Nation in Transition: Faces of the 80s

Mrs. Laura Wykes, 24, the mother of three children, said her tap water smells like sulfur. She and her husband have lived in the community for five years. She said they considered drilling a new well, but were told by state officials not to bother.

State Police set up barricades around the dump site to keep looters and sightseers out of the area.

The residents had two days to pack and move to nearby motels, where some would live for nearly one month. During a meeting at the local township hall, frustration and fear showed in their faces. Mrs. Verna Courtemanche, held her evacuation notice and shouted, "This is the kind of run-around we’ve been getting for 10 years."

Ford Motor Company has installed robots, and I toured Ford’s Robotics Training Center, which was enclosed in a massive, low level building where hard-working, practically noiseless machinery operated non-stop.

Among those on the tour with me was a Japanese man who was shown how to manually move a robot

I also spent time photographing workers on an assembly line at a Ford plant in Michigan. One worker, who wore an American Eagle T-shirt, showed the kind of spirit that seemed to exist among his fellow workers.

The nation’s 16th worst toxic waste site is in Swartz Creek, Michigan, where the leaking Berlin & Farro chemical dump contaminated the residents’ drinking water. Last spring, Michigan authorities undertook a court-ordered evacuation of 54 families from homes within a half-mile radius of the dump site before cleanup crews moved in to remove highly contaminated soil and sludge from a lagoon there.

Harry Baker, who showed me his final paycheck from a company where he had worked for 27 years. Harry was sadly comparing his lost pay to the $10 he had just received for selling two pints of his plasma

Others routinely sell their blood plasma to the West Detroit Plasma Corp.

One unemployed father confided that his wife had "split," leaving him to raise their children, all under the age of four.

Unemployed man with belongings across street from the State Department.

Mitch Snyder protests "Reaganomics" across the street from the White House.

Unemployed auto worker waits for check at unemployment office in Detroit.

Detroit, America’s "Motor City," has been forced to deal with the harsh realities of changing times. Bad times were evident in the faces of those hardest hit–the unemployed auto workers. In the long unemployment lines, the talk was of troubles at home: separations and divorces.

Frank Williams collects donations for the "Temple of Lost Sheep" in New York City.

Unemployed workers wait at Detroit unemployment office.

Ray Lugo and daughter Christal at Unemployment Crisis Center in Flint, Mich.

Homeless man wanders past White House.

Earl Brown, 5 1/2, gets free meal at the New Mt. Calvary Church food kitchen in Flint, Mich.

APF Fellow