In celebration of Black History Month, host Stephen Henderson explores the legacy of Horace Sheffield, Jr., a trailblazer in the African American labor union movement. Stephen talks with the late Sheffield’s son, Rev. Horace Sheffield III, about the influence and impact his father had on the trade unions during the civil rights movement. Plus, Sheffield III talks about upcoming plans to house thousands of items from his father’s archives in a massive collection at Wayne State University and Wayne County Community College District.
Full Transcript:
Stephen Henderson: Excited to talk to you about your dad and the work that you’re doing to preserve his archives and his legacy. But I figure we probably ought to start with just a simple recitation of who your dad was, what he did and why he’s so important. Not just to the legacy of labor here in the city of Detroit, but especially to the legacy of civil rights. He really was something else.
Rev. Horace Sheffield III, Executive Director, Detroit Association of Black Organizations (DABO): Well, you know, and my dad, much like me, was not a self-promoter. You know, he was a race man. And in that generation, as you know, because your family is a part of that. These are people who deferred their own aspirations for future generations to experience what they never had an opportunity to.