Michigan and the Great Depression: Losses and Gains

The Great Depression was a difficult time in Michigan as it was most everywhere in the world. Much was lost to the faltering economy. The automotive industry was obviously hit hard and unions reacted to employers’ attempts to pay as little as possible for production. But many things were also gained during this time, even if some of those gains had value more abstract than the money and property lost.

With so many unemployed around the country, auto makers tried to increase efficiency at auto plants so that they could make inexpensive cars that an increasingly poorer populace could buy. This brought about speedy assembly lines that were dangerous to workers and a general deterioration of working conditions for laborers. Tensions between Michigan workers and auto makers came to a head when the United Automobile Workers of America (UAW) began a sit-down strike on December 30th, 1936.

But much was also gained during this time of trouble. Reflecting on the economic struggles led many to create great works of art, such as Paul Honore’s mural, “Michigan’s Natural Resources,” which was displayed at the World Fair in Chicago in 1933. The sense of unity discovered between people who struggled to survive, like union workers and laboring families, was also something born from the Great Depression.