Don Freeman
American, 1908 - 1978Sit Downers Get Up, 1936 - 1938
Not on view
Lithograph on paper
Dimensions12 1/16 × 8 3/8 in. (30.6 × 21.3 cm)
Gift of Mr. Jack B. Pierson in memory of Mr. Robert Martin Purcell, 1982.374
From the title Sit Downers Get Up, this work no doubt refers to the end of the Flint Sit-Down Strike that began on December 30, 1936, and ended on February 11, 1937. The artist Don Freeman shows a sit-downer in a joyful reunion with his wife and children.
During the long strike, workers decided to sit inside the factory rather than picketing outside. The strikers protested working conditions at General Motors and demanded more steady work, seniority rights, and a stop to “speed-up” production. This sit-down protest effectively stopped production, also preventing others from working. Women and family members of the strikers provided food and supplies to the men inside the plant through factory windows. This strike is considered one of the most significant in U.S. labor history because of the way it positioned the United Automobile Workers (UAW) as a major labor union.
