Billy Durant: Creator of General Motors

Foreword

This is the foreword from the original edition of 1973. Foreword This account of the career of William Crapo Durant is based in part on unpublished manuscripts and documents and on interviews with his widow, two of his personal secretaries and others who knew him well. Among the manuscripts used extensively are Durant's own autobiographical notes. This manuscript of seven short typewritten chapters, plus scattered notes, is not always accuratemuch of it was written in the 1930s and 1940s, decades after the events described-but it contains valuable information and some insights into Durant's motives. These notes, and numerous letters and other personal papers, were made available to the writer by Durant's widow, Mrs. Catherine Durant, with the cooperation of his last personal secretary, Aristo Scrobogna, who is the legal custodian of Durant's papers. Durant is best remembered in Flint, Michigan, a city which owes practically all of its large industrial base-and its historical distinction of being the birthplace of General Motors-to his accomplishments. And the manuscript which really provided the basis for this account is a 600-page Industrial History of Flint which was compiled by Frank M. Rodolf in the early 1940s when he was a reporter and librarian for The Flint Journal. It is surely one of the best and most complete accounts of Durant's career ever compiled. Rodolf, who left The Journal shortly after the manuscript was completed, was located by the writer in New York City. With his permission, and that of The 9 Foreword This account of the career of William Crapo Durant is based in part on unpublished manuscripts and documents and on interviews with his widow, two of his personal secretaries and others who knew him well. Among the manuscripts used extensively are Durant's own autobiographical notes. This manuscript of seven short typewritten chapters, plus scattered notes, is not always accuratemuch of it was written in the 1930s and 1940s, decades after the events described-but it contains valuable information and some insights into Durant's motives. These notes, and numerous letters and other personal papers, were made available to the writer by Durant's widow, Mrs. Catherine Durant, with the cooperation of his last personal secretary, Aristo Scrobogna, who is the legal custodian of Durant's papers. Durant is best remembered in Flint, Michigan, a city which owes practically all of its large industrial base-and its historical distinction of being the birthplace of General Motors-to his accomplishments. And the manuscript which really provided the basis for this account is a 600-page Industrial History of Flint which was compiled by Frank M. Rodolf in the early 1940s when he was a reporter and librarian for The Flint Journal. It is surely one of the best and most complete accounts of Durant's career ever compiled. Rodolf, who left The Journal shortly after the manuscript was completed, was located by the writer in New York City. With his permission, and that of The 9 Foreword Flint Journal, which copyrighted his manuscript, some of his work is incorporated in this book. A copy of his manuscript is in the Flint Public Library. In some ways, it is a product of Flint Journal reporters over a period of more than half a century. Rodolf drew on the articles of his predecessors, and those who followed him also contributed to it. Portions of it were published in The Journal's GM Golden Milestone edition of August 14, 1958. A great many persons gave various kinds of help. Clarence H. Young, assistant director of the Manufacturers Association of Flint, biographer of Charles Stewart Mott, and long considered one of the leading experts on Durant, provided initial interest and considerable guidance, along with a large amount of material from his files. An excellent speaker, Young has kept the memory of Durant's spirit alive in Flint, the starting point of most of Durant's successes. Much of the revived interest in Durant can be traced to Young. Richard P. Scharchburg, associate professor of social science at General Motors Institute, has constantly been seeking new sources of information about Durant's career and has provided invaluable assistance with guidance, research assistance, and the checking of accuracy. There are periods in Durant's career which have still not been thoroughly cleared up to the satisfaction of either the writer or of Scharchburg, but the research goes on. George S. May, author, historian and professor at Eastern Michigan University, encouraged...