The Color of Law: Ernie Goodman, Detroit, and the Struggle for Labor and Civil Rights

Photos

Harry Goodman with young Ernie and sister Rose in front of his meat and grocery market on Detroit’s Hastings Street, circa 1912. (Courtesy of the Goodman family) Ernie’s yearbook photo, 1928, as a member of the first graduating class from the new law school in the College of the City of Detroit, forerunner of Wayne State University. (Courtesy of the Goodman family) Ernie and Freda at the Buckingham Fountain in Chicago’s Grant Park during their honeymoon drive across the country, 1932. (Courtesy of the Goodman family) Spring of 1934 in Detroit: Harry Goodman standing on the left, with daughter Rose and son Ernie between him and Minnie, holding her new grandson, Richard. A distracted Freda is sitting on the grass. (Courtesy of the Goodman family) Members of the Unemployed Council, Pontiac, Michigan, 1931. To an unprecedented degree, the Unemployed Councils of the early 1930s united workers across the color line. (Courtesy of Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University, Detroit) Sit-down strikers inside the plant fence at Midland Steel and supporters outside, November 1936. This first sit-down strike in Detroit heralded the rise of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, with membership open to black and white workers, women and men. (Courtesy of Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University, Detroit) Judge Patrick O’Brien led the Labor slate in the Detroit municipal elections of 1937, along with council candidates Maurice Sugar and two future UAW presidents, R. J. Thomas and Walter Reuther. (Courtesy of Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University, Detroit) Goodman and Laicha Kravchik in Washington, DC, where they attended the 1938 Conference of the American Committee against War and Fascism. (Courtesy of the Goodman family) The annual deer hunt, northern Michigan, 1940. From left to right: Ben Probe, fellow lawyer and Guild member; Goodman; Mort Furay, an organizer for the United Public Workers; Bob Blamer, a local resident and guide. (Courtesy of the Goodman family) UAW strikers parading on Miller Road in front of the Ford Dearborn plant, April 1941. Union organizers often drew attention to Henry Ford’s links with Nazi Germany. (Courtesy of Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University, Detroit) The Sojourner Truth riot, February 1942. When white crowds attacked black families moving into a newly built public housing project, the police arrested African Americans who tried to defend themselves. (Courtesy of Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University, Detroit) Freda and Ernie Goodman with Maurice Sugar at the 1946 UAW convention in Atlantic City. (Courtesy of Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University, Detroit) Pete Seeger performing in the Goodman home, 1946, at a fund-raising party for the Civil Rights Congress. (Courtesy of the Goodman family) The coroner’s inquest into the police shooting of fifteen-year-old Leon Mosley, June 1948. Goodman is seated center left (marked #1), with George Crockett behind him (#4) and Elvin Davenport to the right of Goodman. Billy Allan, reporter for the Daily Worker and a future client of Goodman, is seated at the press table (marked #2). The Mosley family and supporters are crowded into the gallery. (Courtesy of the Goodman family) Progressive Party rally at Olympia Stadium, 1948. Presidential candidate Henry Wallace spoke to twelve thousand supporters, with Goodman (seated beneath the Wallace poster) the master of ceremonies. Seated to the left of Goodman is actor and former boxer Canada Lee, and next to him is state senator Stanley Nowak. Goodman’s law partner, Mort Eden, is standing behind Nowak. The singer is Bernie Asbel. (Courtesy of the Goodman family) On the campaign trail, 1948. Denied accommodations in several hotels because they were members of a mixed-race group, Roberta Barrow, Bernie Asbel, and Goodman relax after a day of campaigning in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. (Courtesy of the Goodman family) Progressive Party candidates and activists in the home of the Reverend Charles Hill, Detroit, 1948. Singer, actor, and political activist Paul Robeson is standing at the center. Goodman is seated on the right, with Roberta Barrow standing behind him. Coleman...