Walter P. Reuther

Walter Reuther (1907-1970), a native of West Virginia, came to Detroit in 1927 and secured work at Ford. He was active in efforts to organize autoworkers in the 1930s, serving as President of UAW Local 174 and playing a key role in 1937 in both the sit-down strike against GM in Flint, Michigan, and the famous “Battle of the Overpass” at Ford’s River Rouge Plant. In 1939 he became head of the UAW’s GM Department, and in 1946 he was elected President of the UAW, a position he held until his death.

Here we can see (from left to right) Robert Kanter, Walter Reuther, Richard T. Frankenstein,and J.J. Kennedy photographed during the "battle of the overpass" May 26, 1937.