Week 43 - Urban - Lorraine Sheridan

In 1942, a 19-year-old woman left her small rural hometown of less than 400 people and boarded a train bound for Detroit, one of the busiest urban centers in America. The city was alive around the clock, its streets glowing with factory lights and the constant hum of war production.

Her name was Lorraine Sheridan, and she was the youngest of six children of John and Pauline (Prince) Sheridan. And my mom.  A recent graduate of Fulton schools in Perrinton, Michigan she decided to head to the big city.

She found work at the Lyon Manufacturing Company located at 151 South Waterman St along the waterfront. It had turned from making farm equipment to producing 40 mm cartridge cases. It was her first time in a big city — and her first time working the midnight shift. Inside the vast plant, the air smelled of oil and hot metal, and the noise of machines filled every corner.

Mom worked six days a week in a relief position and would take over for other workers that were going on breaks. She needed to know many of the jobs that were being done.

She learned to measure, grind, and smooth the steel casings that would be sent overseas to the battlefront. The work was hard and the hours long, but there was pride in knowing they were helping their fellow Americans.

She lived in a boarding house near the plant, sharing a small room with her friend Lucille Ayers. Lucille’s brother Lewis was the plant manager, and mom went there to work because she had a job lined up and a place to live. She made $76.00 a week. That is equivalent to $1,500.00 in today’s worth. She worked there about a year and a half. Occasionally she would experience the night life in Detroit along with other girls she met at work. There was never enough time off to go home although she did make the trek a few times over those 15 months.

Lorraine (left), Lucille Ayers, other three unknown

Detroit in 1942 was a city transformed — a once-industrial hub turned into a mighty war machine. For her, this urban life was a world away from quiet fields and country roads. Yet in the steady rhythm of the machines, she found both purpose and independence — and became one of the many women whose hands helped win the war. A true Rosie the Riveter.

As the men began to return from the war, she left Detroit and made her way to Midland, Michigan. There she worked at Dow Chemical in the rolling mills making loops for Dictaphones. In late 1945 she met my dad William (Bill) Porter and they married March 30th, 1946.

And as they say.... that's a story for another day.

Barbie