The 1956 Michigan Milk Strike in Romeo

Seventy years ago this week, Romeo found itself in a milk strike. Strikers included farmers and longtime members of the Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA) who joined the Fair Share Bargaining Association (FSBA) in an effort to increase milk prices. The strike lasted nine days and throughout Michigan.

The events leading up to it began in December 1954 when a resolution was passed by Romeo dairyfarmers asking for a grand jury investigation of "possible monopolistic tendencies" in the milk industry. They complained that even with high demand for the beverage, there remained low prices; therefore, not much profit for the farmers. In October 1955, the grand jury issued supeonas to the MMPA and five Detroit dairies. Records from the Flint chapter were later supeonaed as well.

In January 1956, the local MMPA held a meeting to go over the progress report on the case at the Romeo High School on Prospect Street. Between 500 to 600 farmers and their wives from 11 eastern Michigan counties attended. Homer Martin also came. He was a long-time labor organizer and the representative for FSBA. The group sought "to align farmers with the Teamsters union to enforce collective bargaining."

Martin encouraged farmers to abandon the MMPA as a bargaining agent on milk prices.

The MMPA wasn't going to take this lying on its back. In the February 16, 1956 issue of The Romeo Observer Press, it claimed that the attack from the FSBA was attempting to "hoodwink" and "booby trap" (newspaper's quotes) dairy farmers "by use of distorted facts, half-truths, gilded promises and subterfuge."

In other words, the MMPA felt that the FSBA were trying to take advantage of dairy farmers through control and misinformation. The Saline Observer echoed similar sentiments in an MMPA advertisement in their April 26, 1956 edition.

Things got worse when eight members of the MMPA were ousted because of their involvement with the FSBA on February 23, 1956. Talk of striking from the FSBA kept going on.

According to the MMPA website, the strike went underway in late March when "milk trucks belonging to MMPA and to private haulers were hijacked and herded to MMPA's Imlay City plant."

Violence occurred in many parts of Michigan like Elsie and Ovid near Flint, Saranac near Grand Rapids, and Brighton. They grew so big that the New York Times covered it. Romeo wasn't immune. Romeo Observer Press writers Lee Winborn and Ed Howard covered the strike in town.

During those nine days, farmers withheld their milk as well as picketed at Borden's Romeo depot and at delivery trucks trying to get through. Strikers threw rocks at drivers who attempted to deliver milk and wrote "scab" on their vehicles like the one seen here on Stanley Roszczewski's car in the April 5, 1956 issue of The Romeo Observer Press.

One delivery driver and farmer Robert Toles even pulled out a .45 calibre automatic at picketers who crowded around his pickup truck in front of the local Borden milk depot on Wednesday, March 28. The newspaper took a picture of the aftermath for their March 29 edition, which can be seen below.

Other acts of violence occurred during the strike in Romeo. According to an article written by Lee Winborn, the peak of this brutality happened on Saturday, March 31 when a gravel truck carrying 18 cans of milk "turned sharply into the Borden company driveway, knocking down two women pickets."

Both women - Mrs. Edward F. Budnick of Bruce Township and and Mrs. Phillip Lambert of Capac - were taken to the St. Joseph's Hospital in Mount Clemens, but they weren't seriously hurt. Romeo police took the driver - Robert Currey of Almont - into custody. Local Police Chief Gordon Osgood mentioned that he was later released on $1,000 bond pending "investigation of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder."

Robert's father Mitchell Currey was also arrested for punching a third female striker - Mrs. Annie Korth of Romeo. Both of men are seen here waiting in the police car after both incidents. This picture was taken for the April 5 issue.

Not every town had violence. In Richmond, local newspaper The Richmond Review praised the picketers in the area "for their orderly manner in which they have conducted their campaign" in their April 5 edition. The Romeo Community Archives keeps issues of that newspaper (1911-1984) in-house.

On the same day, in which Toles pulled out a gun on strikers, Detroit-area delegates voted to demand $5 price per hundredweight of milk at the MMPA's annual meeting in East Lansing. It took nearly a week to inform the picketers about the strike's end.

However, the strike ultimately failed to secure those price gains. The increased $5 only applied to milk used for bottling and fluid purposes. In addition, many farmers stayed loyal to the MMPA, thus lessening the FSBA's power. The events also triggered long-term changes in the MMPA to restructure its by-laws to ensure more equal representation and involvement for farmers in price negotiations.

The milk strike was an unfortunate event in Michigan history, but we must learn about it from all angles, including the local one in towns like Romeo.

To learn more about the 1956 Michigan Milk Strike in Romeo, you can contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org or call (586) 690-4890 to look at newspapers like The Richmond Review. If you want to search for articles on that topic, you can find the Romeo newspapers like The Romeo Observer on the Suburban Library Cooperative's Local History Digital Collection website.

Images and sources courtesy of the Romeo Community Archives; Melvin E. and Joan D. Bleich Collection, The Romeo Observer Press, January 19, 1956, p.I-1; February 2, 1956, p.I-1; February 16, 1956, p.I-2; February 23, 1956, p.I-1; March 15, 1956, p.A-1; March 29, 1956, p.A-1 and p.A-8; April 5, 1956, p.A-1, p.A-6, p.B-1, and p.B-3; Richmond History Society Collection, The Richmond Review, April 5, 1956, p.1; Saline Observer, April 26, 1956, p.5; Michigan Milk Producers Association; and New York Times

The Early History of Base Ball in Romeo

Today is Opening Day for the Detroit Tigers. The Romeo District Library has been celebrating the Tigers with this year's Romeo Reads book The Final Season: Fathers, Sons, and One Last Season in a Classic American Ballpark by Tom Stanton. They've covered the bases by hosting various events like a viewing of the movie Tiger Town, the Play Ball! Honoring Vintage Base Ball program with Paul Hunkele of the Regular Base Ball Club in Mount Clemens, and the Bases Loaded: Tiger Trivia Night. In addition, they're providing baseball trivia every Monday on the library's Facebook page.

The Romeo Community Archives wanted to get in on the action by providing an early history of baseball, I mean, base ball, in Romeo. The sport was spelled like the latter on purpose in the early days. Regardless of how it's written, base ball has been bringing people together, including those in Romeo, for nearly 200 years.

While there were ball and bat games dating back to the 1700s, baseball became popular in America in the 1840s, especially after baseball legend Alexander J. Cartwright, an amateur player in New York City, organized the New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club in 1845. This organization established the rules of the sport, many of which still remain.

During the American Civil War, soldiers from both sides played baseball as a diversion. According to the National Baseball Hall of Fame website, many veterans "took home the game after the war and it became a great unifier in the years that followed the bloodiest conflict in U.S. history."

The country needed something to latch onto as a whole at the time, and baseball was one of those outlets.

By 1866, the sport became even more popular, and a small town like Romeo took notice. An article from one of the earliest issues of The Romeo Observer - July 5, 1866 to be exact - encouraged young men to partipate in this "healthful exercise." The full story can be seen below.

The "nine" is referring to the number of players on a team.

This call must have been well received since three weeks later, the newspaper reported that a group of young men met at Ayres' Hall and organized the "Union Base Ball Club." It consisted of two separate teams. Prominent men like D.N. Lowell, the future director of the Romeo Board of Education and author of Early History of Romeo Schools; I.F. Pratt; J.L. Starkweather, Helen Starkweather's grandfather; Neil Gray of Gray's Opera House; and C.W. Loud were involved in the club's formation. The details are listed below.

By August, the name changed to the Inland City Base Ball Club. One of the first base ball games played in Romeo occurred in that same month. Both teams of the club competed against each other with the Second Nine winning the game by one point. The Romeo Observer covered it in their August 16, 1866 edition.

Throughout the rest of the century, Romeo played America's Favorite Pastime against towns and cities like Almont (Star Club), Armada (Clippers), Detroit, Lapeer, Mount Clemens, Pontiac (Continental Club), Port Huron, and Utica (A la Modes). They even competed in tournaments during Horse Fairs in the area. During that time, the team changed it name from the Inland City Base Ball Club to the Romeo Base Ball Club. In 1881, The Romeo Observer mentioned that Romeo had organized a base ball club even though they called the organization by the latter name in 1875.

Even Romeo High School got on board with base ball. In October 1897, the newspaper announced that the high school took the first steps to organize a High School Athletic Association. It would control and support foot ball, base ball, track teams, and anything else connected with sports at the school. In addition, anyone who had been out of school for no more than 3-4 years were probably eligible for membership. The rest of the story is down below.

What did Romeoites think of the sport? They liked it enough that reporters detailed the games in the paper. On the other hand, there was a growing concern about the injuries sustained by the players. This is best exemplified by an article published in the July 24, 1867 issue, where the author's friend "Jeems" discussed why he wouldn't join the Inland City Base Ball Club.

Now, I would get struck out if I didn't talk about the most famous baseball player to come out of Romeo: Frank Bowerman. His talent as a catcher was recognized early on in his career when he played as a student at the University of Michigan. This article raves about his skills on front page of the May 4, 1892 edition of The Romeo Observer.

By 1893, Frank was playing for the Detroit Athletic Club. One year later, he transferred to the Detroit Western League Club. By 1896, he joined the Baltimore Orioles, where he garnered more attention. This story was featured on the front page on the May 19, 1897 issue.

In 1898, he transferred to the Pittsburgh Pirates. He played for that organization for two years. Then, in 1900, he joined the New York Giants, the team that he's most associated with. Even with hitting the big leagues, Frank still found time to come back to Romeo to play a game or two. This Romeo Observer article from September 2, 1896 edition exemplifies this.

Baseball united people in places like Romeo after a devastating civil war in the late 1800s, and it continues to do so today. Romeo Reads also aims for the same goal with titles like The Final Season.

The rest of the programs for this year's Romeo Reads include the From the Bullpen: The Tigers—The Tigers’ Playing Fields Then & Now lecture with Jeremy Dimick of the Detroit Historical Society on Thursday, April 2 at 6pm; a book discussion of The Final Season on Tuesday, April 14 at 6pm; and an author visit with Tom Stanton himself on Thursday, April 23 at 7pm. All of these will take place at the Kezar Branch.

For more information, check out the Romeo Reads page on the library website.

To learn more about baseball in Romeo, you can contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org or call (586) 690-4890. If you want to search for articles on that topic, you can find the Romeo newspapers like The Romeo Observer on the Suburban Library Cooperative's Local History Digital Collection website.

Images and sources courtesy of the Romeo Community Archives; Melvin E. and Joan D. Bleich Collection, The Romeo Observer, July 5, 1866, p.3; July 26, 1866, p.3; August 16, 1866, p.3, October 16, 1866, p.3; May 15, 1867, p.3; June 19, 1867, p.3; July 24, 1867, p.3; September 25, 1867, p.3; July 8, 1868, p.3; July 22, 1868, p.3; July 21, 1875, p.3; August 31, 1881, p.1; May 4, 1892, p.1; October 25, 1893, p.1; January 24, 1894, p.1; September 2, 1896, p.4; May 19, 1897, p.1; October 6, 1897, p.4, and June 29, 1898, p.1; Britannica, and National Baseball Hall of Fame