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Dollinger, Genora (Johnson) (audio interview #2 of 8)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the second of eight interviews conducted with Genora Dollinger in the sunny den of her home. As a result of her schedule and increasingly fragile health, there was an almost three month hiatus since the first interview. This meant that the rapport that was beginning to develop in the first interview had to be re-established. Because this interview began to focus on the Flint strike of 1936-1937, Dollinger often become excitable, reflecting her bitterness about what she considers the undue credit given to CP organizers for the Flint strike. 8/17/1976
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- 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 - studying labor history; preparing for a strike; educating and organizing autoworkers; studying Marxism; Roy Reuther and the Workers Education Program; SP politics; CP organizing efforts in Flint; Fisher Body Plants No; 1 and 2; Chevrolet plants; threats during organizing drive; factionalism in SP; conflicts with CP organizers; Wyndham Mortimer; Bob Travis; Johnson's role in formation UAW; Dorothy Kraus; SP's main organizing drive at Chevrolet; Proletarian Party's role in organizing Fisher Body plants; and conditions in Fisher Body plant during the strike;Kermit and Carl Johnson; pre-strike and strike activities; formation of UAW; Local 156; relationship between CP and SP during the strike; YPSL; Roy Reuther's role as liaison between SP and UAW-CIO; Workers Education Program; childcare arrangements; anti-union attitudes in Flint and her family; initiation of sit-down strike; organizing children's picket line; formation of Women's Auxiliary; men's attitudes towards women in the labor movement; Dorothy Kraus; and formation of first aid station and nursery by Women's Auxiliary;Women's Auxiliary; UAW organizing trips to outlying cities; relationship of CP and SP; anti-unionism of Flint religious leaders; domestic violence; Battle of Bull's Run; Dorothy Kraus; county directive to discontinue tuberculosis treatment; and formation of the Women's Emergency Brigade;Women's Auxiliary; Women's Emergency Brigade; brigade participation in strikes at Redman Plant and JC Penneys; attitude of men towards women's contributions after the strike ended; east coast speaking tour; health problems; Dorothy Kraus; weapons carried by brigadiers; confrontation at Chevrolet Plant No; 4; attitude towards National Guard; and Governor Murphy;
- *** File: lhgdollinger4.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-3:19)... The topics covered in the previous interview are reviewed and a plan for the interviews is discussed in this segment. (3:19-8:22)... Initially, the focus in the socialist study group that Dollinger formed with her father-in-law was the history of the labor movement, beginning with the Molly McGuires. They studied and discussed the tactics of the Knights of Labor, the AFL and the IWW in an effort to determine an appropriate course of action for organizing the automobile industry. Ultimately, they came to believe that violence would play an important role in the labor struggle, although it contradicted their socialist ideology. Dollinger and her cohorts read about the Mohawk Valley Formula that was utilized in the steel industry to combat unionists and realized that the automobile corporations would probably use similar tactics to crush the union movement. By the time the SP branch in Flint was opened in 1932, they had decided that workers would have to develop their own plan of action in preparation for the struggle that lay ahead. Classes were held each week at the SP headquarters to educate workers about the labor movement and help them understand that the only way to improve their working conditions was "by sticking together and uniting and organizing our ranks." (8:22-11:31)... In addition to unionism, the socialist group studied intellectual and philosophical works on socialism, including Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels as well as their revisionist opponents. John Davies held classes at the Proletarian Party headquarters in the Pengelly Building and Dollinger and a few members of the SP attended his weekly lectures to learn more about Marxist ideology. While the PP and Davies were strong supporters of the CP and Communist Russia, the socialists were not. However, his lectures were more about theory than political events in Russia. (11:31-16:11)... Roy Reuther was a member of the SP when he came to Flint in 1934 to organize the Workers Education Program. The people the SP recruited were sent to Reuther's classes and he attended the SP's weekly meetings. People were attracted to Reuther and he became "the pied piper of Flint." He was instrumental in moving the SP forward and helped them carry out its agenda in the labor movement. The SP was not a tight-knit group nationally at this time and there were disputes among the branches in the state over the party line. The SP in Flint understood the importance of their role in the union and, later, of of attacking GM at its center in Flint. (16:11-20:27)... The SP tried to anticipate which GM plant would strike first. They discounted Buick because the working conditions were better there, and AC was a "question mark." That left the Fisher Body and Chevrolet factories. Dollinger notes that Fisher Body Plant No. 2 launched a sit-down strike a few hours prior to Fisher Body Plant No. 1 because it was well organized and comprised a more militant group. Plant No. 1 finally sat down because three leaders there were members of the CP and "they wanted to take the credit for initiating it in Flint." She later learned that the CP organized the foreign-born workers on the north end of Flint, most of whom were employed at Buick. When negotiations began with the CIO, labor organizers stopped meeting with workers in public places because of threats of violence made by GM thugs. Workers also were hesitant to talk about the union at work because there were lip readers in the factories. Meetings moved from beer gardens to basements, cellars, and people's homes. About a dozen people attended these meetings at a time. Initially, they organized workers plant by plant and then key people from each plant attended the meetings at a later time. (20:27-24:57)... Some members in the SP did not help organize workers prior to the strike. The party's efforts also were hampered by theoretical differences between mainstream socialists and those who supported Jay Lovestone (Lovestonites). The Lovestonites eventually left the branch, taking with them some equipment and one-third of the membership. Although they supported unionism, Dollinger comments that they were short on theory and mainly were interested in proving that they were more militant than the CP. She notes that prior to the split, this splinter group met with an organizer from Detroit, who coached them on what to do at the SP meetings. The CP also held meetings with auto workers, but the SP did not have any contact with them prior to the strike. Once the strike began, it was not unusual for a communist to discredit a socialist even if they were leading the picket line because "it was one of those terrible things that the CP felt that they should have the leadership." (24:57-27:20)... According to Dollinger, before the strike, Wyndham Mortimer went to a couple of meetings with Roy and Walter Reuther and George Edwards. However, she maintains that CP distrusted socialists and avoided contact with her group. Instead, they organized those they believed were the key group of workers in Flint. She claims that the CP viewed Carl and Kermit Johnson's participation in meetings in the former AFL autoworkers union with suspicion. (27:20-29:33)... Joining Dollinger in organizing workers were the wives of two other men who worked at Chevrolet Plant 9: Geraldine Clacy (sp?)and Hester LeDuke (sp?). Their husbands were badly beaten during the strike. All three of the women were expected to sit in the back of the room during organizing meetings. Although the two other women ultimately joined the Lovestonites and left Dollinger's branch of the SP, they both participated in both the Women's Auxiliary and the Women's Emergency Brigade during the strike. Dollinger was relieved when the split came because it ended the factional disputes in her branch, during which she was discredited and accused of being a member of the CP. (29:33-35:04)... Both Kermit and Carl Johnson were members of the AFL autoworkers federal local and played leadership roles in the progressive caucus that ultimately led to the formation of the UAW and its membership in the CIO. Kermit was the strike leader at Chevrolet Plant No. 4 and Carl fulfilled the role of an educator in the UAW in Flint. Once the UAW was formed, they did not have any contact with the international leadership except when Wyndham Mortimer came to Flint or the Reuther brothers attended meetings in Detroit. Roy Reuther was the liaison between the UAW in Flint and the international office in Detroit. Dollinger discusses the various organizers within who were affiliated with the CP, including Bob Travis, Louise Smith, and Dorothy and Henry Kraus, and comments that they attempted to isolate the SP from the UAW. She recounts that when she went to the strike headquarters to volunteer, they asked her to work in the kitchen catering to workers at Fisher Body Plant No. 1. When she declined, she was assigned to the clippings office, where she collected newspaper articles on the UAW. When she discovered that Dorothy Kraus was reviewing the clippings before they reached Travis, she quit. (35:04-38:54)... During the pre-strike period, the SP was active mainly at Chevrolet Plant No. 4 and had a couple of people organizing at Fisher Body Plant No. 1 and Buick. Fred Stevens, the president of the Transport Workers Union was an SP organizer. Dollinger describes the layout of Fisher Body compared to the Chevrolet factories. Both its geographic location and its layout made it easier to organize a sit-down strike prior to Chevrolet Plant No. 4. The main leaders at Fisher Body Plant No. 1 were from the CP and the Proletarian Party, both of which occupied three seats each on the strike committee in that plant. (38:54-43:27)... The SP was not surprised when the Fisher Body plants launched a sit-down strike because everyone was waiting for something to happen. The SP knew that Fisher Body was well organized and they were kept abreast of the progress in the plants by Clayton Carpenter of the Proletarian Party. Because the Proletarian Party was ideologically closer to the CP, it allowed them to take more credit for the strike, even though Carpenter is the one who orchestrated the tactical operations and played an advisory role during the Fisher Body sit-down. When elections were held in the Flint UAW for the first time, Carpenter declined to run for president even though he probably would have been elected. Instead, he was elected financial secretary, which he felt was a position that would expose him to the workers on a more frequent basis. Dollinger discusses the conditions inside one of the Fisher Body plants that made it easier for workers to endure the strike. (43:27-44:32)... Once the strike began in the Fisher Body plants under the direction of the Proletarian Party, Dollinger knew that she would not be accepted by the CP, an expectation that was borne out when Dorothy and Henry Kraus arrived. She notes that they told her to help out in the kitchen "like anybody else [when] they should have told me to stay at the center." End of tape. *** File: lhgdollinger5.mp3 (0:00-3:10)... When the strike broke out, autoworkers were told to report to the newly formed UAW-CIO headquarters in the Pengelly Building. Mass meetings were held in the building's auditorium every day before the strike and once the strike began, people flooded the building to join the union. Dollinger notes that Chevrolet closed their plant so that workers would not call a sit-down strike. Local 156 was comprised of the Transport Workers Union as well as the people who joined the UAW during the strike, including teachers and department store clerks. Both Kermit and Carl Johnson were unpaid, volunteer organizers at the time. (3:10-6:42)... Dollinger maintains that the CP had to cooperate with the SP during the strike because the socialists controlled the masses. People from various socialist branches in the country came to Flint to volunteer, in effect shifting the balance of power to the SP. Nevertheless, she notes, that on an individual basis the CP tried to discredit socialists. Initially, the SP met separately and then with UAW-CIO organizers to plan strategy during the strike. However, as the strike progressed, it became difficult to plan core group discussions, so issues were handled as they came up. However, it was vital to maintain a regular schedule of mass meetings to boost morale among auto workers. (6:42-11:39)... During the pre-strike period, the League of Industrial Democracy and the SP organized Chautauqua Series featuring people from Brookwood Labor College as well as intellectuals and radicals from all over the country. After Dollinger joined the SP, she formed the YPSL and they helped sell tickets for these lectures. When the SP refused to sponsor a lecture by Walter Reuther, who had just returned from Russia and was rumored to have communist sympathies, Dollinger and the YPSL agreed to make the arrangements. The authorities threatened to close the meeting if and when Reuther made any anti-American statements. Dollinger comments that the purpose of these lectures was like "sort of kneading the bread before it rose." (11:39-15:17)... Roy Reuther's Workers Education Program was a separate entity that complemented the SP's effort to educate and organize autoworkers. Members of the SP also attended Reuther's classes, which usually about forty people in attendance. The SP also held weekly current events discussions, which attracted about thirty members before the split with the Lovestoneites. The Workers Education Program was a training ground for people who later became organizers and important figures in the labor movement. The current events discussions revolved around how they would unionize GM, which they felt was the "worst taskmaster" of all the automobile factories. The party was particularly interested in how strikes at the smaller GM plants in outlying areas would impact Flint autoworkers. (15:17-17:41)... The expectation was that a strike would first be called in Detroit, where the forces were stronger, and that they would then send help to Flint. However, auto workers in Flint were suffering because the companies were putting a lot of pressure on them to prevent their organizing. (17:41-18:38)... Before the strike, Dollinger, Kermit Johnson and his father, Carl, were always at the Pengelly Building meeting at SP headquarters and with autoworkers. When Fisher Body Plant No. 1 called a sit-down strike, the SP and the UAW went into operation around the clock. When she went to UAW headquarters to volunteer, she started to work in the press clippings office for a few days until Dorothy Kraus came into the union. (18:38-23:06)... During the strike, Dollinger and her family lived in an apartment on the third floor of her parents' building. Her older son was in school and her mother watched her two-year-old. She notes that the bank froze her father's funds until he "got that communist daughter out of [his] apartment building." Her father demanded that she move out, and when she refused, he threatened to turn her water off and forbade her mother from watching her children. Her sisters then agreed to take turns missing school in order to take care of their nephews. Although the UAW eventually opened a nursery, she used it only rarely; because she spent most of her time at the headquarters, she did not want her children there for such a long time. On one occasion, reporters visited her home and discovered that her sons were home alone. The six-year-old told them that he was on "strike duty." The story was published in the newspaper and Dollinger was vilified as a terrible mother. (23:06-26:31)... After she stopped compiling newspaper clippings for the UAW, Dollinger organized a children's picket line, made up primarily of children whose parents were members of the SP. Mothers and some men accompanied the children to protect them. Dollinger set up a sign-painting department, where she created all of the picket signs until she reassigned these responsibilities to an artist (Bruce Sloan). The children's picket line resulted in nationwide publicity and a photograph of her son holding a picket sign saying "My Daddy Strikes For Us Little Tikes" was featured on the front page of the New York Times. There were about twenty children in the picket line, including her sons and her sisters. (26:31-31:27)... Besides painting picket signs, Dollinger spent a substantial amount of her time on the picket line, where she seized the opportunity to talk to women about their role in the strike. She decided to organize a women's auxiliary, but anticipated difficulties because of her relationships with the Lovestone faction of the SP. As a result, she decided not to run for president when elections were held in the auxiliary, instead winning the vice-presidency by a landslide. To recruit more women into the auxiliary, Dollinger spoke at mass meetings and encouraged men to involve their wives in the strike. This was an uphill battle because most of the men didn't think that women should be playing this kind of role. Nevertheless, about fifty women attended the first meeting of the Women's Auxiliary. [At this point, Dollinger talks briefly about the lieutenants in the Women's Emergency Brigade after it was formed.] (31:27-35:19)... After the Women's Auxiliary was formed, the UAW recognized it as the "Ladies Auxiliary of the UAW." Although Dollinger informed the UAW that the word "ladies" was not part of their title, this was never acknowledged and she had to correct people whenever she was introduced to speak on behalf of the auxiliary. The UAW simply adopted the usage in AFL auxiliaries, but Dollinger felt that referring to women as ladies was not consistent with the risks they took to participate in the picketing. Dollinger points to the chauvinism of the men in the union and the perception of some that a woman active in the labor movement was a "street woman" and was there mainly to meet men. As a result, she did not wear any makeup or style her hair, which nevertheless did not stop men from making sexual advances. Eventually, these attitudes changed as prominent women became involved in the strike and men learned about women's contributions to the labor movement. She discusses the leadership role she assumed in the Women's Auxiliary when the elected president failed to take office. (35:19-37:08)... The purpose of the Women's Auxiliary, like in most other unions, was to set up and operate a kitchen. However, a kitchen was already in place when the auxiliary was formed. Dorothy Kraus, who was head of the Food Committee and a paid representative of the UAW, claimed that she was the international representative in charge of the women's organizations in Flint. The women refused to recognize this role, however, but they did allow her to speak during meetings. (37:08-42:27)... The Women's Auxiliary organized a first aid station, and their nurse, Bertha (who was also a midwife), visited picket lines in her white uniform and red beret. There was another nurse who worked nights so that the first aid station was available to workers twenty-four hours a day. The auxiliary also opened a childcare center for women with the assistance of an SP organizer who was a mother of eight. This gave women an opportunity to join the ranks of both the Women's Auxiliary and the Women's Emergency Brigade. The women's activities helped to change men's attitudes as the women told their husbands what they learned about women's roles in the labor movement. It also contradicted the derisive stories that auto factory agents told men about women. (42:27-45:35)... With the exception of a few women who worked at Fisher Body Plant No. 1, the majority of the women in the Women's Auxiliary were housewives, resulting in the auxiliaries slogan, which was: "to stand behind their husbands, sweethearts, and brothers." When the Women's Emergency Brigade was formed, Dollinger made the three working women lieutenants because they had a lot of experience. Operations for the auxiliary were conducted both at the Pengelly Building and on the picket lines. Dollinger spent most of her time at the headquarters assigning women to their posts on the picket lines. As the segment ends, she notes that formation of the Women's Emergency Brigade was precipitated by the Battle of Bull's Run. End of tape. *** File: lhgdollinger6.mp3 (0:00-1:38)... In contrast to other auxiliaries in the union, both the Women's Auxiliary and the Women's Emergency Brigade were autonomous units that coordinated their efforts with the UAW, but did not take orders from the union. Because the union managed the kitchen fund, however, that activity was under the control of the union. Dollinger believes that the Women's Auxiliary was able to function so effectively because her husband, Kermit Johnson, was on the main strike committee. She learned about strike plans and was therefore able to coordinate these efforts with the Women's Auxiliary. (1:38-9:46)... Organizers from Flint frequently traveled to outlying cities to aid auto workers having a difficult time organizing. After several auto workers were beaten and run off the road in Saginaw, Dollinger and three other women volunteered to drive to Saginaw and meet with auto workers. Most of the twenty-five workers who attended the basement meeting had been injured after being beaten by factory thugs. Dollinger describes how GM agents surrounded their car and tailed them on the highway back to Flint. When the woman who was driving succeeded in losing the agents, the women in the car broke into union songs. Dollinger notes that their efforts in Saginaw were not publicized in the Flint Autoworker, which was a CP paper and only featured the efforts of their people, never the socialists. (9:46-11:17)... Members of the Women's Emergency Brigade also went on organizing campaigns outside Flint, including one that Dollinger organized in Anderson, Indiana. The women were equipped with blackjacks and other weapons to protect themselves. One of the brigadiers turned pale when their car was searched, at which time Dollinger hid her weapon in her skirt. In general, the weapon of choice for strikers on the picket line was a sock with a bar of soap or a rock inside. (11:17-17:01)... When it appeared that the strike would drag on longer than the anticipated forty-four days, and realizing that women would be needed to speak to other women, the Women's Auxiliary started a parliamentary procedures and public speaking class. By this time, GM controlled the newspapers and the radio and was using these media to convince the public not to participate in the strike. Efforts were made by the auxiliary to visit women in their homes, but this was difficult due to transportation and communication problems. Some women visited the small churches in the area and spoke to parishioners about the labor movement, but most of the churches did not support the strike. Dollinger relates visiting her church to verify the rumors that her minister was making vitriolic statements about the unionists. She notes that she became an agnostic once she started studying socialism and completely swore off organized religion after hearing her minister's anti-union views. (17:01-20:55)... By the time the Battle of Bull's Run occurred, the Women's Auxiliary has a strong presence on the picket line and played an important role in organizing women. Although there were probably close to 500 women in the auxiliary, usually only about sixty or seventy women attended meetings. These meetings gave women a chance to express themselves and make decisions in contrast to the mass meetings, which were dominated by men, where women had few opportunities to speak up. In many ways, working-class women were isolated in the home and tied down by children and domestic responsibilities. Dollinger believes that a large number of these women were victims of domestic abuse. (20:55-26:26)... The police attack that started the Battle of Bull's Run was unexpected. She had just come from the union headquarters and recalls that the Pengelly Building was relatively empty because no meetings were scheduled. When the area outside Fisher Body Plant No. 2 was barricaded, the women and children in the area were ushered behind the barricades by the "chivalrous" men. The women realized that chivalry would work to their advantage one day because it would be difficult for the authorities to fire into a group of people that included women. I Dollinger notes that the reason they adopted the red berets and armbands was so that they could form a visible line in front of the men, if needed. On the day of the Battle of Bull's Run, however, the women were not wearing their berets and were dispersed throughout the area. When the men tried to escort Dollinger to safety, she refused to leave. She claims that she was the only woman involved in the battle, indicating that she knew this because when she tried to use the ladies restroom in the factory it was locked, so the men allowed her to use their restroom. They later learned that the factory guards had locked themselves in the women's restroom. (26:26-30:03)... Dollinger was angry about police shooting into the crowd of strikers during the Battle of Bull's Run. She and Kermit Johnson were wearing leather jackets and helmets to protect themselves from the bullets. The strikers protected themselves by throwing rocks and door hinges at the police and also doused the police with the water hoses at the plant. Approximately seventy feet separated the strikers from the police. In addition to firing their rifles, the police bombarded the strikers with fire bombs and tear gas canisters, some of which the strikers were able to throw back to the police. Amidst this chaos, one of her fellow strikers was courteous enough to tip his hat upon running into her as she entered and he exited the plant. (30:03-35:09)... A sound car was stationed at the plant during the Battle of Bull's Run and Victor Reuther was the main speaker. When he announced that, "The war is not lost, but we may have lost this battle," Dollinger and asked Reuther to give her an opportunity to address the crowd. She recounts that she took the microphone and "appealed to the women in Flint to come down and stand with their husbands and loved ones and sweethearts." She details the reaction of the crowd and how men and women broke through the police line, at which point the police, who were outnumbered retreated. As an aside, she disputes the version of the CP version of the events and criticizes their downplaying the role of women unless they were in the party's orbit. (35:09-39:14)... Dollinger charges that the CP tried to buy the support of women by offering them shoes and clothing. She recounts how Dorothy Kraus called her into her office and offered her a pair of wool-lined boots and some money to purchase new clothing if only she would "be reasonable and cooperate." During the strike, the county issued orders to discontinue dispersing medicine to Dollinger because of her participation in the strike. However, the county doctor ignored these orders and continued to provide her with tuberculosis treatments even though he did not agree with her union activities. (39:14-43:11)... As women broke through the police barricades during the Battle of Bull's Run, Dollinger began to think about a different role. The next day she decided to form a women's organization that would function as a military unit and could be called to action at a minute's notice. She used the word "brigade," commonly used for military units during the Civil War, in which her grandfather served as a captain. After she formed the Women's Emergency Brigade, she became the captain of the group. She also decided that it was important for women to wear something that would distinguish them from other women. End of tape. *** File: lhgdollinger7.mp3 (0:00-5:46)... The Women's Emergency Brigade was formed through a series of meetings of the auxiliary, where Dollinger presented her idea. She emphasize the risks in joining the brigade as a way of excluding people who were not capable of being on call twenty-four hours a day or could not handle potentially dangerous situations. The women still interested in joining the brigade were asked to sign a pledge that acknowledged the risks and responsibilities. The youngest member of the brigade was sixteen and the oldest, Rebecca Stoddard, was seventy-three. Brigadiers were expected to wear their red berets and armbands at all times "to let other people know that there were women determined enough in the city to have a union for the men." The majority of women in the brigade and the auxiliary were wives or relations of men employed at automobile factories. (5:46-9:12)... Meetings of the Women's Emergency Brigade were held for Dollinger and her lieutenants to hand out orders and instruct women where to report for duty. In addition to participating in strike activities at automobile factories on behalf of the men in Local 156, brigadiers also responded to the Redman Factory and JC Penneys where women were on strike. Some of the women employed at these companies joined the auxiliary and the brigade. The brigade made all of its own decisions and did not take orders from the UAW. She often learned about future strike activities from her husband, which allowed her to coordinate brigade efforts with the men's actions. accordingly. The brigade disbanded when the strike ended. She would have liked for women to play more of a role in UAW decisions following the strike, but most of the women went back into the home. (9:12-10:21)... After the strike, Dollinger he went on a six-week speaking tour on the East Coast. She resumed her role as vice president of the auxiliary when she returned to Flint, but she collapsed during the first meeting she attended after her return as a result both of her illness and stress over factional disputes. She was admitted to a tuberculosis sanitarium and remained there for six months. (10:21-13:16)... Between forty and fifty women joined the Women's Emergency Brigade during its first meeting, but more women signed up at subsequent meetings as a result of publicity about the formation of the brigade. After signing the brigade pledge, they received a red armband, but were required to purchase a red beret. The auxiliary screened the women, discouraging those who they felt were poor candidates. No one was rejected on the basis of their political views, and women from the Lovestonite faction and the CP joined. There were no attempts to unseat Dollinger, except for the time Dorothy Kraus announced that the UAW-CIO authorized her to assume leadership of the women's organizations in Flint, a role the women ignored. (13:16-17:45)... Dollinger was the captain of the Women's Emergency Brigade and had five lieutenants, three of whom were auto workers. When their efforts were needed, the lieutenants assembled a group of women, handed out orders, and arranged for them to be transported to the picket lines. Men who owned cars were responsible for transporting the women and other strikers to these locations as part of their strike duty. Because the records of both the auxiliary and the brigade were destroyed or lost, the international put out a call on Dollinger's behalf, seeking whatever records and information women might have. (17:45-24:08)... Note: there is an interruption in this segment. The members of the WEB not only walked the picket lines with auto workers at the main GM plants, they also went to smaller automobile factories to help strike efforts. Dollinger never sent a brigadier anywhere she felt was too dangerous, rather only she and her lieutenants would go. The women in the brigade carried weapons while picketing, such as a sock and a bar of soap or a bolt of some type. When they anticipated that a confrontation was likely, they carried clubs, which were concealed under their jackets or used as the base of their picket signs. The women never used their clubs in hand-to-hand contact, but did use them to break out windows at GM plants when men were bombarded with tear gas. (24:08-26:25)... There was no contact between unionists and the National Guard prior to the strikers taking over Chevrolet Plant No. 4. The National Guard stayed in two encampments in Flint, and they were instructed not to talk to leave the area or talk to anyone. The strikers viewed the National Guard as threatening as the Flint Alliance and the factory guards, not knowing what decisions would be made once an injunction was issued. End of tape.
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