History of auto supply shortages | Latest Headlines | theeagle.com - Bryan-College Station Eagle

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In the 1910s, auto manufacturing plants in Detroit sought to hire European immigrants to work in the factories. Detroit was one of the major manufacturing hubs for cars in the 20th century. Ford primarily hired for "unskilled" labor to work in the factories, and by 1914,

71% of Ford's manufacturing workers

were immigrants, who earned less than their American-born neighbors in Detroit. This created a divide among working-class Americans, elevating the status of English-speaking Americans while immigrants were expected to perform "unskilled," blue-collar work. Henry Ford said of his workers in the 1910s: "The most wretched class was composed of foreign workmen, ignorant, and unskilled labor, most of them unable to speak English." Recruitment officers were sent to Ellis Island—an immigration hub into the United States—to recruit foreign-born workers to their factories. Polish and Italian immigrants, in particular, entered car factories in record numbers. During this same time, Detroit saw an influx of

Black Americans

, some looking to work in the auto industry, but Ford still primarily relied on immigrant labor.

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