Great Depression
Great Depression
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THE GREAT DEPRESSIONAs the Great Depression of the 1930s affected more and more workers, the greatest economic collapse of our history had its impact on the Michigan, Flint and the junior college. In Michigan, like the nation as a whole, the unemployment rate was over 25% as the major auto manufacturers found little market for their product and laid workers off. In Flint unemployment reflected national trends and General Motors’ auto production slowed to a crawl. In 1933 only 40,000 Buicks were manufactured in Flint. This was the fewest cars produced in 20 years and one-sixth of the production numbers of 1927. As thousands lost their jobs, a Lansing newspaper predicted that Flint would become a ghost town. In response Buick spent more than $12 million to modernize Flint area plants and began producing lower-priced cars for a changing market. By 1940, Buick, managed by Harlow Curtice, for whom the Curtice Building was later named, sold a record number of cars for the Buick division. As tax revenues dropped for all public institutions, the teachers in Flint faced payless paydays in 1933. The economic decline during the Great Depression meant less money for the junior college. Since the college still did not receive state aid for its students, the decrease in the local tax revenues meant that the Board of Education increasingly viewed the college as a financial drain. When it came time to cut the budget, the junior college was often the first target. In 1938, financial pressures nearly ended the Flint Junior College’s existence. Facing a $114,000 deficit, the Board of Education considered closing the school, saving $32,000 in a single move. Once the suggestion became public, the reaction of the community was swift. A committee of junior college alumni made an appeal to the board. The committee, known as the Retain Junior College Committee pointed out that the enrollments were at near record levels (about 400) and that several nationally recognized organizations, such as the National Youth Administration, the Carnegie Library Foundation and Northwestern University had given the college grants and scholarships. The committee also emphasized the important role the junior college played for those Flint area students planning to transfer to Ann Arbor. In June of 1838, of the 37 Flint students who graduated from the University of Michigan, 33 had received preliminary training at Flint Junior College. Of those who transferred to the University of Michigan during one year in the 1930s, 28% earned “A’s,” and 34% earned “B’s” at the university. While the school survived, the Depression tested and changed the college. In 1933 as tax monies dwindled, Flint teachers worked without pay, junior college faculty found that their school calendar was now identical to the high school, and there was little money for any new programs or supplies. As the money shrunk, new demands were being placed on the college that would be a source of conflict and change for decades to come. By 1940 the college offered vocational programs in the business area and began a process of working with the Mott Foundation’s “Evening College” which offered a greater variety of work-based courses. Extracted and transcribed by Geraldine Waite from a book by Paul Rozycki, A Clearer Image The 75 Year History of Mott Community College (Paul Rozycki: Flint, MI, January 1998)
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