1944 : Emanuel Parker, First Black Hired at Fisher Body in Lansing, Reports to Work

In 1943, the president of Local 602 presses GM to open Fisher Body hiring to blacks, and the automaker agrees. Emanuel Parker is the first black hired; he reports to work Jan. 14, 1944, according to Local 602.

For the full article, see Barbara Wieland, “After More Than a Century, Lansing Car Assembly Shuts Down Friday”, Lansing State Journal, May 1, 2005.