Chrysler Corporation Newark Assembly Plant oral history collection
Scope and Content Note
This collection consists of digital audio interviews with twelve former employees of the Chrysler Assembly Plant in Newark, Delaware. These interviews were conducted by University of Delaware students in HIST 667: Oral History, taught by Professor Roger Horowitz, in the Spring semester of 2011.
The interviews document the experiences of former employees of the Chrysler Plant serving in a variety of roles within the organization. The interviews discuss working conditions and events at the plant from the 1950s until its closure in 2008. Topics discussed include job duties, union activities, changing race and gender relations, plant culture, family life, and the introduction of new technology. Brief summaries of each interview are provided in the contents list along with the names of the interviewers.
Dates
- Creation: 2011
Language of Materials
Materials entirely in English.
Access Restrictions
The collection is open for research.
Terms Governing Use and Reproduction
Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. Please contact Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, http://library.udel.edu/spec/askspec/
Historical Note
For more than a half century, the Newark Chrysler Assembly Plant provided employment for generations of local residents and was an important economic asset and social presence in the city of Newark, Delaware. After the plant closed in late 2008, the 272-acre property was purchased by the University of Delaware with plans to use the site for future campus expansion.
Chrysler’s 3.4 million square foot plant in Newark, Delaware, was built in 1951 to produce tanks for the U.S. Army. The plant was converted to Plymouth and Dodge production in April 1957, starting a run of nearly 7 million cars, including the LH series (Intrepid and Concorde), the AA bodies (EEKs) (Acclaim, Spirit, LeBaron), and the legendary A-body Valiant and Dart before starting Dodge Durango production. In 1969 alone, the Newark plant produced 186,177 Plymouth Furys, Dodge Polaras, and C-body Chryslers.
In 1997, Chrysler put $623 million into the Newark plant to ready it for production of the Dodge Durango. The plant was closed in December 2008 due to falling sales of the Durango / Aspen. It had just started producing hybrid-electric versions of both vehicles, and had 1,100 employees, down from 2,115 in 2005.
Mize, Thomas. "Chrysler's Newark Plant (Delaware), 1951-2008 (Tanks to Aspens)." allpar.com: Plants and Factories (accessed October 21, 2011 at http://www.allpar.com/corporate/factories/newark.html)
Extent
1.29 gigabyte (11 interviews in mp4 format)
Abstract
This collection consists of digital audio interviews with twelve former employees of the Chrysler Assembly Plant in Newark, Delaware. These interviews were conducted by University of Delaware students in HIST 667: Oral History, taught by Professor Roger Horowitz, in the Spring semester of 2011.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically, by interviewee.
Source
Gift of project participants, 2011
Materials Available in Alternative Format
Access streaming audio of the oral histories by following the links in the finding aid. The digitized audio files are available in Artstor Public Collections. The closed captioning is primarily machine generated and may contain occasional inaccuracies in spelling.
OCLC Number
Processing
Processed and encoded by Evan Echols, September 2011. Interview summaries provided by Kyle Herring, July 2011.
Subject
- Chrysler Corporation. Newark Assembly Plant. (Organization)
Genre / Form
Geographic
Topical
- Title
- Finding aid for Chrysler Corporation Newark Assembly Plant oral history collection
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- University of Delaware Library, Special Collections
- Date
- 2011 October 24
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the University of Delaware Library Special Collections Repository