Reassessing The Historical UAW: Walter Reuther's Affiliation with the Communist Party and Something of Its Meaning — A Document of Party Involvement, 1939

The paper argues that Walter Reuther was affiliated with the US Communist Party in the mid to late 1930s. At the time, Reuther was a vice president of the United Automobile, Aircraft, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America; he went on to become UAW president from 1946 till his death in 1970. The author discusses a previously unknown archival document that summarized the February 1939 Detroit meeting attended by Communist state, national and trade union leaders, including Reuther. The author calls for a reassessment of the scholarly literature on the historical UAW and Reuther.