Sit Down Strike Photograph

Sit Down Strike Photograph by American FSA (Farm Security Administration) photographer Sheldon Dick 1906–1950. This gelatin silver print photograph is titled “Sitdown strikers in the Fisher body plant factory number three. Flint, Michigan” through the Farm Security Administration’s records – Office of War Information Photograph Collection (Library of Congress) and dates to 1937 Jan.-Feb.

Library of Congress number LC-USF34- 040027-D [P&P] LOT 1729. This gelatin silver print photograph by Sheldon Dick dates to the 1960-1970s. The photograph’s reverse is stamped “Reproduced from the Collections of the Library of Congress” with a handwritten pencil inscription on the reverse of the sheet. “37 Sheldon Dick, strikers in Fisher Body Plant Factory No. 3 Flint, Mich”. The back of the sheet also includes various serial and catalog numbers.

The photograph details the GM Flint sit-down strike in Flint, Michigan, in the mid-late 1930s. A sit-down strike is a labor strike as a form of civil disobedience when an organized group of workers, usually employed in a factory, takes unauthorized possession of the workplace by “sitting down” at their stations. The sit-down strike drew national attention, and sit-down strikes became popular for workers to protest unfair working conditions and wages. This black and white photograph shows auto workers sitting down on the floor of the auto plant. This photograph was acquired through a Washington D.C. art brokerage consulting company and represents an important image from the group of FSA photographers.

The photograph measures 8 x 10 inches. The image measures 7 x 9.5 inches.

The photograph displays circular edge loss to the margin edges. The photograph surface displays minor abrasions and surface imperfections with markings and pencil notations on the sheet’s reverse.