During the 1930s, and possibly longer, John E. Pokorny was employed by Ford Motor Company as an assistant to Harry Bennett in personnel and security matters. Whether as part of his job or on his own time, Pokorny collected information on supposed subversive organizations in the Detroit, Michigan, area and, for Ford, investigated Communist infiltration oflabor unions. John Pokorny collected most of the materials in this collection to document supposed subversive activities in the Detroit area and in the United States in general. This collection largely reflects Pokorny's collecting practices and not his personal papers; hence, the collection is arranged similar to a subject file. The folders are arranged alphabetically by subject or name with most of the material dating from the 1930s. Most of the original folder titles have been maintained from Pokorny's original arrangement. News clippings comprise a majority of the contents of the collection and most of these are photocopies of the originals. The collection also contains printed materials (leaflets, brochures, flyers), some manuscript material, and a few photographs.
John Pokorny collected most of the materials in this collection to document supposed subversive activities in the Detroit area and in the United States in general. This collection largely reflects Pokorny's collecting practices and not his personal papers; hence, the collection is arranged similar to a subject file. The folders are arranged alphabetically by subject or name with most of the material dating from the 1930s. Most of the original folder titles have been maintained from Pokorny's original arrangement. News clippings comprise a majority of the contents of the collection and most of these are photocopies of the originals. The collection also contains printed materials (leaflets, brochures, flyers), some manuscript material, and a few photographs. In a few instances, cross-references have been made within the collection, e.g. between the National Labor Relations Board and Edward Burke. Any reference was indicated on a piece of8.5"xl4" paper in the front of the folder. There are possibly even more cross-references than are formally indicated; however, the subject matter and organizations represented in the collection overlap to a degree and it would be very difficult to make note of every instance. Therefore, one who is interested in a specific topic is advised to look through other folders that may be somewhat related. A case in point is the American Coalition. Although the group has a specific folder heading under Aliens (meaning immigrants), more papers originating from the group can be found in folders such as Govermnent - Legislation, Politics (I). There are some materials that deem a specific mention or more explanation. The folder on Civil Liberties contains flyers/leaflets, letters, meeting minutes from various groups, such as the Professional League for Civil Rights, Civil Rights League, National Federation for Constitutional Liberties, and the National Emergency Conference for Democratic Rights. Much of this relates to Detroit-based activities. The third folder on Communism contains 2 lists of suspected Communists in the Detroit area in 1932. Each is about 40 pages long. This folder also has correspondence from 1931 to 1933 to and from the hnmigration and Naturalization Service on the activities of "aliens" and suspected Communists. In his position in the Personnel Dept. for the Ford Motor Company, Pokorny received a number of letters from men seeking employment, often after having served in the military. These materials are located in the first and third folders for the Ford Motor Company. The folder Government - Court Bill contains information on the 1937 idea to increase the number of U.S. Supreme Court justices from nine to fifteen. The folder entitled "Military" relates mainly to the Michigan Military Area of the U.S. Army and the reserves. The Michigan United Auto Workers folder contains 6 photographs of individuals, although only two of them are identified. An additional variety of photographs can be found in Box 2. These depict: fires in Detroit (8); Niagara Falls; a photo of two unidentified men; the crashed plane of Major Resonatti, Italian Ace; John Philip Sousa's burial, March 10, 1932; a 1932 fire at the National Soldiers Home (Dayton, OH); and several copies of the installation of officers of the National Sojourners picturing Pokorny and other members. A newsprint copy of this last photograph can be found in the folder Pokorny Personal. This folder also contains correspondence from organizations with which he was involved, greeting cards, his Army commission certificates, and programs from events.
