I was inspired to write this book after reading a Monday March 8, 2004 article in the Detroit Free Press about how Detroit’s “blue collar” working class was fading away.
If we’re all about to fade away, I want to leave behind a written record of what life was like working for one of Detroit’s greatest automotive facilities...........
From CHAPTER 1
Newly hired people usually got the afternoon shift, and I was no exception. My job was to work in what they called the knockout room on the third floor of the Old Iron Foundry.
My first day on the job the outside temperature was around 90 degrees or better, and I was already beginning to question my sanity for taking such a job as I climbed the never ending stairway up to the third floor.
From CHAPTER 4
I was excited about beginning a new career as a skilled trades millwright. I had a rough idea about what millrights did, but I was still a little apprehensive.......
The Power House and Pulverizing Building in the steel division was the first place I worked as a millwright and what an experience this was to be.
Brief excerpts from the book Unlce Henry's Ford Rouge. Uncle Henry's Ford Rouge tells the story of everyday life in Ford Motor Company's world famous Ford Rouge Center, also commonly known as Ford's River Rouge Plant. Part history of the American auto industry and the United Auto Workers and part auto-biography, Uncle Henry's Ford Rouge will appeal to all blue-collar workers.