My City September 2022

MYHISTORY

George G. Wills 1948-50 George Gill Wills was born in 1903 in Houghton, MI. After graduating from Michigan State Normal College, he settled in Flint, took on multiple civic opportunities and served on the city commission. As mayor, Wills was concerned with increasing housing opportunities in the city and lobbied Congress on a few occasions to pass a National Housing Bill that would assist the city in the construction of low-rent public housing. After taking office, he greeted Harry S. Truman and conducted a parade for the president during his election campaign. In the winter of 1949, Wills declared a state of emergency during a city-wide coal shortage in an attempt to bind dealers and consumers to a rationing plan in order to keep city residents from freezing. It was reported that some 200 families were in dire need of heat. In 1961, Wills made one more attempt at public service and was a primary election candidate for Michigan State Constitutional Convention delegate. Wills died in 1983 and was buried in Gracelawn Cemetery.

Paul C. Lovegrove 1950-52

Paul C. Lovegrove was born in Pennsylvania in 1910. He was elected mayor after a bitter fight for control of the city commission pitting a joint effort of the UAW-CIO and the Flint Fair Employment Practices Commission (FFEPC) against General Motors. After the war, the UAW-CIO held a slim majority in the city commission and used its slight majority to protect workers’ rights. Heading into 1950, the FFEPC was fighting against discriminatory employment practices centered on GM factories. They aligned with the UAW-CIO to hopefully gain advantage in the city commission in order to pass fair employment legislation. GM united with Flint Journal Editor Michael Gorman to select and push pro business candidates.The UAW-CIO subsequently lost its advantage in the commission; Lovegrove, backed by GM, was chosen mayor.When the vote to pass fair employment legislation came up in October of 1951, it was defeated 6-3. Lovegrove defended his negative vote by asserting that the legislation would drain city coffers and that it was impossible to “legislate away” racial prejudice. During the same year that Lovegrove was passing his vote, McLaren Hospital opened in Flint.

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