These pictures are self explanatory of what happenned that day on May 26, 1937. |
UAW organizers pose for the press on the Miller Road Overpass. Moments after this shot is taken they are attacked by employees of the Ford Service Department during the Battle of the Overpass. Left to right: Robert Kanter, Walter P. Reuther, Richard Frankensteen, J.J. Kennedy
Just before the riot that would come to be known as the "Battle of the Overpass,"
three Ford men approach union leaders Walter P. Reuther and Richard T. Frankensteen.
This photo was taken on one of the Ford bridges over Miller Road at the Rouge Plant on March 26, 1937. UAW organizers Robert Kanter, Walter Reuther, Richard T. Frankensteen, (second and third from the right) and J. J. Kennedy outside Gate 4 at the Rouge Plant in Dearborn, Michigan. Ford Motor Company men from the Sociological Department advancing from left.
"Battle of the overpass," by James Kilpatrick, May 26, 1937. UAW officer
Richard Frankensteen is attacked by Ford Motor Company security officers.
The attack on Frankensteen. His coat was pulled over his head to constrain his arms.
"Battle of the overpass," by James Kilpatrick, May 26, 1937. UAW officer
Richard Frankensteen is attacked by Ford Motor Company security officers.
The attack on Frankensteen. His coat was pulled over his head to constrain his arms.
Richard Frankensteen is brutally beaten by employees of the Ford Service Department
during the Battle of the Overpass as photographers record the event and servicemen
try to block their view.
An unidentified UAW organizer is soundly beaten by a group of Ford Service Department employees during the Battle of the Overpass. Second from right is Sam Taylor.
An unidentified UAW organizer is knocked to the ground and beaten by a group of Ford Service Department employees during the Battle of the overpass. Third from left with his back to the
camera is Sam Taylor.
A blood-soaked Richard Frankensteen has his wounds attended to after being beaten by
Ford Service Department employees during the Battle of the Overpass. Walter Reuther
sits at right, his eyes closed.
Walter P. Reuther and Richard T. Frankensteen after the beating.
The bloodied labor heroes Walter P. Reuther and Richard T. Frankensteen pose
victorious after
the "Battle of the Overpass" on May 26, 1937.
Their historic efforts led to the first union contract with Ford Motor Co.
Robert Kanter, Richard Frankensteen and Walter Reuther regroup after they were met with violence by Ford Service Department employees during an UAW organizing attempt at the Ford Rouge Plant, Dearborn, Michigan.
Injured UAW organizers listen to testimony during a National Labor Review Bureau (NLRB) hearing on the "Battle of the Overpass," Dearborn, Michigan. Walter Reuther sits at center.
A fight during a UAW strike at the Ford Dearborn plant in 1941. The photo earned Detroit News photographer Milton Brooks the Pulitzer prize
A confident Harry Bennett, head of the Ford Service Department, prepares to enter the courtroom during the National Labor Relations Bureau inquiry into the Battle of the Overpass.
An African American man enters the courtroom during the National Labor Relations Bureau inquiry
into the Battle of the Overpass. It is assumed that his name is Mr. Jones and that he is a defendant
accused of beating UAW organizers under the supervision of the Ford Service Department based on previous photographs in the series.
Members of the crowd that witnessed the violent confrontation between Ford Service employees
and UAW organizers clean up handbills that were released during the fight from the Miller
Road Overpass onto Ford Property, Ford Rouge Plant, Dearborn, Michigan.
Strikers at Gate 4 of the Ford Motor Co.'s Rouge plant hold up copies of The Detroit News announcing the end of the wildcat strike that prompted Henry Ford to capitulate to unionzation in April 1941.