-- AT&T -- Technology Systems MI~ROPHONE

Hawthorne Works June-July, 1985 Microphone Ceases Publication This is the last issue of the Micro­ phone. By the time it is published, To All Employees the Hawthorne work force will be down to less than 1,000 people, mak­ It isn't a happy occasion to be ing the cost of continued publication writing my last letter for the impractical. Microphone, but it has been a There is no news in this issue. We rewarding experience for me to work have made it a Memorial publication here for 12 of the last 14 years. to honor the thousands of employees During that time, many of you have who contributed to Hawthorne's become my close, personal friends, phenominal success over such a long and all of you have won my genuine time span. and lasting respect. It is our hope that readers will find As we move closer to the date of pleasure in reviewing the many Hawthorne's closing, I'm sure we are changes, product developments, all reminiscing a great deal about our social activities and operating experiences here, the way it was in philosophies that have characterized "the old days," the good friends and brought renown to Hawthorne we've made, and the impact of this throughout this century. We certainly historic work place on our lives and haven't covered them all, for obvious livelihood. Virgal Schad reasons. We hope we have covered In this last issue of the Microphone, the more important ones. we have tried to recapture some of was considered an essential training For more than 63 years, the the flavor of times past and some of ground for future leaders of the com­ Microphone has brought news of the essence of what made Hawthorne pany, and few people ever reached Hawthorne and company events to such a great place to work. There the top levels of management with­ employees and their families. probably has never been another out serving an apprenticeship here. Publication was interrupted only factory with such a varied back­ Through its Hawthorne Clubs, it once, and that for a three year ground of activities, both productive supported and encouraged virtually (continued on page 32) and social. In the course of 81 years, every social, recreational and cultural Hawthorne has produced every major activity desired by its employees. It's telephone switching system known to Chapter 45 of the Telephone Pioneers MI~ROPHONE the world plus the related equipment of America has since 1935 been a central avenue for continued relation­ El Byrom, consulting editor needed to make them work. ships between active and retired Robert C. Newman, staff advisor It has enjoyed a strong and venturous management, willing to employees and helped establish a Published monthly for experiment in projects like the bond of good will and cooperation employees of Western Electric's Hawthorne Studies, the Make Work between employees at all levels. Hawthorne Works Project of the Depression years, a Hawthorne has been a great Chicago, Illinois 60623 experience for many thousands of (312) 494-5171 recreation building and grounds for employees, and a Savings and Loan people, and the impact it made on to help employees buy their own our lives and on the telephone ____;~AT&T industry will be felt for generations Technology Systems homes. -- Until very recent years, Hawthorne (continued on page 3) 2 Mlcrophone: June-July, 1985 To all employees

(continued from page 2) to come. As we prepare to close her doors, we can each be proud of the role we played in making this one of the truly great work places of all time. It has been one of the great privileges of my career to work with you and get to know so many of you. I wish you all great happiness and success in the future in whatever course you elect to pursue.

General Manager These Western Electric ladies were happy to give symbolic support to building tracks for the Manufacturers Junction Railway, the factory's main artery for moving raw materials in and completed cable out.

The Hawthorne tract was a barren piece of prairie land when this photo was taken on Oct. 30, 1903. Highlights 1n• Hawthorne History

{The following chronology of 1904-Construction begins on with tables and chairs to accom­ Hawthorne flows in this position Hawthorne's Water Tower, the fac­ modate luncheon clubs. across the next nine pages tory's first building. It was completed 1911-Building 58 remodeled to -The Editor.) in January, 1905. One year later, become company restaurant. It was buildings had been completed to formerly the Power Apparatus Black­ provide 606,4 70 square feet of floor smith shop. The restaurant remained 1903-Western Electric President space, the bulk of which would be in continuous operation until 1976. Enos Barton is authorized to pur­ used for manufacturing telephone -Hawthorne Men's Club organized chase 163 acres of land in the area cable and power apparatus such as for the stated purpose of giving known as Hawthorne for develop­ motors and generators. "tangible expression to good fellow­ ment of a manufacturing plant to 1905-Hawthorne restaurant service ship and to foster athletic and social consolidate operations then con­ begins in areas set aside in Building activities." Four years later, the club ducted in New York and Chicago. 56 and the cable plant and furnished Microphone: June-July, 1985 3 A Story of Hawthorne in Years 1919-1934

by R.A. Pook

(The following story is condensed from a longer history written by Mr . Pook, a retired manager from Haw­ thorne, and completed in I983. Mr. Pook, whose name rhymes with Book, is now 95 years of age and resides in Pennsylvania.)

In 19I9, Hawthorne was the only manufacturing plant of the Western Electric Company. It was, and is, a magnificent example of the creative age in the Growing of America at the Cicero Avenue was a mess when this picture was taken in December, turn of the century. 1905, shortly after the Foundry building was completed. Conceived in I890, its founders were not troubled by the doubts, the pessimism that permeates our troubled country today. They were supremely confident in their own abilities and of the future. When I arrived in I9I9, Hawthorne was a city unto itself. It had its own power house, gas house, deep wells, hospital, fire brigade and engine, a well-equipped garage, a laundry and a green house. It also had its own ball park. Hawthorne in those days was famous for its lawns and flower gardens. And, believe it or not, it had its own brass band replete with blue uniforms with gold braid. To top it off, there was the M.J. Railroad, for Hawthorne was more than a city. It was an empire. Its territories reached from 22nd street Hawthorne's water tower, completed in 1905, was the first structure to 39th street. This called for a built on the new property. It continues to stand, providing office space for fire control and security operations. (continued on page 5) expanded to include women and was City. It remains the largest marine I920-Hawthorne Club Savings and renamed the Hawthorne Club. disaster on an inland waterway in the Loan Association organized to help -Telephone Pioneers of America nation's history. employees purchase their own homes organized. I9I9-First Panel Dial switching and to encourage thrift. By I924, the office, developed and built at Haw­ S & L boasted I ,000 members with I9I5-The Eastland Disaster occurred over $I,OOO,OOO in assets. on July 24 when the excursion ship, thorne, installed in New York City. Eastland, capsized at its berth in the -Hawthorne introduced the I92I-Public Address System, Chicago River, drowning more than Candlestick telephone. developed and manufactured at 800 Hawthorne employees, family Hawthorne, was first used by -Construction began on Building President Warren G. Harding to members and friends. The tragedy 27 at the corner of Cicero and 22nd occurred as the ship was departing address I50,000 people on Nov. II, Streets. The building's tower became Armistice Day. with over I, I 00 people for a day of and remains one of the community's picnicking and frolic on the other most notable landmarks. I922-First issue of Microphone, side of Lake Michigan near Michigan dated February 24, was published.

4 Microphone: June-July, 1985 Hawthorne proved to be a tower of Not good enough! "GO TO BED Early Hawthorne strength, the very heart of Western ROCK. " (continued from page 4) Electric for more than 50 years. A good motto in all endeavours. I bridge, perhaps I ,000 feet long, My first job was as Building In­ submit that today, 64 years later (in crossing Ogden Avenue and 26th spector, Building 27. The tower was I983), you cannot find a crack in the Street. The M.J . had its own round just being started. My first respon­ brickwork of those buildings. house, weighing platform, freight sibility was to check the bearing In I9I9, the World of Hawthorne house, and a connection to Chicago's power of the ground under the resembled, in its inhabitants, the Old Belt Line-but no caboose. tower. At about 10 feet below ground World of Europe-master and peon­ Looking back now, I am over­ level we struck a thick layer of hard stratified in well-defined layers, whelmed at the daring, the imagina­ pan, which passed the standard tests. disciplined, well ordered. Power and tion and the wisdom of the founders. (continued on page 6)

Power apparatus employees pose for the camera shortly after the operation was relocated to Hawthorne in 1905. The first issue was yet unnamed and Building, 3II West Washington Street conditions and their effect on carried an announcement of an em­ in Chicago. production in industry. ployee contest to name the new pub­ I923-Chicago's first Panel Dial The experiment was under the lication. More than II ,000 sugges­ switching office was cut over on June direction of Professor Dugald C. tions were submitted. The winning 9. The equipment, made at Haw­ Jackson of the Electrical Engineering entry was submitted by Ella Hoppe, thorne, provided I2,300 lines and Department of the Massachusetts who won $50 for her suggestion. handled 400,000 calls with less than Institute of Technology. He was -First Telephone Pioneer Chapter one percent errors on its first day of chairman of the Research Council's organized and chartered as Chapter operation. Committee on Industrial Lighting. No. I, to be known as Theodore N. The Studies were later expanded I924-Hawthorne Studies begin. The and placed under the direction of Vail Chapter. Hawthorne had about National Research Council of the 300 qualified employees at the time. Professor Elton D. Mayo, a psychia­ American Academy of Science chose trist at Harvard University. The first Chapter meeting was held Hawthorne as the laboratory for the on Sept. 7 at the Bell Telephone first of a series of studies on lighting -Dedication of Hawthorne's Public Microphone: June-July, 1985 5 Early Hawthorne (continued from page 5)

privilege in the one hand, submission in the other. As the saying went, each "knew his place." There was, however, one all impor­ tant difference in the hierarchy of Hawthorne and that found in old Europe. In this favored land, the peons had hope in their hearts and faith in their new homeland. True, the newcomers clung to­ gether according to their land of birth-clung tenaciously to the old customs, the festivals, teachings of the church, family hierarchy. But they were determined that, at all costs, their sons and daughters would Hawthorne's Power Apparatus shop as it looked on July 8, 1905. get a high school education, at the least. This was their joy, their children would break the chains that had burned them-and still did, though less harshly. Many of them lived to see their sons and daughters in places of power, and this helped offset the yearning for the Old World scenes and customs-the gossip at the village pump, the Sunday gatherings at the Church door, the wide views of the mountains. Way back then, everyone except the management was paid weekly and in cash, in individual envelopes containing the appropriate bills and change. Every day was payday for someone. Monday, the Cable Plant; Tuesday, 26th Street, and so on. A Brink's armoured car would drive in Gate 1 at 10 a.m. each morning. The gate closed and locked. Pulling cable was literally a 'team' job when this photo was snapped about 1906. From the outset, telephone cable was a primary Hawthorne (continued on page 8) product.

Address System. Nearly 40,000 described as "a blond beauty from Albright gymnasium. Building employees assembled on campus and the Production Branch." dedicated Sept. 17, 1927. surrounding areas to hear President 192 6-First installation of Hawthorne -William Bazant, an 18-year-old Du Bois dedicate the system, the first manufactured Step-by-Step switching tool making apprentice, is first to be installed by a manufacturing equipment in Springfield, Mass. Hawthorne recipient of Vail Medal. company anywhere. Cutover August 16. Bazant was honored for rescuing a -Announcement on Dec. 19 of the -Chicago debut of Vitaphone, a boy who broke through the ice in development of an artificial larynx. Hawthorne developed movie sound Lyons pond. 1925-lnternational Western Electric system, at McVickers theater on Sept. 1927 -AT& T officials and guests sold to ITT. 13. Movie was Warner Bros. produc­ assembled in the Bell Auditorium in -Contest held for "Miss Haw­ tion of Don Juan starring John New York City to hear Herbert thorne," forerunner of Hello Charley. Barrymore. Hoover, then Secretary of Commerce, The winner was Miss Helen Lange, -Announcement of plans to build speak from Washington, D.C. in the

6 Microphone: June-July, 1985 ' • • ' .. It • - -. ~ -·- ·- , • • • • • ••

The Eastland as it appeared prior to the tragedy.

Highlights (continued from page 6) first demonstration of television, the latest of many scientific marvels developed by Bell System engineers. Hawthorne provided some of the special apparatus. 1928-New employees' insurance plan introduced with Phoenix Mutual pro­ viding counseling and coverage on company premises. 1929-Standard vacation period, designated as last two weeks in July, started at Hawthorne. One week's vacation after one year of service introduced. Employees with two or more years of service received two weeks. -First Hello Charley vacation sticker introduced. The Hello Charley More than 800 lives of Hawthorne people, family members and friends tradition is said to have begun when were lost on July 24, 1915, when this excursion ship, the Eastland, an employee named Charlie Drucker capsized at its berth in the Chicago River. received a postcard from a fellow 1933, it has plummeted to near work for Hawthorne craftsmen faced employee addressed to "Charley 6,000, the result of a national with unemployment due to the les­ Western Electric." It seems that most economic depression. sened demand for telephone appara­ people in the factory knew the tus, the Hawthorne Store will very popular "Charley" by sight but -Miss Jean O'Rourke elected as shortly open a new type store on the couldn't remember his last name. The Hawthorne's first Hello Charley girl, second floor of the Restaurant card was circulated throughout the an annual pageant that continued Building (Bldg. 58). factory and, somewhere along the through 1980. 'The store will be devoted exclu­ way, the phrase was shortened to 1933-"Make Work" program begun sively to the sale of articles in Charley Western-and eventually to at Hawthorne, Kearny and Point general demand, which are to be Hello Charley. made specially in our shops. Breeze (Baltimore Works). The Micro­ 1930-Hawthorne employee force phone carried this explanation of the "As the manufacture of these peaked at about 43,000 people. By project: "With a view to creating (continued on page 8)

Microphone: June-July, 1985 7 Early Hawthorne (continued from page 6) Six or eight watchmen with rifles would close in and the bags of money were carried into Building 57, where they were placed on the "pay wagon" and escorted by an armed guard to the pay station for that day. As Hawthorne grew, this method of handling the payroll became out­ grown. It was decided to pay by check, at enormous savings in time. But very quickly there became a real volume of complaints. Few people had checking accounts, preferring to keep their savings under the mattress, or in a crock on the mantel piece. So what to do with these checks? They took them to their grocer, Hawthorne's familiar Tower building under construction in 1919. (continued on page 10)

The grazing cow in foreground is apparently undisturbed by rapid expansion of Hawthorne Works nearby. This view from Cermak Road shows first of Telephone Apparatus buildings shortly after they were completed. The corner building with its distinctive tower would not be started for another five years. articles will be undertaken solely to provide low interest loans to mary products included quartz provide work for our people, every- employees. crystal, radios, military radar units thing will, of course, be sold on a and gun directors. non-profit basis, so that the store will -Chapter 45 of the Telephone offer a great opportunity to obtain Pioneers chartered as the Hawthorne 1945-Reconversion of factory to merchandise at very low cost. Chapter. peace time production. November "A further very important con­ issue of Microphone carried story sideration is that every purchase 1937-First Crossbar switching which announced: "Hawthorne's plan made will increase employment at equipment shipped. It was installed in and purpose are to make enough Hawthorne, providing work which New York City to serve the Grand telephones and telephone apparatus otherwise would not be available." Central Station and the eight blocks to fill Bell System needs that were neighboring it. The office, built to never greater, never more urgent. -Microphone discontinued in April, accommodate 26,000 lines, cut over "Before the New Year rolls around, not to resume publication until in August, 1938. Hawthorne is committed to deliver to July, 1936. the Bell System 1,200,000 telephone 1935-Hawthorne Credit Union 1940-Hawthorne begins conversion sets and a quarter of a million lines organized to encourage thrift and to war equipment production. Pri- of dial telephone exchange equipment. 8 Microphone: June-July, 1985 These composite photos were taken in July, 1924, when President DuBois dedicated Hawthorne's Public Ad­ dress system, the first in the nation for an industrial factory. More than 40,000 employees gathered for the event.

These Hawthorne Studies workers didn't know it when this picture was snapped, but they were destined to become identified with one of the most famous experiments in human behavior, called the Hawthorne Experiments, or Hawthorne Studies. Begun in 1924, the studies continued until 1933. "In 1946, Hawthorne expects to a new development for use in tele- tric as Prime Contractor for Defense produce no less than 3,000,000 tele- phone switching equipment, particu- Early Warning system, called DEW phones. That same year, we plan to larly Crossbar Systems. Line, a string of radar stations produce over a million lines of dial installed across Northern Canada and telephone equipment. In 194 7, the -Announcement of company's role Alaska, intended as a warning system program calls for 1,500,000 lines." in development of NIKE missiles. against military attacks launched 1952-First of three IBEW local 1955-Announcement that Haw- across the polar region of the thorne would begin using transistors, Northern hemisphere. unions certified to represent Haw­ developed by Bell Laboratories, to thorne employees in collective 1959-Announcement of plan to build replace vaccuum tubes in new bargaining. Electronic PBX at Hawthorne. Crossbar #5 office equipment. 1954-Manufacturing facilities opened -Announcement that all Step-by­ for production of Wire Spring relays, -Announcement of Western Elec- Step equipment manufacture would Microphone: June-July, 1985 9 On another occasion, the night of the men operators. Early Hawthorne supervisor decided to take a walk The biggest and strongest of them (continued from page 8) outside-it was midnight with a nice all was, very fittingly, the foreman of butcher, who in turn became alarmed moon. Suddenly, a gun was jammed the stranding department, Jim Hortat at this turn of events. But they rallied in his back. "Watcha doin?" by name. Jim, it was said, could tear quickly by charging 10 cents for The supervisor managed to explain. a pack of cards in two, bend a poker, cashing a check, thereby increasing "Get inside and stay there," the or straighten a horseshoe with his the concern of the shop people. voice commanded. hands. Then there were social and family I wish I had the talent to describe There were no unions at Haw­ complications. Many employees the "Shop" people as vividly as they thorne in those days, no grievance resented the grocer learning how deserve. For some years I had the committees, no safety rules-really, much they earned, particularly when good fortune to be located in the no channels of communication the grocer already knew how much Cable Plant and became well­ between shop and office-just orders. THEY owed HIM . acquainted with many of them-the As I remember, there was no over­ At home, there were serious Twister operators, the Wardwell time allowance, nor any laws domestic disputes, for in many cases, braider operators, the stranders, the restricting hours of work or Papa had been in the habit of insulators, the lead press operators. prescribing working conditions. extracting a dollar or two from his The lead press operators, the There were no coffee breaks, no envelope before giving it to the wife aristocrats of the shop, were a breed smoking anywhere in the buildings or of his bosom. apart. The work called for con­ on the grounds except in private Management, after gulping a bit, siderable physical effort, particularly offices and in restaurants-and this met the storm bravely, resolutely. It (continued on page 12) gave in. "We will continue to pay by check," it declared, "but we will set up check cashing stations in the plant." These were the days of Prohibition and of AI Capone, whose headquar­ ters office was only half a block away on 22nd Street. "The Shop," a notorious gambling joint owned by Capone, was half a block north on Cicero Avenue. Capone was not a welcome neigh­ bor, as you will see. At high noon one day, his rivals, the Torrio gang, came roaring along 22nd Street from the east, shooting in the air as they passed the T A buildings, then riddling Capone's building with nice, live ammunition. My secretary, who lived near Capone's office, found a couple of Quitting time at "the Western." Rush hour had already become a bullet holes in her living room reality when this picture was taken on Cermak Road in the late 1920's. window when she got home that No company parking lots were yet available and employees who drove night. to work had to park their vehicles on the street. be consolidated at Hawthorne. TA buildings. The facility occupies 1965-Manufacture of Thin Film 1960-A $30 million modernization the sixth floor of Building 22 , circuitry begins in Buildings 156 and project begun at Hawthorne. Manu­ formerly used by Equipment Stan­ 157 at 26th Street shops. Tolerances facturing areas were improved in dards engineers who had relocated for the new Electronic Age products preparation for production of ESS the previous year to offices in the were so critical that special "clean equipment. Office buildings were Chicago Loop area. rooms" had to be constructed to filter remodeled and air conditioned. The out air pollutants and maintain con­ project, considered a breath of new stant humidity and temperature. 1963-Bell System's first 101 ESS PBX Employees and visitors were required life for the factory, was completed in shipped to Cape Canaveral, Fla., 1965. to wear special, sanitized clothing to where it was used by six private avoid contamination to the area. -Announcement in September of contractors working for the National plans to build an auditorium in the Aeronautics and Space Administration. 1968-Suppliers' Opportunity Day 10 Microphone: June-July, 1985 Transportation employees pose with their fleet of modern vehicles in this picture taken in the mid-1920's.

ID!!l:l:Jll fLAMMABlr . GAS .

Fifty years later, the scene is repeated with new faces and new vehicles. The two photos were taken in the same location in front of the Hawthorne garage. held at Albright Gymnasium, bringing thorne Studies sponsored by Haw­ major products made at Hawthorne together hundreds of minority sup­ thorne. Leading behavioral scientists opens in Building 56-1. Display pliers and corporate buyers in an from Universities around the world material for the museum, built to effort to stimulate minority owned attended. A Hawthorne Studies room commemorate the factory's 75th anni­ and operated business in Chicago. and sculpture were dedicated in versary, was donated by employees, The project blossomed into the Building 22-6. The sculpture and both retired and active, and by Chicago Business Opportunity Fair in other displays were transferred in Illinois Bell Telephone company. 1969 and led the way to develop­ 1984 to the AT&T Technologies Early this year, the museum was ment of Chicago's Minority Purchas­ Management Training Center in donated to the Historical Society of ing Council and similar organizations Princeton, N.J. Cicero and relocated to facilities in in other major cities. the Morton High School building 1976-0riginal Hawthorne Studies located at Austin Blvd. and 197 4-International Symposium com­ records donated to Harvard University. memorating the 50th anniversary of 24th Street. the first experiment of the Haw- 1978-Hawthorne Museum displaying 1980-Terry Frietch, a secretary in

Microphone: June-July, 1985 11 month for 10 years. and-late in the scramble, an order Early Hawthorne Looking back, I feel sure that very from Illinois Bell for a gold desk set. (continued from page 10) few of us in management understood It was to be the millionth telephone for men only. what was going on. New orders were set in Chicago. Once I proposed an increase in pouring in, we were supremely I do not know if it was ever made. salary for my secretary and my confident in our own competence, I do know it was never used. The manager crossed it out. "Why?" I and wasn't this a lovely world! order came in late 1929! asked. "She's a good secretary." Stanley Holmes, the very capable Despite the turmoil of the Twenties, "She smokes," he said, and that and lovable superintendent of Shop there still was time for other things. was the end of it. Operations, evidently sensed the The Albright Gymnasium was built, There was a pension plan, a rare chaos. He set up "Results" depart­ with baseball diamond, running track, thing in industry of that day. A shop ments and filled them with young and later, tennis courts. A commis­ worker became entitled to one week college men. sary was set up on the first floor of of vacation after five years of service, They were sent to the various one of the T A buildings. Employees two weeks after 10 years. Office shops to "take a look." They were could buy shoes, shirts, sweaters, people got one week after the first not welcome. A shop foreman at that pants, pineapples, potatoes, and a year, two weeks after the second and time was king of all he surveyed. To wide variety of other products, all at thereafter. have these Results bastards invading very good prices. Under pressure The office boy got better treatment his realm was more than some fore­ from local business men, it was than the veteran toolmaker! men could tolerate without explod­ discontinued after a year or so of Hawthorne grew in numbers from ing. In some departments, the "know­ operation. about 6,000 employees in 1919 to it-ails" were told to get lost. A Credit Union was established and 43,000 in 1929. The work force But the results of Stanley Holmes the Company made arrangements increased by about 300 employees Results Investigators were truly with Phoenix Mutual Insurance Com­ each month. To cope with this staggering. They made important pany for its representatives to have increase, 10 to 20 new and untrained findings which earned them respect space in the Plant and do business supervisors had to be added every and led to a new spirit of coopera­ during working hours. tion, replacing what before was a Sale of AT & T stock at reduced group of petty kingdoms, each suf­ prices was made available to all ficient unto itself. employees. This was introduced at Hawthorne did meet the challenge Hawthorne by a mild mannered gen­ and poured out ever increasing tleman from Headquarters-bearing quantities of lead covered cable, charts and mirrors. exchange cable, telephone sets, He explained that it was all very (continued on page 13)

The first Hello Charley girl, Miss Jean O'Rourke, was elected at Hawthorne in 1930, a year after the Hello Charley sticker and the standard vacation were introduced.

Hawthorne Public Relations, becomes Hawthorne's 50th and last Hello Charley girl. She was the 50th rather than the 51st because the previous winner served for two years. 1983-Announcement in June of plan to close Hawthorne and consolidate its product manufacturing operations to other AT &T Technologies facilities. 1983-Albright Gymnasium and Hawthorne women employees here are operating condenser winding Memorial Field donated to Morton machines, one of the early jobs for women at the burgeoning factory. High School District in Cicero. This photo appeared in the WE News in December, 1926.

12 Microphone: June-July, 1985 Telephone poles, treated at Hawthorne with a wood preservative, are hauled by the MJ on the first lap of their journey to Bell System telephone companies. Photo taken in 1925. tests at Hawthorne. He selected a relay assembly department which occupied a whole section in the TA buildings and had a work force of perhaps 300 people. They were all doing essentially the same kind of work and all in piece work. The average hourly output was well established. Pennock increased the lighting in one-half the section and waited. Almost immediately the output in that half increased-but then, to his bewilderment, so did the output in the other half! But Pennock, cum laude from M.I.T., wasn't a man to stay be­ wildered long. More experiments, raising the light intensity, lowering it again, even lower than before the Cable testing was a job assigned almost entirely to women when this experiment started, and the outputs photo was taken in the late 1920's. continued to climb. or so-and Washington had not yet There was some witchery here, not Early Hawthorne decided that "it knew best." easy to fathom. But the 1920's were (continued from page 12) Freud, too, was in the running, days of questioning, particularly in simple-just a matter of arithmetic. raising strange, bewildering questions the field of human behavior, strange All an office boy had to do was start and talking of things-taboo. waters to explore. buying his quota every year and, It was in this atmosphere that the At some point, by a stroke of with no effort, retire with a very great Hawthorne Experiments were genius, Dr. Elton Mayo, a psychiatrist fancy bankroll. Since these were the carried out. They have been dealt at Harvard, was asked to take a look. days before Social Security, and the with fully in the book, "Management Mayo was an Australian, a devotee of government mercifully limited itself and the Worker." hypnotism and other strange devices, to governing, this was heady stuff. I had no hand in these experi­ smoked Turkish cigarettes in a foot­ During this period of which I am ments, but had a seat in the front long holder, a connoisseur of good writing, 1919 to 1934, AT &T stock row and knew all the actors. It all wines and withal, a "real guy." soared to 326 in November, 1929- started at a meeting of the Society of Scientifically controlled experiments and dropped to 72 by 1934. Electrical Engineers. George Pennock, were made using a small group of We folks at Hawthorne were assistant works manager and my operators. They were moved to a caught up in the general euphoria of boss, was attending. small room away from all inter­ the Twenties-no task too difficult. The subject under discussion was ference. They were fully advised as Money was in free supply, AT&T "Lighting in Industrial Plants. " to what was going on, the chief item bonds being grabbed up at 3 percent Pennock offered to carry out some (continued on page 14) Microphone: June-July, 1985 13 Early Hawthorne held strictly confidential, though never been accepted by the hard records would be kept without boiled shop foreman who, tearing his (continued from page 13) revealing the source. hair over some breakdown in his being that their hourly output was There was one nearly fatal flaw in assembly line, was casually told by being measured electrically and to a the set up. The counsellors were Janie, the key operator, that she had precise degree. young, some too eager, none of them an appointment with the counsellor. Soon, extraordinary patterns of really qualified to be father Even so, the experiments were a performance emerged. Susie would confessors. noble effort, and they had a profound have a bad hour or two on Monday. After a good many years, the Jo would be pretty uniform all day. practice was slowly dropped. It had (continued on page 15) Mary Ann-all over the place. What was being measured was their physical and emotional condition, their reaction to a supervisor's questions. The appearance of Pennock, whom they now knew, would cause a flutter in performance. Here was a dark jungle and Mayo was having a ball exploring it. He came out with a strange device called "counselling." His general premise was that, clearly, many employees were under occa­ sional, or perhaps, continuous emotional strain and, in the vernacular, needed some way to "blow their top." So counsellors were placed all over the plant. Employees were advised that, if they wished, they could seek the counsellor's advice, for as long as Athletic events in the new Albright gymnasium were highly popular in they liked, and at full pay. They the late 1920's. After working hours, the games attracted many were assured their stories would be employee and family spectators as well as active players.

~ ~------~ A track event in 1927 attracts a crowd of Hawthorne.. spectators. -· 14 Microphone: June-July, 1985 In 1928, office employees had a chance to get to know each other v-e-r-y welL

In winter, he wore spats, carried a "I understand," he said, "that Mr. Early Hawthorne gold headed cane. He was driven to Shedden (the building contractor) (continued from page 14) work in a chauffeured Cadillac, the gave each of you a five dollar gold effect on us all, from president to chauffeur in sober uniform. piece just before Christmas." gang boss. A door had been opened, The guard at Gate 8 on 22nd Street A silence. a new dimension added. Supervisors' would salute. The first elevator avail­ "You will give it back," he said. meetings were held and their interest able would be signalled, emptied, and Salary increases were announced sought in understanding their new H.A. would stalk in and be taken the first week of January and July. It responsibilities in these uncharted non-stop to the 6th floor-alone. was a merciful choice of dates, for fields. An automatic elevator carried his announcing them in December would The Hawthorne Club was a great lordship from the 6th floor to his have ruined Christmas for us all. institution. Its function was never office in the Tower. It was the practice, on the day clear to me, nor, I suspect, to its Mr. Albright's office was some 40 chosen, for the department chief to founders. But this kind of thing was feet long and 20 feet wide. It had a call the recipients of a raise to his in the air in the 1920's. All good fireplace laid meticulously with fat desk to pass on the happy news. fellows together. pine kindling and birch logs. These trips to the desk were watched An election of officers was held Shortly after he had moved in , a by all eyes. The demeanor of the once a year. All employees were small group of us were in the chief parting guest was analyzed-dubious members. There were no fees. engineer's office when the telephone satisfaction, to gloom, to despair-but For a week bef.ore election day, the rang. The chief engineer, Oliver worst of all was, not be to called contenders would parade through the Spurling, listened, then turned at all. offices and shops at noon time, gravely to us underlings. One of the brighter of us four accompanied by the band. They "The fireplace is smoking," he said personnel managers, a compassionate would address the multitude, detail­ with just the hint of a smile. The lad, brooded about this demoralizing ing with becoming modesty their world stopped in its orbit. We were procedure and came up with an respective merits for holding office. dismissed. The fireplace was never astute suggestion. At salary increase If was all good fun . Indeed, in rekindled. time, have the department chief call retrospect, I think the management Oliver Spurling was a man of up and interview all members of the (H. Albright) showed an understand­ sterling integrity and understanding. department. He would explain to ing well ahead of its time. The dull­ Shortly after Christmas one year, I each person the whys and where­ ness of factory life! So why not a bit was summoned to his office. There fores of his large, medium, small or of good fun, just once in awhile, he were a dozen other of my colleagues standing aloof? there. Mr. Spurling was brief. (continued on page 18)

Microphone: June-July, 1985 15 Another Hawthorne Club sponsored activity-tap dancing. Money was in short supply, but the re was no lack of enter· tainment for lucky Hawthorne workers in the tough 1930's.

Service anniversaries have always been popular and important to Ha event was held on January 7, 1931.

Say uncle,. of throwing There is no positive identification of this group, apparently busy editing copy in popular at Ha February, 1931. If those are Microphone stories they're tearing apart, the writing years. staff was probably tearing out its collective hair.

16 Microphone: June-July, 1985 Job applicants, all dressed to impress, seek interviews in Hawthorne employment office in April, 1938.

in the Depression Centralized stenographers and typists ignore camera in favor of work in this 1930's photo.

Microphone: June-July, 1985 17 Early Hawthorne (continued from page 15) no raise at all and encourage each individual to work harder. There was one major flaw in this otherwise giant step forward. While each salaried employee was appraised semi-annually, it was clearly understood that no one could get a raise more than once a year. With this new procedure, the old department chiefs met the problem head on. "Joe," they would say, "you will get yours next time around." In 1934, at the depths of the Great Depression, the National Recovery A theater player auditions for a role in an upcoming production Act dictated that Company Unions around 1935. must be organized and put in operation. We at Hawthorne were properly outraged, but helpless. How our Company Union was set up I never knew. I only knew the results. An election of shop employees was held. As I remember, there were two contestants. One was a likeable chap, a highly skilled craftsman from the Tool Room; the other was Charlie Flax, a bench hand in the Condenser Department. The highly skilled man got all the votes from the carpenters, plumbers, millwrights, electricians, tool makers-a total of about 300 votes. Charlie Flax got the votes of only the more lowly workers-some 6,000 Cable forming became an important job at Hawthorne as soon as the in all. There was general confusion. first telephone switching machine was invented. These nimble fingered Neither side had the remotest idea of workers learned to thread cable pairs through standard layout patterns what to do next. So management so fast the eye could hardly follow. This photo dates from Jan. 2, 1931. took the first step. It invited Charlie Flax to New York to visit head­ quarters and meet the staff. Charlie was not a very impressive lad. About 5' 7", squat, sandy hair, about 40 years old, he chewed tobacco and, in general, had an unwashed appearance overall. Dressed in a rather baggy Sears Roebuck suit and square toed brown shoes, Charlie showed up on the 20th floor of 195 Broadway and was ushered into President Stoll's office to meet the staff. "A cigarette-cigar Mr. Flax?" inquired President Clarence Stoll. "No," says Charlie. "Get me a The 1930's were painful years for Hawthorne and its people. cuspidor," and the ice was broken. Thousands of employees were laid off and the factory resorted to "Make The party relaxed while a cuspidor Work" projects to keep others busy. Employees could visit this display room in Building 58-2 and purchase a variety of products made in the (continued on page 19) factory's shops and sold at cost.

18 Microphone: June-July, 1985 Early Hawthorne chewing tobacco and a cuspidor with and sons and daughters of immi­ Charlie's name engraved on it. grants. They had fled from old, (continued from page 18) The Great Depression was a decadent Europe to this land of hope. was found. terrible time for Hawthorne, as for Suddenly it had failed them, but the Presumably, serious talk followed, the nation. There was no unemploy­ centuries old tradition of touching the though with little direction or ment insurance and the maximum hat to authority prevailed-and understanding. At one point, V.P. layoff allowance was two weeks pay. 36,000 employees went home without Bancker, who believed in running a Looking back at those days of a job, without hope, without protest. tight, very tight ship, and was not popular demonstrations, angry threats Hawthorne recovered from the accustomed to discussing matters of and frequent clashes with "author­ Depression, of course, and became a policy with a tobacoo chewing grade ities" over nothing at all , one thing vital war products plant during World 34 bench hand, barked-his usual continues to amaze me. At Haw­ War II , but it was a different factory approach-at Charlie. thorne, there were no angry public by that time, and would be for the Charlie shot a contemplative stream protests; indeed, few individual ones. remainder of its life. When people of tobacco juice at the cuspidor. Not a window was broken, not even say there will never be another "Listen to me, Bancker," says Charlie. a fight , while 36,000 employees, Hawthorne, they are certainly right "1 can call you an SOB, but if you some with 25 years of service, were in one respect. There will never be call me one, that's intimidation of handed their "ticket." another factory like the Hawthorne labor." The only answer would appear to of the 1920's and 1930's. It was a At Christmas time, President Stoll be that Hawthorne employees, except pattern that, for good or bad, has sent Charlie a package of his favorite for management, were immigrants forever been destroyed.

Employees turn out in force to receive one of two U. S. Navy "E" for Excellence awards won by Hawthorne for outstanding war time production.

Microphone: June-July, 1985 19 War comes to the nation and to Hawthorne. Hawthorne employees Patriotism is rewarded. This gather on campus to watch as a fellow worker is sworn into military may be the new inductee's wife. service. Then, again, it may not be.

Guest Writers Pen Hawthorne Memories

For this final issue of the Micro­ phone, we asked several long service employees, all but one of them retired, to review some of their most memorable experiences of Haw­ thorne. Except for normal editing changes to adapt them to format and space limitations, these articles are essentially as they were written by the authors. Our hope is that the personal flavor each of these people brings to the Story of Hawthorne will make it more meaningful and enjoy­ able for all who read it. The Editors

By the summer of 1941, Hawthorne was back in full swing. The noon Remembrances of hour was a time for enjoying fresh air and sunshine, among other Hawthorne Studies things. fellow employees, but we were also They had come from Poland, Lithua­ by Don Chipman neighbors. nia, Czechoslovakia, Scandinavia, My close friends were all people I Italy-and they were all hard Automobiles were rare when I worked with, and that was true of workers. They tended to flock started to work at Hawthorne in most employees. Much of our free together by ethnic groups off the job, 1925. At least half the employees time was spent attending events, such but on the job, they all worked to­ lived no more than two miles from as basketball games, that were gether and did what they were told. the plant, and most of them walked sponsored by the company through The department chief was a high to work. Those who didn't walk took the Hawthorne Club. mogul in those days. He could hire the street car. In a much greater Many of the people who worked in and fire and nobody asked any ques­ sense than today, we not only were the shops were recent immigrants. (continued on page 21)

20 Microphone: June-July, 1985 study was an outgrowth of an illumi­ tently out-produced any of the other Remembrances nation experiment conducted by the girls. One time, she broke up with (continued from page 20) National Research Council of the her boy friend. As I remember, they tions. The Hawthorne Studies National Academy of Sciences to had planned to be married. She was changed all that, I believe. They determine the best level of lighting emotionally upset over the rift, and made supervisors more sensitive to for maximum productivity. During her production lagged for some time. people problems and that led to the Illumination Experiments, lights One of the things that grew out of better relationships between super­ were turned up, then down, then up the studies was an interview organi­ visors and workers. again, and each time a change was zation. There were people assigned The highlight of my career was made, production increased. to interview employees throughout certainly the six years I spent as an It was obvious that something the plant to find out what they were observer in the Relay Assembly Test besides the amount of illumination concerned about, how they viewed Room, one of the Hawthorne Experi­ was responsible for the increase, so a their jobs, their supervisors, almost ments. I was a group chief working decision was made to conduct other anything they wanted to talk about. in Step-by-Step Inspection when they studies. These interviews were written up asked me if I would like to be an The fiv e girls in the Relay As­ and used by the Training Organiza­ observer. Even though I had to give sembly Test Room were all selected tion in supervisory training programs. up my supervisor rating, I took the because they were experienced This experience appeared to have job because it looked interesting and workers and were thought to be an effect on supervisory relationships I did not lose any money. compatible with each other. Three of with workers. I know it did on me. None of us knew at the time that the five remained on the assignment When I went back to the shop as a the Studies were anything special, until the experiments ended in 1933. supervisor, I'm sure I was more certainly not that they would become My job was to observe them sensitive to people and more con­ world famous and the basis of a throughout the day and write reports cerned about problems that might revolution in management/ worker on changes that were introduced, bother them. I frequently had dis­ relationships. To us, it was just a how the girls reacted, what they cussions with people in my depart­ local experiment, interesting to be a talked about, anything that appeared ment in an effort to help them work part of but nothing extraordinary. to bother them. They had been told out problems that affected their lives My job was to observe five girls that this was my job, so they weren't off as well as on the job. who were assigned to assemble flat nervous about me being there. In Being a part of the Hawthorne type relays under test room condi­ fact, we all became good friends. Studies was an important experience tions. The plan was to introduce There has been too much written in my career and in my life . Many various changes in the work routine, about the studies for me to try to times since I retired in 1970 I have measure the output, and attempt to add more, but one thing became been called on to participate in some determine how much the changes quickly apparent to me. Almost any discussion or seminar on the affected production. significant change in routine or experiments. Some of the changes were rest expectation did have an effect on the Even though only six of my 45 periods of five, ten and 15 minute girls' production. years of service were spent in the duration, shorter work days, and The fastest worker in my group Studies, that experience is still one of lunches provided by the company. was an Italian girl who had ex­ the strongest in my memory. It really The Relay Assembly Test Room tremely nimble fingers. She consis- (continued on page 22)

Female employees eagerly pitched in to take over An apple for teacher. These employees engage in a traditional "man's work" as the factory's young men little promotion activity in December, 1948, as marched off to war in the early 1940's. registration time approaches for another semester of Hawthorne Evening School.

Microphone: June-July, 1985 21 side inspection effort. easy to make friends with workers Remembrances There were literally scores of whose products one may have to (continued from page 21) subcontractors in the Chicago area reject for failure to meet quality characterizes in my mind the kind of whose products had to be inspected standards. work place Hawthorne was-bold, and approved before being delivered Compounding this problem was the confident and willing to experiment to Hawthorne. In these shops, mostly urgency of switching over the factory with new things; demanding of its small and frequently poorly equipped, to meet war production needs. When people but concerned about them, our inspectors found themselves war broke out in Europe in 1939, too. From my point of view, it re­ manning the front line trenches in Hawthorne was still operating in a mained that way to the day I retired. the ongoing battle to assure quality sort of post depression mode with its conformance to our customer newest machine switching system (Mr. Chipman retired from Hawthorne specifications. called Crossbar as its main wired in 1970 with 44 years of service). The machine shop and foundry equipment product line. counterparts operated under different Then, quite suddenly. about a year supervision but in close team work before Pearl Harbor, the ''Govern­ fashion. There were also Hawthorne ment Shops" came into being. Early Hawthorne Works in inspectors stationed at major supplier on, this new undertaking consisted of War Time Production plants throughout the Eastern States, a quartz crystal manufacturing but those assignments were usually process, followed soon after by by Joe Fullan staffed with highly qualified equip­ substantial orders for Signal Corps ment engineers on loan to the manu­ and Field Artillery radio sending and Some of my favorite and proudest facturing branch for the duration of receiving sets. This operation was memories are of my experiences with the war. That was a separate known as "Project 9." people who were outside inspectors operation. Soon thereafter, our country was at for Hawthorne during World War II . Our inspection stations in the war with Germany and Japan, and all As a newly promoted section chief, I Chicago area were often lonely out­ civilian production except that had the rare privilege of setting up, posts where the nature of the duties urgently needed for defense was staffing, and organizing the wired involved made it difficult to "win sharply curtailed. The Western equipment portion of the local out- friends and influence people." It isn't (continued on page 23)

General Dwight D. Eisenhower, campaign· ing for the U.S. Presidency in 1952, speaks to Hawthorne employees on Cermak Road across from the T A buildings. He was the second Presidential candidate to bring his campaign to Hawthorne. The first was Wendell Willkie in 1940.

22 Microphone: June-July, 1985 ample supply of young and everyone there a sense of important Hawthorne enthusiastic prospects who didn't purpose. It stemmed in part, of (continued from page 22) have much if any industrial experi­ course, from the desire to give every Electric Company was selected as a ence, but they were willing and possible support to our troops in the prime contractor for many major eager to learn. Accordingly, most field, but there was also the chal­ weapons systems, including Naval jobs were staffed with a nucleus of lenge of nearly everyone having to Radar, Airborne Radar, Gun Director experienced help which was supple­ learn new things (and fast) every day. Control Systems, Echo Ranging Equip­ mented by many trainees. There was also the incentive ment, and many more. The Haw­ Outside inspection was no excep­ created by the need for talent and thorne Works was in the forefront of tion, although some of the more the upward mobility opportunities for these important developments and, as difficult occupations were staffed by those who were in the right place at the prime contractor, became the proven performers. the right time. Promotions in grade source location for many products There was an air of excitement at and in rank were handled more ex­ that were to prove vital to the allied Hawthorne in those days that gave peditiously than was traditional at war effort. Hawthorne, and the feeling was strong There was an immediate need for that good work was appreciated. hiring, training and equipping a large In my mind, it was during this multi-shift work force at Hawthorne memorable period of Hawthorne's to handle the thousands of individual proud history that the "can do" spirit work assignments within the various blossomed to its full potential. It was departments. Many of the new hires as if nearly every employee had just had no previous factory experience, been waiting for the challenge and but they were eager to work, make the opportunity to test his/ her some money, and contribute to the strength in depth and not be found war effort. wanting. At the same time, the turnover rate Among the many forward looking was exceedingly high because many innovations was the assignment of skilled and semi-skilled male workers women to tasks of greater complexity were being rapidly inducted into the and of a more technical nature. armed services. Needless to say, they proved them­ Fortunately, the job market in Employees review copy of first selves more than equal to the task, Chicago was good. There was an Microphone, on its 30th adjusting to their production jobs as anniversary, February 24, 1952. (continued on page 24)

Hawthorne's campus was serene and deserted on July I, 1955, a Sunday, most likely. What other day would produce this scene! Microphone: June-July, 1985 23 and adapting engineering specifica­ Outside inspection was not one of Hawthorne tions into work drawings and then the higher paying jobs. All "direct" (continued from page 23) enforcing necessary quality standards effort expended on product in the quickly and easily as the males they on these fledgling component makers Government Shops was classified worked beside or replaced. was a major part of the procurement "daywork," versus "incentive" or As a prime contractor for many process upon which our success "piecework." Therefore, the pay scale urgently needed armed forces heavily depended. for new hires was relatively low. products, Hawthorne also faced the The outside inspection staff was an The outside inspection work force very urgent need for establishing integral part of this quality assurance included many inexperienced people mutually satisfactory working rela­ process. Looking back, I think I'm who were trying to make it from day tionships with an expanding list of even more impressed now than I was to day without much to spare. Most subcontractors who had sought and then at the camaraderie that devel­ of them travelled to and from work been granted approval for govern­ oped among us over the period that via public transportation and brown ment production work. Developing we worked together. bagged it as a matter of necessity. At the same time, they had little contact with fellow Western Electric workers. If they got an opportunity to air their concerns or share their problems, it was with some other inspector or, occasionally, with their supervisor. These supervisors visited each job site on a rotational basis, but their visits were spread pretty thin. Still, there seemed to be a common thread binding together the lives and hopes and aspirations of those who found themselves sharing the nomad life of being stationed at supplier plants. This linkage proved highly supportive, and in times of need, even life sustaining. And in this reaching out process, people found themselves developing added self assurance. This, in turn, led them to take greater pride in their individual Power house employees pose for camera on June 10, 1953. (continued on page 25)

College relations was big business at Hawthorne in 1952. Here, college relations people assemble to plan future recruiting strategy. 24 Microphone: June-July, 1985 Hawthorne (continued from page 24) and group contributions to the war effort. The difficulties and simple pleasures they shared strengthened their bonds and produced a unifying effect on their job activities. The spirit and dedication of Haw­ thorne people in those days was beyond anything I have witnessed before or since, and it resulted in our twice earning the coveted "E" for Excellence award granted by the U.S. Navy before the war ended. Thou­ sands of "ordinary" people who had made "extraordinary" efforts were present at the ceremonies. That included members of that happy band of warriors who did their Telephone Pioneers, Chapter 45, office on March 31, 1955. fighting, and did it well, as inspectors in the shops of Hawthorne suppliers. Even though Hawthorne goes out of existence, there are thousands of us, I know, who will long remember her days in the sun, when we all stood tall and were proud to be counted among her sons and daughters. (Mr. Fullan retired in 1974 with 39 years of service).

Years of Work, Fun and Friendship by Bea Rozhon I remember a feature in Walter Winchell's column years ago called "Memories that Bless and Burn." In my 42 years at Hawthorne, (continued on page 26) The factory's purchasing organization on Oct. 13, 1954.

Wire spring relays, a new product at Hawthorne, A general office area in 1954. being assembled in February, 1954. Microphone: June-July, 1985 25 Years of Work (continued from page 26) there were many such memories, as there were for all of us. The joys and sorrows shared with fellow workers who became good friends, the daily conversations concerning news of the day, company happenings, witty friendly gossip, and the essential job­ related discussions-all these formed a bond that was like being a part of a second family. However, the over-all work experi­ Employees adjust and assemble vertical connectors for Crossbar ence was one of accomplishment. In switches in March, 1954. my many years in the Medical De­ partment, there was tremendous work done that contributed not only to the company but to industrial medicine as well. One example was the vision program introduced by our medical directors in collaboration with Purdue University. A group of us was chosen for training at the university. We then began a complete survey, testing the eye performance of all employees on visually demanding Hawthorne tool room on April 29, 1960. jobs so it could be correlated with job performance. Our equipment was moved right into the shops for testing at the job locations. Our findings were so impressive that our statistics were accepted by Purdue to set up· visual standards that, so far as I know, are still in use today. Being a part of that testing team was more fun than work. Another example was the pioneer (continued on page 27) Step-by-Step assembly in Bldg. 29-3, 1960.

Engineers in conference in Bldg. 58-1, about 1955.

26 Microphone: June-July, 1985 Jogger at Memorial Field has lunch as he exercises.

forget the greatest plus of all-the friendships made and kept through all the years.

-.:::. .... -----.....-- ... (Mrs. Rozhon retired in 1985 with 45 years of service).

101 ESS came to Hawthorne in 1960 and was ready to start shipping Impact of Hawthorne by 1963. The operation shown here was in Bldg. 34-2. on Black Supervisor Years of Work by Val Jordan (continued from page 26) For me, Hawthorne will always be work done in reducing job-related the place where my life came in back injuries. Pre-placement X-rays of focus, again. Six years after my candidates for heavy work to deter­ World War II tour, still filled with mine fitness for the job proved so unexpressed rage, I came to Western successful that the first year of the Electric. program showed a reduction of 75 During those six years before I percent in back injuries and gained came to Hawthorne, I had tried the attention of all our manufacturing unsuccessfully to put my wartime locations. experiences into some kind of sen­ Even programs like these, exciting sible framework. I simply could not as they were, are overshadowed by Hawthorne's official sign painter understand a system that would draft applies his skill to a glass panel our greatest one-the War Effort someone from a college campus as a in 1967. during World War II. This brought a biology laboratory assistant-instruc­ new meaning to the word "team­ sympathy for those who lost loved tor of freshman biology-train him to work." Every one was touched in ones-and then, at last, the joy when be a surgical technician and malaria some way by the war, and this it was all over-the announcement by control technician, then force him to brought us all together in a united the Works manager and his permis­ labor as fumigator of mattresses, effort to support our company and sion to go right home and celebrate. digger of ditches, and unloader of our country. A happier mass exit was never to be boxcars and ships. Those of us who were there during experienced again! On January 29, 1952 , from six this period will long remember the All this brought us together as one available applicants, I was hired as team spirit that prevailed during huge family of friends. It created a an assistant lumber grader at Haw­ those rough years. Who can forget bond that in my mind would never thorne. My job was to transform the six and seven-day work week weaken. And always, throughout the boxcar loads of lumber into neat little with the extra tight security through­ hardest times, there was humor. No stacks in the old lumber yard at 26th out the plant, the farewell parties for matter how tired or harrassed we Street. those entering service, the letters and felt, a day never went by without its A few years later, with the help of gifts to relatives and friends with the share of laughs and smiles. "Science of Mind," a monthly maga­ frustrating APO numbers that gave When I think about it, what it boils zine devoted to positive spiritual no clue to whereabouts, the War down to is the fact that, although I development, I slowly began to Bond drives, USO dances, and the enjoyed being a part of the work unravel the intricate web of protec­ precious ration books? force and feel tremendous gratitude tive negativity left by WW II. The Nor can we forget the heartfelt for our fantastic benefits, I can't (continued on page 28) Microphone: June-July, 1985 27 was in the Supervisory Candidate Eventually, "Science of Mind," Impact Training Program (SCTP) that it all General Semantics and Faith became (continued from page 27) began to come together, including the active ingredients of my sharing hurting gradually subsided, but some of the answers. with those fellow workers who came acrimony still threatened, spilling out In SCTP training, I was introduced to me for counsel. frequently in spirited, even hair to General Semantics, which fused The world became even brighter in triggered responses to anyone immediately with the positive 1967 when I was selected as the perceived as perpetuating the spirituality of "Science of Mind," replacement for one of the retiring indignities inflicted while I was a creating an illuminating awareness SCTP instructors. It seemed that I had captive patriot. and understanding. I learned how not not talked too much, after all. Before long, however, renewed to respond to abstractions as if they Perhaps someone had been listening faith nourished my self confidence were facts; how to avoid making to my preachments about trying to back to full health. Catching glimpses uncritical inferences; how to be wary understand our factory also from the of my old self, I knew that I was of generalizations and absolutes; how perspective of the worker. going to make it. In the parlance of to respond to loaded words. My own good fortune was not an positive religious thought, I realized With General Semantics, words isolated instance. More and more that nothing in the world would deny were never more than symbols of the minorities and women were moving me my good except myself: my think­ things they represented. Definitely, into supervision and professional ing, my temper. they were not the things themselves. positions. Fresh, invigorating air was Faith was translated into reality in It became increasingly apparent that blowing through our factory. 1964 when an open enrollment I had full responsibility for my own Healing was rapid as I exulted in period gave me the opportunity to behavior. The right of self definition doing work that was utterly enjoy­ nominate myself for supervision. It was mine. (continued on page 29)

These members of the Hawthorne Women's Golf Hello Charley girl Gail Caposto adds her 1969 Club prepare for a new season in 1966. sticker to the display of beauties who have worn the title before her.

The looping mill, a spectacular operation in Hawthorne's Rod Mill of the 1960's, needed men with nerves of steel to work as catchers and guide the hot copper rods into drawing machines. 28 Microphone: June-July, 1985 Where were you on the day following Chicago's record snowfall of 23 inches in late January, 1967? This unfortunate MJ Railway worker was There was never a let-up on the fully occupied trying to clear a path for a stalled locomotive. importance of safety. Here, a tool maker examines shattered safety Impact glasses which prevented a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On the probable serious injury in 1970. (continued from page 28) morning following the Reverend able. It was growth provoking, Doctor King's death, I was scheduled it was because I realized that stimulating. to conduct the second day of a somehow my grief for Martin had Subsequently, a project was Challenge series. exorcized me of the rage. The proposed which had the makings of The assassination had disem­ intense anger that remained was a redemption itself. Management boweled me emotionally. Tears? How welcome relief. When it subsided, so decided that the "Searing Sixties" I cursed the day that I learned to cry, did the final experience of abstract required that a serious effort be as a man, simply because I wanted to pain. made to diminish the potential for be a more effective actor in a Free at last of hatred and worse, I racial polarization in our work place. religious drama. rediscovered my pre-WW II per­ So, our semi-confrontational social Cancellation of the Challenge ses­ sonality: lover of all people, sensibilities program, "New Challenge sion was unthinkable, although it was passionate lover of my own. So the to Management" was created. the day for confrontation when some rest of my career at Hawthorne, the "New Challenge to Management" pretty good shots were usually taken. personnel, the training and the wage was a therapeutic sacrament shared Indeed, my real fear was of the practices departments, with all the consultatively with various AT & T bottled up rage that I had fought interesting people I encountered, was units and other businesses throughout against fairly successfully for such a but happy epilogue. the country which were interested in long time. Never can I forget the people who coming to grips with The Problem. After the session, which was with­ permitted me to intersect with their However, my most difficult time with out confrontation and without lives, participate in their growth and Challenge came when I was most mention of the assassination, and development, and help them to higher comfortable with the program. after all participants had gone, the It resulted from the assassination of second weeping came. But that time, (continued on page 30)

More than 5,000 years of Western Electric service is represented in this photo of a dinner party of members of Hawthorne's 45-year club in 1968. Microphone: June-July, 1985 29 < • Hawthorne Effect Spread to New Plants

by Joe Werth As time slips rapidly away for those of us left at Hawthorne, our mem­ ories seem to become sharper for the things that were. The memories be­ Employee in capacitor shops come more vivid and we are apt to shows off new product pack. discuss them more in our everyday conversations. Search For Missing As we look around and observe empty spaces, buildings fragmented Microphone Issues The 1970's saw changes in or replaced by dust and weeds, we custom as well as in product lines. can still see buildings that once were In resean~hing back copies of the This 1973 photo shows a lady whole, sturdy as granite, alive with Microphone, we were unable to semi-truck driver about to climb locate the issues listed below: into her cab. busy people working almost shoulder December, 1979 to shoulder. December, 1980 The "best years of Hawthorne," May, 1981 may be different for each of us, but some memories are common: the If you have one or more of these "bandshell" with thousands of people issues and are willing to donate enjoying a sunny day in summer, them, please contact: R.P. Jerich, seeing and listening to a Big Band Public Relations Manager, AT&T playing popular tunes, people dancing etwork Systems, 3800 Golf Road, on the grass, a "Hello Charley" girl ATl7, Rolling Meadows, Ill. 60008. being crowned-or, during the war Extra copies of this Memorial years, listening to a veteran tell us to Issue may be purchased for buy "War Bonds and help the effort." $3.00 per copy by writing to: It was also the time for standing in line at the elevators, a work force Telephone Pioneers of This young lady wants to that soared above 40,000 people, America become a tool maker. She was buying items at the Club Store, Henry F. Albright Council Hawthorne's first woman Hawthorne Station toolmaker apprentice. (continued on page 31) Chicago, IL 60623 Proceeds will go to the Pioneer Council's Charity Fund. Impact (continued from page 29) ground. Although this activity competed seriously for my time, it resulted in my becoming a better person and, consequently, a better employee. My final wish for all Hawthorneans is that all your Mondays be mar­ velous, your Tuesdays tremendous, your Wednesdays wonderful, Thurs­ day terrific, Fridays fantastically fine, Saturdays spectacularly stupendous, and may all your Sundays be soul­ fully sensitive, as mine have been, by positive affirmation, since I redis­ covered me, at Hawthorne. A new, continuous cast rod mill went into operation in 1974 and (Mr. Jordan retired in 1984 with 32 quickly proved its value by setting new world records in copper rod years of service.) production. The mill was sold in 1984 to the Magma Copper Company. 30 Microphone: June-July, 1985 Hawthorne Effect (continued from page 30) flowers in summer, gifts at Christmas time, and at the end of the day, crowded street cars, later replaced by buses. Albright Gym bustling with people­ every noon hour, runners, putters, baseball games, sports and recreation shows in preparation for "Standard Vacation Shut-downs-all an impor­ tant part of Hawthorne history and of our lives. It was different then in terms of numbers but not so different in attitudes of people, primarily because those of us still here were a part of those "things that were." That attitude was probably best described as the "Hawthorne effect," which revealed that people, when given the attention and treatment they deserve, responded to needs of the job and accomplished feats not considered possible. Although the "Hawthorne effect" found its way to college classrooms and library shelves, becoming more Sideburns dropped in the 1970's, while hemlines climbed-and of a text book study than an operat­ climbed. ing practice in industry, I think it was always practiced at Hawthorne-not reflect the way we do business. by all, perhaps, but by many. This Christmas, although the Tower That's because it was really a very lights will be dark, I am sure that simple idea-that we are all a part of each of us will imagine them glowing a team, and teamwork was always bright, as in the days past-when evident here and was the driving they brought to all of us the joy of force that distinguished this work another Holiday Season and the place. That concept, practiced here promise of another New Year. from the beginning, migrated to our The days, weeks, and years have newer plants, spreading the Haw­ slipped by much too fast, but they thorne effect throughout the company. have left behind a lot of pleasant The philosophy is best expressed in memories and the satisfaction of knowing "we were there." The first and last Hello Charley our "Ten Commandments," which at girls, Terry Frietch and Jean one time hung on every supervisor's (Mr. Werth , a manager still active at O'Rourke, pose together during wall. Although few remain visible Hawthorne, began his career in 1952.) Terry's coronation in 1980. today, I believe their words still

Capacitor production was a major Hawthorne operation when A new skill called Keypunch operating, an essential part of the this photo was taken in March, company's mammoth computer operations, blossomed during the 1970's. 1980. This photo was taken in 1977.

Microphone: June-July, 1985 31 Microphone Ceases (continued from page 2) period during the Depression of the 1930's. Except for its format, which was changed several times along the way in attempts to make it more attrac­ tive and readable, the paper has remained essentially unchanged. The purpose of the first issue was basically the same as the last-to bring understanding to employees of the company's purpose and values and to give them a sense of "belong­ ing to and appreciation by and for" the organization in which they worked. The method used for accomplishing that objective has been to report real news as much as possible and inter­ pretations of that news as little as possible. Each of the many editors Mass exodus at Hawthorne. along the way has avoided the paternal technique of giving advice, was devoted to product activities, phone, we feel, prominent status operating instead on the premise that policy and program changes and the among industrial publications. readers, given valid information, can status of the business. Included, but It is with great regret that we write make their own analysis of changes not dominating, were feature stories "30"-a journalistic symbol for "end and events. recognizing individuals for outstand­ of story"-to another Hawthorne In preparing for this last issue, we ing performance, on the job and off. tradition, but we hope this final issue went through every copy of the But always, there was underlying serves to evoke pleasant memories Microphone, and we found no respect for reader maturity and for each of you, now and in the variation from that philosophy of judgment. That has given the Micro- future. communications from management to employees. There have been changes of emphasis along the way. In the early days, much coverage was given to recreational activities, for they were of major interest to most employees. As the years passed, more space

Several members of a single family often found careers for themselves Metals mill engineer shows off at Hawthorne. Sometimes it was difficult to distinguish one from new product. another, as in this team of identical twins. 32 Microphone: June-July, 1985