industry
Michigan--Lansing
Mississippi
- Material Type
-
Sound recordings
- Language
-
English
- Extent
- 01:05:45
- Venue Note
-
Recorded on Jan. 10, 2006, as part of the United Auto Workers Local 602/General Motors Oral History Project.
- Holding Institution
-
Vincent Voice Library
- Call Number
- Voice 15492
- Catalog Record
- http://catalog.lib.msu.edu/record=b6794804