Creator: Don Stevens, Jeff Charnley

Subjects: Anniversaries, Sesquicentennial

Description:

Don Stevens was born on a farm halfway between Greenville and Belding. After high school Mr. Stevens moved to Grand Rapids where he worked for a local laundry from 1937 to 1941 and then began working for the Joppey Dairy in 1941. He was instrumental in creating the United Dairy Workers union with John Gibson from the Michigan CIO, after which he worked for the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union beginning in 1944. He then worked for the AFL-CIO where he was elected in 1957 to the Board. In 1958, Mr. Stevens was elected to the State Board of Agriculture, the group that would become the MSU Board of Trustees in 1960. He was on this board until 1978, serving as chairman from 1968 to 1970. Mr. Stevens was a member of the MSU Board of Trustees during both the staff and faculty unionization movements.

Topics Covered in the Interview Include: Oakland University; Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union; AFL-CIO; Joppy Dairy; Gerald Ford; “Soapy” Williams; Clifton Wharton; John Hannah

Date: April 19, 2001

Format: Audio/mp3

Original Format: Audiocassettes

Resource Identifier: Don_Stevens_Intv_t2s2.mp3

Collection Number: UA 3

Language: English

Rights Management: Educational use only, no other permissions given. Copyright to this resource is held by Michigan State University and is provided here for educational purposes only. It may not be reproduced or distributed in any format without written permission of the University Archives & Historical Collections, Michigan State University.

Contributing Institution: University Archives & Historical Collections, MATRIX, Office of the Provost

Relation: Sesquicentennial Oral History Project

Contributor: MSU Archives and Historical Collections

Audio File:

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