Walter Philip Reuther (born September 1, 1907; died May 9, 1970) was an American labor leader and civil rights activist who helped grow the United Automobile Workers (UAW) into one of the most progressive labor unions in American history. He believed that labor movements should work to improve social justice and human rights in democratic societies, not just focus on workers’ interests. He used the UAW’s power to support workers’ rights, civil rights, women’s rights, universal health care, public education, affordable housing, environmental protection, profit-sharing for employees, and efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons worldwide. He supported a system similar to Sweden’s, where the government and businesses work together to help people, and believed in changing society through peaceful protests. He helped start the AFL-CIO in 1955 with George Meany. He survived two attempts on his life, including one at home when a 12-gauge shotgun shot was fired through his kitchen window. He was the fourth and longest-serving president of the UAW, leading the union from 1946 until his death in 1970.

As the leader of five million autoworkers, including retirees and their families, Reuther had a strong influence in the Democratic Party. After the Bay of Pigs in 1961, President John F. Kennedy sent Reuther to Cuba to negotiate a prisoner exchange with Fidel Castro. He played a key role in creating the Peace Corps and supporting the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Medicare and Medicaid, and the Fair Housing Act. He met weekly with President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 and 1965 to discuss policies for the Great Society and War on Poverty. The Republican Party was cautious about Reuther, and candidate Richard Nixon said during the 1960 election that having a president who owed his election to someone like Reuther would be harmful to the nation. Conservative politician Barry Goldwater claimed Reuther was more dangerous to the country than the Soviet Union’s actions.

Reuther was a strong supporter of Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement. He marched with King in Detroit, Selma, Birmingham, Montgomery, and Jackson. When King and others, including children, were jailed in Birmingham, Alabama, and King wrote his famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Reuther arranged $160,000 to help release the protestors. He also helped organize and fund the March on Washington on August 28, 1963, speaking from the Lincoln Memorial shortly before King gave his "I Have a Dream" speech. He supported Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers, asking Robert F. Kennedy to visit and support Chavez. He served on the board of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and helped start Americans for Democratic Action. A lifelong environmentalist, Reuther helped fund and organize the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. He died in a plane crash a few weeks later at the age of 62. Denis Hayes, who organized the first Earth Day, said, "Without the UAW, the first Earth Day would have likely failed."

Time Magazine named Reuther one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. In 1995, President Bill Clinton posthumously awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, saying, "Walter Reuther was an American visionary so far ahead of his times that although he died a quarter of a century ago, our Nation has yet to catch up to his dreams."

Early life, education, and beliefs

Reuther was born on September 1, 1907, in Wheeling, West Virginia. His parents were Valentine and Anna (née Stocker) Reuther, who were German-Americans. Valentine worked as a horse-drawn beer wagon driver and was a member of a Socialist union. He moved to the United States from Germany when he was 11 years old. Walter was one of five children, in the order of birth: Ted, Walter, Roy, Victor, and Christine. Valentine helped his sons practice thinking quickly about important social issues, such as yellow journalism, child labor, women's suffrage, and civil rights. Reuther later said, "At my father's knee we learned the philosophy of trade unionism. We got the struggles, the hopes and the aspirations of working people every day." As a child, Walter and his brother Victor visited a jail with their father to meet Eugene V. Debs, who was being held there for his pacifism during World War I.

The Reuthers lived simply and avoided wasting resources. To save money, Walter’s mother Anna made underwear for her sons using old flour sacks. When Valentine lost vision in one eye due to an accident, Walter began doing odd jobs at age nine to help support the family. He left high school during his junior year and worked in a local factory to help his family. He learned about poor worker safety when a heavy machine he and others were moving fell and injured his big toe.

From an early age, the Reuther boys were taught about racism. They saw local boys throwing rocks at Black people traveling through their town in open railway cars. Their father warned them never to treat others that way. The Reuther boys remembered this lesson and spent their lives fighting for racial and economic equality.

In 1927, at age 19, Reuther moved to Detroit and earned a job as an expert tool and die maker at Ford Motor Company, a position that usually required 25 years of experience. The foreman was surprised that Walter could read blueprints and operate complex machines, making him one of the highest-paid mechanics in the factory. He completed high school while working at Ford and enrolled at Detroit City College, now known as Wayne State University. In 1932, he was fired for organizing a rally for Norman Thomas, a candidate for President from the Socialist Party of America. His employment record stated he quit, but Reuther claimed he was fired for his growing involvement in socialist activities. Walter and his brother Victor then began the European trip they had discussed as children.

After Henry Ford stopped producing the Model T in 1927, he sold the manufacturing equipment to the Soviet Union. American workers who knew how to operate the machines were needed, and Walter and Victor were promised jobs teaching Soviet workers. With this opportunity, the brothers traveled across Europe, then worked in an auto plant in Gorky, Soviet Union, where the unheated factories were extremely cold. Walter often wrote letters to the Moscow Daily News criticizing the inefficiencies in how the communists ran the plants.

After nearly two years in the Soviet Union, the brothers traveled through Turkey, Iran, British India, and China. They crossed the East China Sea and completed their Far East tour by bicycling through Japan. Eventually, they returned to the United States by ship to San Francisco and went back to Detroit, where their brother Roy was already working to organize autoworkers. Walter later said the world tour taught him that "all people long for the same basic human goals: a job with some security, better opportunities for their children, and freedom. We felt we could make a contribution by helping American workers build strong and democratic labor unions. That's why we went into the labor movement."

Before joining the Democratic Party, Reuther was a member of the Socialist Party of America. Although he denied it, some people, including J. Edgar Hoover, suspected he had once been a member of the Communist Party. Reuther said in 1938, "I am not and never have been a member of the Communist Party nor a supporter of its policies nor subject to its control or influence in any way." However, some sources suggest he may have paid dues to the Communist Party for a short time in 1935–36 and attended a Communist Party meeting in February 1939. Reuther worked with Communists during the mid-1930s, a time when the Communist Party and the United Auto Workers (UAW) shared some goals, but his connections were with anti-Stalinist Socialists. Reuther remained active in the Socialist Party and tried to be elected to the Detroit City Council in 1937 but failed because the AFL and Black voters opposed his ticket. Historian Martin Glaberman found evidence of Reuther’s brief membership in the Communist Party in the papers of UAW activist Nat Ganley. Eventually, impressed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s efforts to address inequality, Reuther joined the Democratic Party.

United Automobile Workers (UAW)

After returning from Europe to Detroit, Walter Reuther traveled by hitchhiking to South Bend, Indiana, to attend the second annual convention as a representative of the new United Auto Workers (UAW). When he returned, he became president of Local 174, a newly formed union group on Detroit's west side. With his brother Victor, he led the first successful strike against Kelsey Hayes, a company that made parts for Ford Motor Company. Workers complained that the assembly line was moving too fast, causing injuries and even deaths. In December 1936, workers surprised management by staging a strike and sitting inside the factory until their demands were met.

When managers tried to enter the plant to remove equipment, thousands of supporters blocked the doors. Ford needed the parts and, after 10 days of the strike, the company agreed to negotiate. This was the first major UAW victory in auto factories. Reuther pushed for equal pay for women, which was set at 75 cents an hour. The assembly line speed was reduced, and workers could not be fired for joining the union. UAW Local 174's membership grew from 200 to 35,000 in one year.

In 1936, General Motors (GM), the world's largest company, had many factories in Flint, Michigan, about 60 miles north of Detroit. Reuther's brother, Roy, was already in Flint planning strategies and organizing workers to demand union recognition. The strike began on December 31, 1936, when workers sat in the plants and refused to leave. GM responded by turning off the heat inside the factory.

To support the Flint workers, Reuther led a strike at Detroit's Fleetwood Plant, where car bodies were made for GM's Cadillac. Other strikes were also organized in Oakland, California; Pontiac, Michigan; and St. Louis, Missouri. Workers across the country joined in solidarity with the Flint strikers.

In Flint, police tried to force workers out of the plant during the "Battle of Bulls Run." Over 100 officers attacked the workers with tear gas and bullets, injuring 13 people. Victor operated a sound car and encouraged workers to resist. Workers used door hinges as projectiles and turned fire hoses on the police during the cold winter night. Victor and Genora Johnson, a leader of the Women's Brigade, took turns in the sound car, urging workers to stay strong.

Michigan Governor Frank Murphy sent 2,000 National Guard members to protect the workers and maintain peace. After a key action, workers gained control of the plant that made Chevrolet engines. After 44 days, GM agreed to recognize the workers' right to unionize and signed its first labor agreement with the UAW.

The Flint sit-down strike became known as the "Lexington and Valley Forge of American industrial unionism." Roy described the moment workers left the plants as a time of great joy, comparing it to a nation gaining independence.

In 1950, Reuther negotiated the "Treaty of Detroit," a five-year labor contract with Charlie Wilson, CEO of GM. The agreement, in exchange for a promise not to strike, improved wages, healthcare, and pensions for workers. At the time, Fortune Magazine noted that the treaty helped workers become part of the middle class.

Next, Chrysler became a target. In March 1937, 60,000 Chrysler workers went on strike. When police attacked pickets, over 150,000 citizens gathered in Detroit's Cadillac Square to protest with Reuther and others. After four weeks, Chrysler signed its first labor agreement with the UAW.

Henry Ford refused to allow unionization. His main enforcer, Harry Bennett, led a 3,000-person security force that threatened, beat, and fired workers who supported unions. In 1932, workers protested the fast assembly lines at Ford's River Rouge Complex but were attacked by Bennett's men, resulting in five deaths and many injuries.

In April 1937, Reuther and three UAW leaders were allowed to distribute leaflets titled "Unionism, not Fordism" near the River Rouge Complex. As they approached the plant, they were attacked by Bennett's men. Reuther was severely beaten, kicked, and thrown down stairs. Union women and press photographers were also attacked. One camera was hidden in a car, and the event became national news as the "Battle of the Overpass."

The violence against union organizers turned public opinion against Ford. Time Magazine published photos of the beatings, and Ford stopped advertising in those magazines. It took four more years, but in 1941, Ford signed his first agreement with the UAW. Ford later told Reuther, "You've been fighting General Motors and Wall Street. Now you're on our side, and we can fight them together."

In the 1950s, Reuther and Henry Ford II, CEO of Ford, visited a modern engine plant in Cleveland. Ford asked, "Walter, how will you get these robots to pay union dues?" Reuther replied, "Henry, how will you get them to buy your cars?"

In 1940, during World War II, the U.S. needed more planes to help Allied forces. Production was too slow, and the Allies could not wait for new factories to be built. Reuther proposed using the unused parts of the auto industry to create a large plane production unit.

Ideas, activism, and political stances

In 1950, Reuther wrote an article called "A Proposal for a Total Peace Offensive." In it, he suggested the United States create a group to send young Americans around the world to help with humanitarian and development work. During the 1950s, Reuther gave speeches about this idea.

In August 1960, after the 1960 Democratic National Convention, Walter Reuther visited John F. Kennedy at his home in Hyannisport, Massachusetts. They talked about Kennedy’s plans for his future government. Reuther convinced Kennedy to create a government group that would later become the Peace Corps. Earlier that summer, Reuther helped the United Auto Workers (UAW) create a policy plan that included sending a "youth peace corps" to developing countries. At Reuther’s request, Kennedy announced the idea for such a group on October 14, 1960, during a late-night speech at the University of Michigan.

Reuther strongly supported the Civil Rights Movement. He marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma, Birmingham, Montgomery, and Jackson, Alabama. When King and others were arrested in Birmingham, Reuther raised $160,000 to help release the protestors. He also helped organize and fund the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. He spoke from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial shortly before King gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Reuther served on the board of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Under his leadership, the UAW donated $75,000 in 1954 to support the NAACP’s work, which helped lead to the Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. In 1957, Reuther asked union members to join and support the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom in Washington, D.C. On the 25th anniversary of the UAW, King wrote to Reuther, praising his efforts.

In the early 1930s, Reuther challenged racism as a student at what is now Wayne State University. When a local hotel refused to let Black students use its swimming pool, he organized a protest. The hotel closed the pool to all students. In 2013, President Barack Obama said in an interview with The New York Times:

The Walk to Freedom was a large march in Detroit, Michigan, on June 23, 1963. It aimed to protest racism, segregation, and the violence faced by civil rights activists in the South and discrimination in the North, such as unequal jobs, wages, education, and housing. It was seen as a practice run for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which happened two months later. About 125,000 people attended, making it the largest civil rights demonstration in U.S. history at that time. Reuther helped organize the event and provided space at the UAW’s headquarters, Solidarity House, for King to plan the march. Reuther and others, including King, marched down Woodward Avenue and spoke at Cobo Hall. King gave his first version of his "I Have a Dream" speech there, having written parts of it in his office at Solidarity House.

The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom took place in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. It aimed to fight for the civil and economic rights of African Americans. Reuther, along with other leaders, helped organize the march. Originally, the march was planned near the Capitol Building, but Reuther persuaded organizers to move it to the Lincoln Memorial. He believed this location would be less threatening to Congress and more respectful of Lincoln’s statue. The organizers agreed to move the event only if Reuther paid for a $19,000 sound system so everyone could hear the speeches. Reuther and the UAW provided bus transportation for 5,000 union members, the largest group from any organization. The UAW also paid for thousands of signs carried by marchers, including messages like "Equal Rights and Jobs NOW" and "UAW Supports Freedom March."

Reuther was the most prominent white speaker at the march. He urged Americans to push politicians to fix racial injustices, saying:

According to Irving Bluestone, who was near the platform during Reuther’s speech, he overheard two Black women talking. One asked, "Who is that white man?" The other replied, "Don’t you know him? That’s the white Martin Luther King."

After the march, civil rights leaders met with President Kennedy at the White House. Reuther told Kennedy how he explained the civil rights issue to business leaders in Detroit, saying, "Look, you can’t escape the problem. And there are two ways of resolving it; either by reason or riots." He added, "Now the civil war that this is gonna trigger is not gonna be fought at Gettysburg. It’s gonna be fought in your backyard, in your plant, where your kids are growing up."

On March 9, 1965, two days after Bloody Sunday, when civil rights marchers were attacked by police in Selma, Alabama, Reuther sent a telegram to President Johnson, writing:

Following the death of Unitarian Universalist minister James Reeb, a memorial service was held at Brown’s Chapel AME Church on March 15. Reuther, King, and other leaders spoke to the crowd. A picture of King, Reuther, Greek Orthodox Archbishop Iakovos, and others at Reeb’s memorial appeared on the cover of Life magazine on March 26, 1965. After the service, leaders and attendees marched from the church to the Dallas County Courthouse in Selma.

In December 1965, Reuther visited Cesar Chavez and the striking grape growers in Delano, California. Two months earlier, Reuther’s brother, Roy, had visited the farmworkers. Roy encouraged Walter to support Chavez, whose cause was not widely known at the time. Reuther’s visit gained national attention, making it harder for growers to ignore the strike. During the trip, Reuther marched with Chavez and his supporters, carrying signs reading "Huelga." He spoke to a large crowd, saying, "This is not your strike, this is our strike!" He promised the UAW would give $7,500 each month to the United Farm Workers’ strike fund.

After returning to Detroit, Reuther contacted Senator Robert F. Kennedy, who was on the Senate Labor Committee. He asked Kennedy to visit Chavez in Delano to learn about and support the farmworkers. Kennedy agreed and became a major supporter of the movement.

Assassination attempts

In April 1938, two men wearing masks tried to take Walter Reuther against his will during a party he was hosting. However, one guest managed to run away and tell the police, which led to the men being arrested. During the trial, the defense claimed that Reuther had planned the event to gain attention. Evidence showing the men were connected to Harry Bennett, a known opponent of the UAW, was not shared with the jury.

On April 20, 1948, Reuther was seriously injured when a double-barrel shotgun fired through his kitchen window as he was eating a late-night snack. The shot happened at 9:48 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Reuther turned toward his wife at the moment the gun fired and was hit in his right arm instead of his chest or heart. The attack broke his right arm into many pieces of bone. Another bullet pierced his back and came out through his stomach. The attacker escaped in a bright red four-door Ford sedan, according to police. Reuther did not lose consciousness and told his neighbor, who was a doctor, “Those dirty sons of bitches! They have to shoot a man in the back. They won’t come out in the open and fight.” While doctors tried to save his life, he became sick with malaria and hepatitis from blood transfusions. After months of treatment, he regained some use of his right arm but had to learn to write and shake hands with his left hand for the rest of his life. When Attorney General Tom Clark asked J. Edgar Hoover to investigate the shooting, Hoover refused, saying, “I’m not going to send in the FBI every time some nigger woman gets raped.” The attack was never solved.

Thirteen months later, Reuther’s brother, Victor, was nearly killed in a similar shooting. A double-barrel shotgun fired through his living room window and struck him in the face, throat, and chest. Victor lost his right eye and had to have it removed. He said, “The attack on me was a way of serving notice to Walter. ‘We didn’t get you yet, but we’re still around.’” This shooting was also never solved.

After both attacks, Eleanor Roosevelt wrote: “It seems unthinkable that the police have never been able to discover who shot Walter Reuther and because of that, in all probability, the same person perhaps has felt he could get away with shooting another brother. … [W]e have a right to protect men who are working in the interests of their fellow men.”

Death

On May 9, 1970, Walter Reuther, his wife May, architect Oscar Stonorov, Reuther's bodyguard William Wolfman, pilot George O. Evans, and co-pilot Joseph U. Karaffa died when their rented Learjet 23 crashed in flames at 9:33 p.m. Eastern Time. The plane, flying from Detroit in rain and fog, was landing at Pellston Regional Airport in Pellston, Michigan, near the UAW's recreational and educational facility in Black Lake, Michigan. The National Transportation Safety Board found that the plane's altimeter was missing parts, some incorrect parts were installed, and one part was placed upside down. This led some people to think Reuther might have been murdered. Earlier, Reuther had survived two attempted assassinations and a similar near-crash in a small plane in 1969.

Journalist Michael Parenti wrote, "Reuther's death seems connected to a reduction in liberal and radical leadership that included the deaths of four national leaders: President John Kennedy, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, and Senator Robert Kennedy."

Reuther's funeral took place on May 15, 1970, at Ford Auditorium in Detroit, Michigan. About 3,400 people attended. Coretta Scott King gave a speech during the ceremony.

Personal life

Walter and May Reuther married on March 13, 1936, six weeks after meeting on a streetcar in Detroit. They had two daughters: Linda, born in 1942, and Elisabeth, born in 1947.

Walter lived a simple and modest life. He did not smoke or drink alcohol because he believed these habits reduced a person’s energy. For lunch each day, he ate the same meal: a sandwich and a cup of tea. He often woke up early. Author William Manchester described Walter as a “true ascetic,” meaning he lived with very few comforts.

To relax, Walter enjoyed hiking, fishing, and playing tennis. He liked listening to German Lieder, classical music, spiritual songs, and union songs. Some people thought he was strict and had no sense of humor, but his friend Irving Bluestone said, “That wasn’t true. He was easy to work with and had a good sense of humor. He could laugh at himself. When he was excited, he sometimes used strong language, just like others.”

Walter loved spending time outdoors. He built a fish ladder for trout under a bridge and planted a Japanese garden for May to enjoy from their bedroom window. At their home on Paint Creek, he and his daughter Lisa created an arboretum with over 50 types of trees. He was skilled at woodworking and made much of the furniture for their home. After an assassination attempt in 1948, which broke his arm into 150 pieces, he recovered by squeezing a hard rubber ball and rebuilding their home from a small cottage. He said, “I got a good house and a good hand, all for the same money.”

May was Walter’s advisor and close partner during his public life. She was a teacher and helped organize a teachers’ union. Early in her career, she earned $60 a week, most of which she used to support the formation of the newly created UAW. She later became Walter’s full-time secretary, earning $15 a week. She worked with charities and community programs. May marched with Walter during civil rights efforts in Selma and other places. She hosted Eleanor Roosevelt at their home and served as president of the PTA at their daughter’s school. After the 1948 assassination attempt, May focused on raising their daughters, though their family lived with bodyguards and attack dogs for the rest of their lives.

Honors and awards

• In 1955, the National Religion and Labor Foundation gave Reuther their Social Justice Award.
• In 1968, Reuther received the Eugene V. Debs Award for his work in Industrial Unionism.
• In 1958, the National Committee for Israel Labor honored Reuther with the Histadrut Humanitarian Award.
• In 1968, the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel awarded Reuther the Weizmann Award in the Sciences and Humanities. The institute also created a special position named the Walter P. Reuther Chair of Research in the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy.
• Reuther earned honorary degrees from Harvard University, the University of Michigan, Oakland University, Tuskegee University, and the University of Rhode Island.
• The Smithsonian Institute's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., has three portraits and one sculpture of Reuther in its collection.
• Reuther was featured on the covers of Time Magazine twice, Newsweek three times, Der Spiegel once, The New York Times Magazine once, and Life magazine once.

Legacy

Time Magazine listed Walter Reuther as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1995 by President Bill Clinton after his death. Clinton said, "Walter Reuther was an American visionary so far ahead of his time that although he died a quarter of a century ago, our Nation has yet to catch up to his dreams." Murray Kempton, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, said, "Walter Reuther is the only man I have ever met who could reminisce about the future." A. H. Raskin, labor editor of The New York Times, said, "If the speed of a man's mind could be measured in the same way as the speed of his legs, Walter Reuther would be an Olympic champion." George Romney, Governor of Michigan, said, "Walter Reuther is the most dangerous man in Detroit because no one is more skillful in bringing about the revolution without seeming to disrupt the existing forms of society."

• Time Magazine included Walter Reuther in its list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.
• Reuther was inducted into the Department of Labor's Hall of Honor.
• Wayne State University created the Walter P. Reuther Humanitarian Award in 1999.
• Americans for Democratic Action created the Reuther-Chavez Award in 2002 to recognize contributions on behalf of workers' rights.
• The Walter P. Reuther Memorial was dedicated on October 12, 2006, at Heritage Port in Wheeling, West Virginia. A seven-foot bronze statue of Reuther was made by sculptor Alan Cottrill. The statue's pedestal has words Reuther wrote: “There is no greater calling than to serve your fellow man. There is no greater contribution than to help the weak. There is no greater satisfaction than to have done it well.”
• Reuther's home near Rochester, Michigan, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

In 1999, Wayne State University, along with the UAW and Reuther's family, created the Walter P. Reuther Humanitarian Award to honor people who share Reuther's values. Recipients include Rosa Parks, Congressman John Dingell, Joseph Lowery, UAW president Douglas Fraser, and Congressman John Lewis.

• The Walter P. Reuther Library, the largest labor archives in North America, is located at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.
• Walter P. Reuther Freeway (I-696) connects the eastern and western suburbs of Detroit.
• The Walter and May Reuther Family Education Center is in Black Lake, Michigan.
• Walter Reuther Psychiatric Hospital is in Westland, Michigan.
• Reuther Middle School is in Rochester Hills, Michigan.
• Walter Reuther Central High School is in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
• Reuther Way is a street in Janesville, Wisconsin, connecting a GM plant to Interstate 90/39.
• The Walter Reuther Center for youngsters is in Holon, Israel.

• A Broadway play called All the Way by Robert Schenkkan won the 2014 Tony Award for Best Play. The play was later adapted into a television drama by HBO in 2016, where Reuther was portrayed by Spencer Garrett.
• Greg Pliska and Charley Morey are creating a musical about Reuther's life titled A Most Dangerous Man. The release date is unknown.
• Thomas Pynchon's novel V. mentions Reuther: "Zeitsuss the boss secretly wanted to be a union organizer. … His job was civil service but someday he would be Walter Reuther." (p. 112 in the Vintage 2000 edition)

Archival records

The records related to Reuther are mainly located at the Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs. A large collection called the UAW President's Office: Walter P. Reuther Records shows what he did during his time as President of the UAW. The materials include his personal letters, writings, photographs, official notes, and other types of records. Researchers should contact the Reuther library for questions or to access materials. A guide to Reuther's records can be found here.