Sit-Downers Memorial

Address Chevy Commons, Flint, MI 48503

A bronze sculpture set in Chevy Commons — the green space built on the former site of the Chevy in the Hole factory complex — commemorates the 1936-37 Flint Sit-Down Strike. The piece shows striking workers seated inside the silhouette of a factory, looking out at the city they were fighting to change.

Chevy in the Hole was for decades the symbolic and physical heart of Flint's auto industry; the strike began here and continued until GM capitulated. The factories are gone, replaced by walking paths, prairie plantings and the memorial — itself worth a quiet half-hour.

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A story
Over 44 days in the winter of 1936-37, autoworkers occupied two Fisher Body plants in Flint, sitting down inside the factories and refusing to leave. Police attempts to retake the buildings with tear gas were met with hurled bolts, hinges and water cannons in what became known as the Battle of the Running Bulls. The strike ended with General Motors recognising the United Auto Workers — the moment industrial unionism arrived in America.