1948 in Michigan

Last updated November 14, 2022

Events from the year 1948 in Michigan.

The November 2 election of G. Mennen Williams as Governor in an upset over Kim Sigler (354 points)
The April 20 shooting of Walter Reuther with a shotgun blast through his kitchen window (333 points)
Crusades of Michigan Attorney General Eugene F. Black and his feud with Governor Sigler (232 points)
Historic wage agreement between the CIO-UAW and General Motors with a sliding pay scale tied to the cost of living (195 points)
1948 Michigan Wolverines football team is undefeated and ranked No. 1 in final AP Poll (171 points)
The December raid by 300 union men on strike-bound plants of Shakespeare Company in Kalamazoo (158 points)
Federal prosecution of Michigan automobile dealers (84 points)
Arrest of James Tamer and ice hockey betting scandal (59 points)
The April 27 death of William S. Knudsen, a former Ford executive who served as a general in World War II and helped lead the country's efforts to produce war materials (58 points)
The spring strike by 75,000 Chrysler workers (56 points)

Office holders

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 1948.

Company	1948 sales (millions)	1948 net earnings (millions)	Headquarters	Core business
General Motors			Detroit	Automobiles
Ford Motor Company	na	na^[2]		Automobiles
Chrysler				Automobiles
Studebaker Corp.				Automobiles
Briggs Mfg. Co.			Detroit	Automobile parts supplier
S. S. Kresge				Retail
Hudson Motor Car Co.			Detroit	Automobiles
Detroit Edison				Electric utility
Michigan Bell				Telephone utility
Kellogg's			Battle Creek	Breakfast cereal
Parke-Davis			Detroit	Pharmaceutical
REO Motor Car Co.			Lansing	Automobiles
Burroughs Adding Machine				Business machines

Sports

Baseball

1948 Detroit Tigers season – ^[3]
1948 Michigan Wolverines baseball season - Under head coach Ray Fisher, the Wolverines compiled a 21–6 record and tied for the Big Ten Conference championship.^[4] Jack Weisenburger was the team captain.^[5]

American football

1948 Detroit Lions season – ^[6]
1948 Michigan Wolverines football team – ^[7]
1948 Michigan State Spartans football team – ^[8]
1948 Detroit Titans football team – ^[9]

Basketball

1947–48 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team – ^[10]

Ice hockey

1947–48 Detroit Red Wings season – ^[11]

Boat racing

Boxing

Golfing

Motor City Open -
Michigan Open -

Other

Chronology of events

Births

April 2 - Tom Gage, sportswriter for The Detroit News (1979-2015) and 2015 recipient of the J. G. Taylor Spink Award, in Detroit
June 16 - Ron LeFlore, Major League Baseball center fielder (1974-1982) whose life story was depicted in One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story , in Detroit
September 29 - Mark Farner, singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lead guitarist for Grand Funk Railroad, in Flint, Michigan
October 1 - Cub Koda, singer, guitarist, songwriter ("Smokin' in the Boys Room"), and music critic, in Detroit
October 12 - John Engler, Governor of Michigan (1991-2003), in Pleasant Ridge, Michigan
November 6 - Glenn Frey, singer, songwriter and actor, best known as a founding member of the rock band Eagles, in Detroit
November 24 - Rudy Tomjanovich, professional basketball player (1970-1981) and 5× NBA All-Star, in Hamtramck, Michigan
December 7 - Dennis M. Hertel, U.S. Congressman (1981-1993), in Detroit
December 13 - Ted Nugent, musician and conservative political activistin Redford, Michigan
December 27 - Edsel Ford II, great-grandson of Henry Ford a member of the board of directors of Ford Motor Company, in Detroit

Deaths

References

↑ "Editors Pick Upset In Lansing Politics As 1948 No. 1 Story". The Escanaba Daily Press. December 31, 1948. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ Ford was a privately held company until 1956. Accordingly, its financial results for 1948 were not made public.
↑ "1948 Detroit Tigers Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
↑ "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.
↑ 2012 Record Book, p. 13.
↑ "1948 Detroit Lions Statistics & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
↑ "1948 Football Team". Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
↑ "1948 Michigan State Spartans Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
↑ "1948 Detroit Mercy Titans Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
↑ "University of Michigan Basketball Record Book" (PDF). University of Michigan. p. 29. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-10-26. Retrieved 2017-07-13.
↑ "1947-48 Detroit Red Wings Roster and Statistics". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 10, 2017.

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[MAP48-1] "Editors Pick Upset In Lansing Politics As 1948 No. 1 Story". The Escanaba Daily Press. December 31, 1948. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.

[2] Ford was a privately held company until 1956. Accordingly, its financial results for 1948 were not made public.

[3] "1948 Detroit Tigers Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 10, 2017.

[4] "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.

[5] 2012 Record Book, p. 13.

[6] "1948 Detroit Lions Statistics & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2017.

[7] "1948 Football Team". Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. Retrieved July 10, 2017.

[8] "1948 Michigan State Spartans Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2017.

[9] "1948 Detroit Mercy Titans Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 23, 2015.

[RB-10] "University of Michigan Basketball Record Book" (PDF). University of Michigan. p. 29. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-10-26. Retrieved 2017-07-13.

[11] "1947-48 Detroit Red Wings Roster and Statistics". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 10, 2017.

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