Ford Service Department Men Confront UAW Organizers during the Battle of the Overpass, May 26, 1937

In 1927, Ford Motor Company commissioned Charles Sheeler to do a series of documentary photographs of its River Rouge industrial complex near Dearborn, Michigan. The conveyors moved coal and coke to the pulverizing building and screening stations. Coke made from coal was used in the steelmaking process of the blast furnaces. This vigorous photograph shows Sheeler's ability to form a compelling image from a complicated scene.

The struggle to unionize Ford Motor Company workers was long and--at times--violent. This photograph shows United Auto Workers (UAW) labor organizers demonstrating outside Ford's Rouge Plant pedestrian overpass during 1937. Four years later, following a turbulent ten-day strike in April 1941, Ford became the last major automotive manufacturer to recognize the UAW and agree to a union contract.