MotorCities National Heritage Area logo
Auto-Heritage-Museum-Ypsilanti-cropped.jpg

Falcons HallFalcons Hall

Click to view Stanley Nowak’s thumbnail biography that is found in the Guide’s discussion of distinguished UAW Local 174 pioneers. He was an in influential leader from the Polish community from the 1930s well into the 1980s. His campaigns for State Senator served as a vehicle to champion the unionization of Ford. The one-minute video underscores how important the network of social and fraternal organizations was to the earliest days of building the UAW.

Click to view "Two Halls, One Union", an excerpt from Steve Babson’s book Working Detroit that highlights a fascinating story involving these two ethnic halls at a key moment in the critical 1936 Kelsey Hayes sit-down strike.

Interested scholars and activists can help the Guide team explore how the Southwest Detroit and Hamtramck area Polish communities were linked, as well as the diverse political currents that existed among Catholic union activists. In addition, volunteers may be able to help explain whether the experience of Hungarian and Slovenian autoworkers differed in significant ways from that of their Polish counterparts. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to learn more about this and other volunteer opportunities.