My City September 2022

MYHISTORY

The Mayors of Flint PART 9: THE PiNNACLE OF PRODUCTiON

BY PETER HINTERMAN

From the mid-1940s to the beginning of the 1960s, Flint was operating at peak e ciency and success. General Motors was nearly unrivaled in car production, Flint schools were the envy of the state in both education and sports programs, impactful social groups and organizations were being started, infrastructure updated and major businesses were built. Parades and celebrations dotted the time period between multiple visits from presidents and presidential hopefuls on the campaign trail. It was also during this time that Flint proved to the nation how resourceful and close-knit a community could be after the Beecher Tornado ripped through in 1953 and disrupted hundreds of lives. e mayors of this time period had to simply sit back and let progress happen and were mostly concerned with necessity improvements (water) and expansion. is series has tracked each of Flint’s mayors throughout history, providing a short account of their professions, lives and decisions in o ce (if known). Some mayors were men/women of great deeds or of great controversy; some simply acted as placeholders in time. Each of them, however, chaired a city important to its country and citizens on a path through triumph and heartbreak, and toward revitalization. For Part 1 in this series, see the January 2022 issue of MCM.

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