Dr. Matthew Daley, Grand Valley State University professor of history, delivers a talk entitled "In the Wake of Disaster: The Lake Carriers' Association, Welfare Capitalism, and Lake Erie's Black Friday Storm of 1916." Daley talks about the shipping industry on the Great Lakes and about ships caught up in the October 20, 1916 storm. He explains how the industry was vertically integrated; corporations owned the iron mines, the ships and the steel mills. Daley gives a history of efforts by seamen to form labor unions and strategies used by the shipping companies to neutralize those efforts using a combination of force, intimidation and corporate paternalism. He explains how the Lake Carriers' Association functioned to effectively self regulate the industry. Daley answers questions from the audience. He is introduced by John Beck, Michigan State University Professor of Human Resources and Labor Relations. Part of the "Our Daily Work/Our Daily Lives" Brown Bag series sponsored by the MSU School of Human Resources and Labor Relations and the MSU Museum. Held at the MSU Museum.
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