1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:09,240 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:16,119 Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:20,960 Speaker 1: show that proves history waits for no one. I'm Gay Bluesier, 4 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: and today we're looking at a controversial battle between the 5 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:29,280 Speaker 1: competing interests of free market capitalism, workers' rights, the US 6 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 1: War effort, and good old fashioned, stubborn pride. The day 7 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:44,920 Speaker 1: was December twenty seventh, nineteen forty four. The Roosevelt administration 8 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:49,240 Speaker 1: seized control of the Montgomery Ward Company for a second time. 9 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:54,000 Speaker 1: The successful retailer had repeatedly refused to comply with a 10 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:58,720 Speaker 1: wartime labor agreement, prompting employees strikes and threatening the supply 11 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:02,880 Speaker 1: chain for Allied force. Sick of the company's disregard for 12 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:07,880 Speaker 1: federal authority, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ordered his Secretary of 13 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:12,600 Speaker 1: War to seize all plants and facilities belonging to Montgomery Ward. 14 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:16,520 Speaker 1: The company was essentially run by the US government for 15 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:20,080 Speaker 1: the bulk of the following year, an arrangement that tested 16 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:23,960 Speaker 1: the limits of federal power, as many of FDR's policies 17 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:29,200 Speaker 1: famously did. Two years earlier, Roosevelt had reinstated the National 18 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:33,000 Speaker 1: War Labor Board an agency first created during World War 19 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:37,319 Speaker 1: I to mediate labor disputes in critical war support industries. 20 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:40,920 Speaker 1: Just as before, it was the board's job now to 21 00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:44,840 Speaker 1: act as a middleman between management and workers, smoothing out 22 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 1: disagreements in order to maintain high productivity. Montgomery Ward was 23 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:53,760 Speaker 1: primarily known for its mail order catalogs and department stores, 24 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:57,200 Speaker 1: but during World War II it also supplied the Allies 25 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 1: with tractors, auto parts, clothing, and other items. As a result, 26 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: the company fell under the jurisdiction of the National War 27 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 1: Labor Board and was therefore required to maintain labor peace 28 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:13,440 Speaker 1: and avert strikes at any cost. During this period, the 29 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:17,600 Speaker 1: company's workers organized with the United Mail Order, Warehouse and 30 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:22,440 Speaker 1: Retail Store Employees Union, which insisted on better hours and conditions, 31 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 1: among other issues. However, the company's chairman, Sewell Avery was 32 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 1: staunchly anti union, anti government, and anti New Deal. In particular, 33 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:37,880 Speaker 1: in nineteen forty three, he refused to recognize or negotiate 34 00:02:37,919 --> 00:02:41,040 Speaker 1: with the union and flat out ignored the Labor Board's 35 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:45,600 Speaker 1: order to compromise. Then, the following April, Avery refused a 36 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:49,639 Speaker 1: second Board order, prompting FDR to call out the National 37 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:54,040 Speaker 1: Guard to seize the company's main plant in Chicago. Troops 38 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:58,800 Speaker 1: entered the Montgomery Ward headquarters, accompanied by Attorney General Francis Biddle, 39 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:01,840 Speaker 1: who tried one lefe as time to get Avery to comply. 40 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:06,560 Speaker 1: The chairman's response was quote, to hell with the government, 41 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:11,480 Speaker 1: I want none of your damned advice with negotiations. At 42 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:15,840 Speaker 1: an impass, Biddle ordered two National guardsmen to physically remove 43 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:19,120 Speaker 1: Avery from his office, which they did by lifting him 44 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:21,200 Speaker 1: out of his chair and carrying him out of the 45 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:25,760 Speaker 1: building feet first. A now famous photo preserved the incident 46 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:29,240 Speaker 1: for posterity, showing the two soldiers holding Avery in a 47 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:33,920 Speaker 1: sitting position, his arms crossed and his face defiant. Once 48 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:36,880 Speaker 1: the chairman was removed from the premises, the U S 49 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:41,640 Speaker 1: Secretary of Commerce, Jesse Holman Jones, was appointed as his replacement. 50 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:46,680 Speaker 1: As you might expect, Montgomery Ward challenged the government takeover 51 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:50,400 Speaker 1: in court. Meanwhile, as a federal judge considered the matter, 52 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:54,240 Speaker 1: Secretary Jones worked with the union to finalize its election 53 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:58,600 Speaker 1: and return the employees to work. Once everything was smoothed over, 54 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:00,920 Speaker 1: there was no longer a need need for the government 55 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:04,480 Speaker 1: to run the company, so on May ninth, nineteen forty four, 56 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:08,760 Speaker 1: Jones returned montgomery Ward to private management, bringing the matter 57 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:11,480 Speaker 1: to a close before the court had even reached a 58 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:16,000 Speaker 1: decision on the legality of the seizure. FDR assumed the 59 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:19,520 Speaker 1: public debacle would get montgomery Ward back in line with 60 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:23,040 Speaker 1: the war effort, but once Sewell Avery was returned to power, 61 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:27,279 Speaker 1: the labor situation quickly fell apart again. Once more, the 62 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:31,120 Speaker 1: chairman refused to recognize the union, and by December of 63 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:35,039 Speaker 1: that year, employees in Detroit and Chicago had walked out 64 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:39,800 Speaker 1: in protest. Roosevelt was furious when he heard Avery's non 65 00:04:39,839 --> 00:04:43,400 Speaker 1: compliance had led to a strike, so on December twenty seventh, 66 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:47,320 Speaker 1: nineteen forty four, he issued an executive order instructing the 67 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:51,440 Speaker 1: Secretary of War to seize Montgomery Ward's properties for a 68 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:55,599 Speaker 1: second time. The President announced the action that same day, 69 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:59,760 Speaker 1: stressing that the government would quote not tolerate any interference 70 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:02,960 Speaker 1: with the the war production in this critical hour. He 71 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:06,160 Speaker 1: also made clear that the government would respond swiftly to 72 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:10,960 Speaker 1: such disruptions, regardless of who caused them. Strikes in wartime 73 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:14,479 Speaker 1: cannot be condoned, he said, whether they are strikes by 74 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:19,360 Speaker 1: workers against their employers or strikes by employers against their government. 75 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:24,839 Speaker 1: The second seizure of Montgomery Ward was carried out simultaneously 76 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:31,039 Speaker 1: in New York, Michigan, California, Illinois, Colorado, and Oregon. This time, 77 00:05:31,279 --> 00:05:34,280 Speaker 1: Avery wasn't carried out of the building, but was allowed 78 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:37,799 Speaker 1: to remain in his executive office while Major General Joseph 79 00:05:37,839 --> 00:05:42,960 Speaker 1: Byron and his staff occupied one nearby. That awkward arrangement 80 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 1: would continue for the next year, with the General carrying 81 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:49,600 Speaker 1: out the day to day operations of Montgomery Ward and 82 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:54,599 Speaker 1: Avery looking over his shoulder disapprovingly. The tension even extended 83 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:56,920 Speaker 1: to the parking lot, where the two men waged a 84 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:02,000 Speaker 1: daily battle over Avery's reserved parking space. Of course, not 85 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 1: everyone approved of the government's actions. Many of FDR's opponents 86 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:10,280 Speaker 1: in Congress and in the general public denounced the Montgomery 87 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:14,320 Speaker 1: Ward seizures as gross examples of government overreach and abuse 88 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:18,400 Speaker 1: of power. Others even argued that Montgomery Ward should never 89 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:20,839 Speaker 1: have been considered vital to the war effort in the 90 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:24,800 Speaker 1: first place. Suell Avery made these arguments himself in a 91 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:27,400 Speaker 1: court of appeals, but in the end the seizure was 92 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:31,960 Speaker 1: upheld as lawful. The company remained under government control for 93 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:35,240 Speaker 1: nearly a year but it was ultimately returned to Avery 94 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:40,159 Speaker 1: in nineteen forty five by FDR's successor, President Harry S. Truman. 95 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:43,960 Speaker 1: By that point, the war was over, though Avery would 96 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:47,000 Speaker 1: continue to fight tooth and nail against his own employees. 97 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:50,279 Speaker 1: He refused to give them pension plans out of fear 98 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:53,960 Speaker 1: that the post war economy would soon collapse, and because 99 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:57,159 Speaker 1: he had grown so distrustful of the government, he began 100 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:01,440 Speaker 1: to hoard the company's cash rather than investment. The result 101 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:07,400 Speaker 1: was that as other retailers expanded, Montgomery Ward grew stagnant. Eventually, 102 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 1: the company was overtaken by competitors, Seer's chief among them, Sewell. 103 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:16,480 Speaker 1: Avery resigned his post in nineteen fifty four, but by 104 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:20,600 Speaker 1: then the damage was done. Montgomery Ward never returned to 105 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:23,840 Speaker 1: its former glory, and in late two thousand, the company 106 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:27,360 Speaker 1: closed the last of its retail stores and ceased publication 107 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:33,120 Speaker 1: of its once vaulted catalog Since then, the company's intangible assets, 108 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:37,080 Speaker 1: its name, logo, and trademarks have been purchased and revived 109 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:41,000 Speaker 1: by a direct marketing company. As a result, Montgomery Ward 110 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:44,160 Speaker 1: catalogs are now in print once again, and a new 111 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:49,080 Speaker 1: line of branded home and kitchen products is available online. Clearly, 112 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:52,920 Speaker 1: Montgomery Ward is not the retail giant it once was, 113 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:56,160 Speaker 1: but on the plus side, that makes a government takeover 114 00:07:56,480 --> 00:08:03,360 Speaker 1: far less likely. I'm Gabe Lucier and hopefully you now 115 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:07,040 Speaker 1: know a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 116 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:10,640 Speaker 1: You can learn even more about history by following us 117 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:15,920 Speaker 1: on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at TDI HC Show, and 118 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:18,720 Speaker 1: if you have any comments or suggestions, you can always 119 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:21,640 Speaker 1: send them my way by writing to This Day at 120 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:26,200 Speaker 1: iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, 121 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:28,640 Speaker 1: and thanks to you for listening. I'll see you back 122 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:32,360 Speaker 1: here again tomorrow for another day in History class.