Memorandum on Personnel in Region V

TO: Mr. Will Maslow
Director of Field Operations

FROM: Clarence M. Mitchell

SUBJECT: Personnel in Region V.

September 25, 1943

After reviewing the problems which will be faced by the Regional Director in Cleveland, it is my impression that we should give consideration to the following matters:

  1.  Region V is divided into three (3) distinct areas. One of these is the State of Michigan; the other is Cleveland and the northern part of Ohio; and the third is Cincinnati and the State of Kentucky.1 In these areas, the problems are so different that they will require careful attention at the local level on the part of some individual who understands the forces at work in the specific areas and who is able to get the confidence of the local people.
  2. I was in Detroit for a brief period only. But, during that time, I heard many statements and reports concerning the Committee from local citizens. These persons were friendly to our program but felt that considerable prestige had been lost because there had been no hearing. It is my opinion that a strong individual should be appointed in this area who will secure the cooperation of the unions and civic groups in the area.2
  3. At present, Mrs. Lethia Clore, formerly of the New York office, and Mr. Daniel R. Donovan, of Washington, are assigned to Region V under Mr. McKnight. In neither of these cases, did the Regional Director have an opportunity to decide whether the individuals would fit the needs of his program. For this reason, I strongly recommend that, for the additional vacancy now in the Cleveland region, Mr. McKnight’s judgment be the controlling factor in selection. It is also my belief that this vacancy should be filled with the understanding that the individual would be assigned to Detroit.
  4. There is need for an additional person on the staff who would devote time to the Cincinnati and Kentucky area. In my opinion, if it is possible for us to obtain additional space for the Region, this should be gotten in Cincinnati and the person appointed should be stationed there to handle the Cincinnati, Dayton, Springfield, and Kentucky areas.3

MS: copy, HqR38, Central Files. Memoranda, Maslow, Will, 1943.

1. On recent investigations in Cincinnati by Ernest G. Trimble, see 7/28/43, 9/14/43, in appendix 1.


2. The first FEPC was planning for hearings in Detroit when it was replaced by the new committee. Examiners G. James Fleming and Jack Burke had been in the area preparing cases, but the FEPC did not believe that strong cases against the larger companies had yet been developed. The issue of discrimination in the area became more sensitive that summer after the Detroit riots. In 9/43, the FEPC opened a Detroit office headed by an examiner in charge, Edward M. Swan, a Michigan native. No hearings were held in Detroit until 6/45. See memoranda of 1/18, 4/5, 9/28/43 and Office of Labor Production report, 7/13/43, in appendix 1; Maceo Hubbard’s analysis and the Committee’s discussion, all of which was devoted to Detroit, in Transcript of Proceedings, 5/17/43, 2–69, HqR64, Central Files.


3. In late 1944, the FEPC opened a Cincinnati office under Harold James. Lethia Clore and Olcott Abbott were transferred from Cleveland as his assistants. Andrew E. Kersten, Race, Jobs, and the War: The FEPC in the Midwest, 1941-46 90–91.