Chevy Fisher Body Plant, winter 1966-7

This is a film clip, made by my late Aunt, of the exterior of the Chevrolet Fisher Body factory in Lordstown, OH, in the winter of 1966-7, when the place was new. At the time, the Lordstown, OH, Chevrolet factory was at the forefront of automation. I included comparison photos at the end to the building today.

My aunt was a factory worker (near Akron, OH). She may have been there in the hope of a job, hopeful enough to film such a boring building. A commute there would have been feasible.

I added a quote from Gary Bryner, who worked there. Studs Terkel had interviewed him for his book, Working (1972): pg. 256-265. Their whole discussion is interesting. Here are a some Bryner quotes from the book:

"A unimate is a welding robot... If the guys didn't stand up and fight, they'd become robots too." "The unimate doesn't stand there and talk, doesn't argue, doesn't think." (p. 261, 265)

"[People's fathers] felt obligated to that guy that gave him a job, to do his dirty work. Whereas the young guy believes he has something to say about what he does. He doesn't believe that when the foreman says it's right that it's right. Hell, he may be ten times more intelligent as this foreman. If he believes he's working too hard, he stands up and says so. He doesn't ask for more money. He says, 'I'll work at a normal pace, so I don't go home tired and sore, a physical wreck. I want to keep my job and keep my senses.'" "I think a lot of these young kids understand this. There's some manliness in being able to stand up to the giant." (p. 259, 262)

"The biggest polluter is the thing we produce, the automobile. The livelihood that puts bread on your table. I don't know if the people in the plant question it. I wouldn't want to see all the automobiles banned because they pollute the air. Yet I realize what the hell good is my livelihood if the air's gonna kill me anyway. There are so many priorities that have to be straightened out." (p.263)

"Our women have been here only a year. Right now they're more interested in learning how the union functions and how to get more restrooms. ... In '66 and '67 the jobs were so physically demanding that a woman couldn't have done them. They had to be made more normal. I think women really helped our union." (p. 264)

Category:

Education

Tags:

• chevrolet
• chevy
• ohio
• lordstown1966
• 1967
• old
• history
• film
• fisher
• body
• plant

[ClevelandOrangeDawgs]

thats lordstown ohio complex im 100% sure i work there. no doubt in my mind.

[56kmodem]

@ClevelandOrangeDawgs Thanks for verifying the location and commenting..!

[56kmodem]

Thanks for your feedback. I just recently posted the video. The interesting thing to me about this footage is it appears to be before the plant actually opens. Hard to tell, though. Maybe it was a weekend.

[ClevelandOrangeDawgs]

@56kmodem no problem, there are alot of things that give it away, not including the building design, the way the parking lot is, the street that runs right infront of it, the blue water tower in the back ground, etc

[waywardsons67]

Well what a pleasant surprise! I have just taken delivery of my '67 Impala door hardtop and thought.. I wonder if there are any Chevrolet factory films on Youtube?

Thanks for showing where my newly beloved Impala body was born!

Tell 'em I'm a fan.

[monzadude]

Aww, sorry to hear of her passing...I'd love to hear more stories, especially if she worked there during the vega/monza days. Have any other relatives that might have worked there then?