In 1934 — five years into the Great Depression — in Toledo, Ohio, where the Maumee River flows into the west end of Lake Erie, and where unemployment has reached 70%, a crowd of nearly 10,000 people pickets outside the Auto-Lite factory. The governor deploys the National Guard, who mount machine guns at key intersections. For the next five days, demonstrators and guardsmen battle in the streets with bricks and tear gas. On May 23, guardsmen fire into the crowd, killing two and injuring over 200.

The Auto-Lite president is arrested when residents accuse him of having tear gassed their neighborhoods. The company agrees to recognize the union, and establishes a minimum wage of 35¢ an hour. Federal laws are passed later in 1935 guaranteeing the right of workers to organize, collectively bargain, and strike.