Early years
Poverty has powerful lessons for a young Doug
Douglas Andrew Fraser was one of three children and often said his family was so poor that his father, who worked at a brewery, would sometimes fuel the family stove with stolen whiskey.
Doug was born Dec. 18, 1916, in a working-class neighborhood in Glasgow, Scotland.
In 1922 Doug’s father, who was named Samuel Douglas but preferred to be called Doug, left Scotland for America. Young Doug was 6 when he, his mother Sarah, younger brother Ken and older sister Sally sailed to New York City aboard the SS Cameronia.
The family left Ellis Island on April 23, 1923, and traveled by train to their new home on Detroit’s west side. Soon after, Doug’s father took a job at a local Studebaker plant.
To celebrate, Doug’s mother dressed the children up in their best clothes for a family portrait.
Growing up during the Great Depression, Doug’s family experienced some hard times when his father, an electrician, was out of work for extensive periods.
Doug would say later that the poverty and social disorder he witnessed early influenced his fight for social and economic justice.
“The greatest lesson in my life, the most valuable experience, was going through the Depression,” Doug told Monthly Detroit magazine in 1979.
“The lesson of the Depression is how an economic system can be so cruel that people are robbed of their rights and their dignity because they have to beg for jobs and grovel for jobs, do favors and bribe for jobs. … In our neighborhood so many people were on welfare. No one had a job. No unemployment compensation. People were really in desperate economic straits.”
His father, who was active in unions and frequently took young Doug to political meetings, also influenced him.
Doug was a tall, skinny, dark-haired kid who loved baseball. He attended Holy Redeemer in southwest Detroit, then Clippert Elementary, Munger Intermediate and Chadsey High School.
Before his senior year, Doug, who had suffered rheumatic fever, dropped out. He was 18 and just shy of graduation.
He would later say he regretted that decision.
