1944 in Michigan

Events from the year 1944 in Michigan.

Top stories

The Associated Press polled editors of its member newspapers in Michigan and ranked the state's top news stories of 1944 as follows: ^[1]

1. Judge Leland Carr's grand jury investigation into graft in the Michigan Legislature (213 points)
2. Dewey loses Michigan to Roosevelt
3. Gov. Kelly defeats Frank McKay as Republican national committeeman
4. Strike hamper war production
5. Detroit Tigers finish in second place in the American League, one game out of first
6. Principals of Detroit spy ring sentenced to long terms
7. Fisher Brothers leave General Motors to found their own company
8. The acquittal of David Filgas in the torch death of Patricia Winters
9. Mistakes snarl vote-counting in November election

Office holders

State office holders

Gov. Harry Kelly

• Governor of Michigan: Harry Kelly (Republican)
• Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: Eugene C. Keyes (Republican)
• Michigan Attorney General: Herbert J. Rushton (Republican)
• Michigan Secretary of State: Herman H. Dignan (Republican)
• Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives: Howard Nugent (Republican)
• Chief Justice, Michigan Supreme Court:

Mayors of major cities

Sen. Arthur Vandenberg

• Mayor of Detroit: Edward Jeffries (Republican)
• Mayor of Grand Rapids: George W. Welsh (Republican)
• Mayor of Flint: William Osmund Kelly/Edwin C. McLogan
• Mayor of Lansing: Ralph Crego
• Mayor of Saginaw: Eric F. Wieneke

Federal office holders

Rep. John Dingell Sr.

• U.S. Senator from Michigan: Homer S. Ferguson (Republican)
• U.S. Senator from Michigan: Arthur Vandenberg (Republican)
• House District 1: George G. Sadowski (Democrat)
• House District 2: Earl C. Michener (Republican)
• House District 3: Paul W. Shafer (Republican)
• House District 4: Clare Hoffman (Republican)
• House District 5: Bartel J. Jonkman (Republican)
• House District 6: William W. Blackney (Republican)
• House District 7: Jesse P. Wolcott (Republican)
• House District 8: Fred L. Crawford (Republican)
• House District 9: Albert J. Engel (Republican)
• House District 10: Roy O. Woodruff (Republican)
• House District 11: Frederick Van Ness Bradley (Republican)
• House District 12: John B. Bennett (Republican)
• House District 13: George D. O'Brien (Democrat)
• House District 14: Louis C. Rabaut (Democrat)
• House District 15: John D. Dingell Sr. (Democrat)
• House District 16: John Lesinski Sr. (Democrat)
• House District 17: George Anthony Dondero (Republican)

Population

In the 1940 United States Census, Michigan was recorded as having a population of 5,256,106, ranking as the seventh most populous state in the country. By 1950, Michigan's population had increased by 21.2% to 6,371,766.

Cities

The following is a list of cities in Michigan with a population of at least 20,000 based on 1940 U.S. Census data. Historic census data from 1930 and 1950 is included to reflect trends in population increases or decreases. Cities that are part of the Detroit metropolitan area are shaded in tan.

1940 Rank	City	County	1930 Pop.	1940 Pop.	1950 Pop.	Change 1940-50
1	Detroit	Wayne	1,568,662	1,623,452	1,849,568	13.9%
2	Grand Rapids	Kent	168,592	164,292	176,515	7.4%
3	Flint	Genesee	156,492	151,543	163,143	7.7%
4	Saginaw	Saginaw	80,715	82,794	92,918	12.2%
5	Lansing	Ingham	78,397	78,753	92,129	17.0%
6	Pontiac	Oakland	64,928	66,626	73,681	10.6%
7	Dearborn	Wayne	50,358	63,589	94,994	49.4%
8	Kalamazoo	Kalamazoo	54,786	54,097	57,704	6.7%
9	Highland Park	Wayne	52,959	50,810	46,393	−8.7%
10	Hamtramck	Wayne	56,268	49,839	43,555	−12.6%
11	Jackson	Jackson	55,187	49,656	51,088	2.9%
12	Bay City	Bay	47,355	47,956	52,523	9.5%
13	Muskegon	Muskegon	41,390	47,697	48,429	1.5%
14	Battle Creek	Calhoun	45,573	43,453	48,666	12.0%
15	Port Huron	St. Clair	31,361	32,759	35,725	9.1%
16	Wyandotte	Wayne	28,368	30,618	36,846	20.3%
17	Ann Arbor	Washtenaw	26,944	29,815	48,251	61.8%
18	Royal Oak	Oakland	22,904	25,087	46,898	86.9%
19	Ferndale	Oakland	20,855	22,523	29,675	31.8%

Counties

The following is a list of counties in Michigan with populations of at least 75,000 based on 1940 U.S. Census data. Historic census data from 1930 and 1950 are included to reflect trends in population increases or decreases.

1940 Rank	County	Largest city	1930 Pop.	1940 Pop.	1950 Pop.	Change 1940-50
1	Wayne	Detroit	1,888,946	2,015,623	2,435,235	20.8%
2	Oakland	Pontiac	211,251	254,068	396,001	55.9%
3	Kent	Grand Rapids	240,511	246,338	288,292	17.0%
4	Genesee	Flint	211,641	227,944	270,963	18.9%
5	Ingham	Lansing	116,587	130,616	172,941	32.4%
6	Saginaw	Saginaw	120,717	130,468	153,515	17.7%
7	Macomb	Warren	77,146	107,638	184,961	71.8%
8	Kalamazoo	Kalamazoo	91,368	100,085	126,707	26.6%
9	Jackson	Jackson	92,304	93,108	108,168	16.2%
10	Muskegon	Muskegon	84,630	94,501	121,545	28.6%
11	Calhoun	Battle Creek	87,043	94,206	120,813	28.2%

Companies

The following is a list of major companies based in Michigan in 1944.

Company	1944 sales (millions)	1944 net income (millions)	Headquarters	Core business
General Motors	$4,262.2	$171.0 [2]	Detroit	Automobiles
Ford Motor Company	na	na [3]		Automobiles
Chrysler				Automobiles
Briggs Mfg. Co.			Detroit	Automobile parts supplier
S. S. Kresge				Retail
Hudson Motor Car Co.			Detroit	Automobiles
Detroit Edison				Electric utility
Michigan Bell		$9.3 [4]		Telephone utility
Kellogg's			Battle Creek	Breakfast cereal
Parke-Davis			Detroit	Pharmaceutical
REO Motor Car Co.			Lansing	Automobiles
Graham-Paige		$1.8 [5]		Automobiles
Burroughs Adding Machine				Business machines

Sports

Baseball

Rudy York

• 1944 Detroit Tigers season – The Tigers compiled an 88–66 record and finished one game behind the St. Louis Browns. The team had one of the best pitching staffs in club history. Hal Newhouser was selected as the American League Most Valuable Player after compiling a 29–9 record and leading the league with 187 strikeouts. Dizzy Trout finished second in the AL MVP voting after leading the league with a 2.12 earned run average, 33 complete games, and seven shutouts. The team's batting leaders included first baseman Rudy York with 18 home runs and 98 RBIs and Dick Wakefield with a .355 batting average. ^[6]
• 1944 Michigan Wolverines baseball season - Under head coach Ray Fisher, the Wolverines compiled a 15–4–1 record and won the Big Ten Conference championship. ^[7] Howard Wike was the team captain. ^[8]

American football

Frankie Sinkwich

• 1944 Detroit Lions season – Under head coach Gus Dorais, the Lions compiled a 6–3–1 record and finished second in the NFL's Western Conference. Frankie Sinkwich led the team with 1,060 passing yards and 563 rushing yards. Bob Westfall added 342 passing yards and 277 rushing yards. ^[9]
• 1944 Michigan Wolverines football team – Under head coach Fritz Crisler, the Wolverines compiled an 8–2 record, outscored opponents 204 to 91, finished in second place in the Big Nine Conference, and were ranked No. 8 in the final AP Poll. Tackle Milan Lazetich, quarterback Joe Ponsetto, and fullback Bob Wiese were selected as first-team players on the All-Big Ten Conference team. ^[10]
• 1944 Michigan State Spartans football team – Under head coach Charlie Bachman, the Spartans compiled a 6–1 record and outscored opponents 167 to 31. ^[11]
• 1944 Western Michigan Broncos football team - Under head coach John Gill, the Broncos compiled a 4–3 record and outscored their opponents, 162 to 123. ^[12]
• 1944 Central Michigan Chippewas football team - Under head coach Ron Finch, the Chippewas compiled a 5–2 record and outscored all opponents by a combined total of 150 to 106. ^[13]

Basketball

• 1943–44 Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball team – Under head coach Buck Read, the Broncos compiled a 15–4 record. ^[14]
• 1943–44 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team – Under head coach Bennie Oosterbaan, the Wolverines finished the season in a tie for sixth place in the Big Nine Conference with a 12–7 record. Dave Strack was the team's acting captain and led the team in scoring with 194 points. ^[15]
• 1943–44 Detroit Titans men's basketball team – Under head coach Lloyd Brazil, the Titans compiled a 13–7 record. ^[16]

Ice hockey

• 1943–44 Detroit Red Wings season – Under head coach Jack Adams, the Red Wings compiled a 26–18–6 record, finished second in the NHL, and lost to the Chicago Black Hawks in the playoffs. Carl Liscombe led the team with 36 goals, 37 assists, and 73 points. Connie Dion and Jimmy Franks were the goaltenders. ^[17]
• 1943–44 Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey team – The Wolverines compiled a 5–3 record under head coach Ed Lowrey. ^[18]

Other

Joe Louis

• Joe Louis - On November 14, in his first fight since 1942, Detroit's Joe Louis defeated Johnny Davis by a knockout after 53 seconds of the first round before 7,107 spectators at Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York. Louis fought while on a 21-day furlough from his Army service. ^[19]
• Michigan Open - Sam Byrd won the tournament at Orchard Lake on August 6. ^[20]
• Port Huron to Mackinac Boat Race – On July 15, the Manitour, a 64-foot yawl skippered by James H. Grove, crossed the finish line first with an elapsed time of 43:08.18. The sloop Vitesse II won the racing-cruiser division. ^[21]

Chronology of events

Main article: 1944 in the United States

Births

• January 13 – Larry Jaster, Major League Baseball pitcher (1965–1972), in Midland, Michigan
• January 16 – Katherine Anderson, original member of the girl group The Marvelettes , in Ann Arbor
• February 6 – Georgeanna Tillman, original member of the girl group The Marvelettes , in Inkster, Michigan
• March 26 - Diana Ross, singer, songwriter, and actress, and the lead singer of the vocal group The Supremes, in Detroit
• April 20 – John Anderson, NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver (1979–1983), in Warren, Michigan
• May 5 – Larry Brilliant, epidemiologist involved in eradicating smallpox, in Detroit
• June 8 – Ken Wilburn, professional basketball player (1966–1979), in River Rouge, Michigan
• July 12 – Denise Nicholas, actress ( Room 222 , In the Heat of the Night ) and civil rights activist, in Detroit
• July 14 – Ike Kelley, NFL linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles (1966–1973), in Ludington, Michigan
• July 22 – Mel Daniels, professional basketball player (1967–1976) and 2× ABA MVP (1969, 1971), in Detroit
• July 26 – Micki King, gold medalist in springboard diving at 1972 Summer Olympics, in Pontiac
• July 31 – Henry Akin, professional basketball player (1966–1969), in Detroit
• August 28 – Morry Taylor, president and CEO of Titan International, in Detroit
• September 16 – Michael McCoy, industrial designer and educator, in Eaton Rapids, Michigan
• September 18 – Terry Rakolta, anti-obscenity activist who led a 1989 boycott of Married... with Children , in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
• September 19 – Michael Barone, conservative political analyst, pundit and journalism, in Highland Park, Michigan
• September 26 – Doug Graber, American football coach, including head coach for Rutgers (1990–1995) and Frankfurt Galaxy (2001–2003), in Detroit
• September 28 – Marcia Muller, author of fictional mystery and thriller novels (Vanishing Point), in Detroit
• November 14 – Tom McEvoy, professional poker player and member of the Poker Hall of Fame, in Grand Rapids
• December 12 – Rob Tyner, lead singer for the Detroit proto-punk band MC5 known for his rallying cry of "kick out the jams, motherfuckers" at the band's live concerts

Deaths

• April 20 - Elmer Gedeon, track and baseball player at University of Michigan, at age 27, shot down in France
• December 25 - Frank Murphy, 44th Lieutenant Governor of Michigan (1941-1942), at age 47, in Detroit

See also

• History of Michigan
• History of Detroit

References

1. "Grand Jury Best '44 News Event". Detroit Free Press. December 31, 1944. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "1944 Net Income of GM Climbs to $170,995,865". Detroit Free Press. March 30, 1945. p. 19.
3. Ford was a privately held company until 1956. Accordingly, its financial results for 1944 were not made public.
4. "Michigan Bell Reports Slump in Net Income". Detroit Free Press. March 2, 1945. p. 19 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "'44 Earnings of G-P Rise 51 Per Cent". Detroit Free Press. April 10, 1945. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "1944 Detroit Tigers Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
7. "2012 University of Michigan Baseball Record Book" (PDF). University of Michigan. 2012. pp. 22, 71. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
8. 2012 Record Book, p. 13.
9. "1944 Detroit Lions Statistics & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
10. "1944 Football Team". Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
11. "1944 Michigan State Spartans Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
12. "Football Records: Year-By-Year Results - 1940 - 49". Western Michigan University. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
13. "Central Michigan 2015 Football Media Guide" (PDF). Central Michigan University. 2015. pp. 100, 109. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2016. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
14. "Western Michigan Broncos School History". SR College Basketball. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
15. "University of Michigan Basketball Record Book" (PDF). University of Michigan. p. 28. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-10-26. Retrieved 2017-07-13.
16. "Detroit Mercy Titans School History". SR College Basketball. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
17. "1943-44 Detroit Red Wings Roster and Statistics". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
18. "Michigan Team History". College Hockey News. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
19. "Joe Louis Kayos Johnny Davis in First Round". The Odessa American. November 15, 1944. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
20. "Royal Robes Fit Byrd Well as He Tops State Open by Six Strokes". Detroit Free Press. August 7, 1944. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
21. "Vitesse Wins Mackinac Sailing Race". The Port Huron Times-Herald. July 17, 1944. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.