Solidarity House

My grandpa Goeddeke retired in May 1967, when I was almost 6 years old. All of a sudden he had time to spend with Grandma, with no kids at home and no job to go to. We lived a couple blocks away, so I would spend full days at grandma and grandpas during the summer quite often. One summer day, when I was like 6, 7, or maybe 8, they took me on a drive to spend the day at Belle Isle.

The trip started with grandma and grandpa arguing. Grandpa wanted to drive down Kercheval Street (why?), and Grandma wanted no part of that street. She wanted to take Gratiot and then Grand Boulevard. Looking back on it now, I can see three reasons for grandma's position. First, even back then Kercheval Street was already inhabited by people fairly low in socio-economic status. Second, she probably wanted to check out retirement homes on Grand Boulevard. They did end up taking good care of themselves in old age by going to an assisted-living facility later, so they may have already been scoping out their options then. Third, it was common for people to cite the names of the rich and famous people who lived on Grand Boulevard, when driving by. This is exactly what they did, too.

They also argued beforehand about visiting grandpa's friend (Walter Reuther) at Solidarity House. Grandma wanted no part of this either, I don't she appreciated the union as much as my grandpa did.

Anyway, after the argument, we got in the car and drove to Belle Isle, Gratiot to Grand Boulevard. Along the way, Grandpa would tell me the names of the streets, and who these streets were named after. He did this alot, but being so young I hardly paid any attention.

We got to Belle Isle, did the aquarium and the conservatory, then pulled out lawn chairs and sat on the beach for a while. Grandpa said he was going to take me to see his old friend at Solidarity House on the way home, and Grandma wanted no part of it. Grandpa pointed out to me on the far shore, Solidarity House, or the UAW headquarters building.

We pulled into the parking lot at Solidarity House, and parked near the west entrance to the building. Grandpa got out and went inside, and grandma stayed in the car with me. A few minutes later, Grandpa came back, saying the guard wouldn't let us in, and we drove back home.

Looking back on all this now, it kind of makes sense. Walter Reuther was a workmate of Grandpas at Ford. Grandpa worked there as a toolmaker from May 1928 to August 1932. Walter Reuther worked there as a toolmaker as well, first at Highland Park and then River Rouge complex, from April 1927 to September 1932. My Uncle Dave tells me my grandpa "revered" Walter Reuther, and used to eat lunch with him on the shop floor, before he became "the" Walter Reuther. Walter Reuther went on to become President of the United Auto Workers union, and one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people of the 20th century. So it kind of makes sense now, that Grandpa would want to stop by to see his old workmate, maybe express gratitude for all Reuther did to help secure his pension and all, and maybe show off his oldest grandchild. But it wasn't to be. The guard wouldn't let us in and grandpa never brought me back there again. Reuther then died in a plane crash in 1970, and they named I-696 after him.

I thought about this incident almost every day that I worked there, from August 2004 - July 2006. And I usually used the west entrance every day, too.