1950s
Born in Texas in 1914, George Edwards attended Harvard University, where he was drawn to the vision of Norman Thomas, one of the most prominent socialists in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century. In 1936, Edwards acted on those beliefs by taking a job at Kelsey-Hayes, a major parts manufacturer located in Southwest Detroit, and while there, helping to organize that sit-down strike and was among those arrested at the Yale and Towne strike.
Edwards went on to hold high-level positions in the United Auto Workers. He was a steadfast advocate for progressive causes such as fair and open housing as a Detroit City Councilman and as Labor’s candidate in the 1949 Detroit mayoral elections, in which he was defeated by Alfred Cobo. He left his seat on the State Supreme Court of Michigan to lead efforts to reform the Detroit Police Department in the early years of 1960s prior to his appointment as a federal judge on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Collection Spotlight: : George C. Edwards, Jr. Papers, Timothy McRoberts’ profile posted to the Walter Reuter Library website
Recommended Reading: Mary Stohlberg’s Bridging the River of Hatred: The Pioneering Efforts of Detroit Police Commissioner George Edwards (Wayne State University Press, 2018).
