Interview with Edward Franklin Inskeep:

Could you give us your full name and when did you come to Indiana.

Frank:  77 years. I have been here all my life.

I started in 1942-43- Worked 6 months then some in 1946 and in 1966 I came back and retired in 86. 

How long did you work?

Frank:  I have forgotten.  I started out in the instrumentation building.  I started out as a laborer, went to the Instrumentation building,  and at the last, I was president of the union. I had a tenure of four terms as president of the union. (American Federation of Government Employees)

What kind of training did you receive?

Frank: You did not get any training for a laborer.  In Supply I  went to Aberdeen Proving Ground for two weeks. I trained for keeping a tool crib

What kind of equipment did you use.

Frank:  You know what you use as a laborer don’t you, a   Shovel and Pick, I was a warehouse man for a while, I worked in the instrumentation department , there was a lot of things that I did.

Do you remember when the first computer came to JPG?

Frank: I remember the first computer, the early 60’s.

How much did you make on your first job?

Frank: I cannot remember except that probably 6 or 7 dollars an hour.

What was the atmosphere there when you went to work?

Frank:  Well,  I don’t really like to talk about that. It really upsets me to talk about things like that. There was a lot of prejudicial people that worked out there.  It was not a very good atmosphere. I don’t like to talk about it. When I was president Of the AFGE Union things started to change.

Personnel People and other things things started changing.

What role did the women play?

Frank:   As time went by, they looked at the ladies like me.  All of a sudden they started getting jobs that men thought were traditional ladies’ jobs.  The ladies. As time went by they started getting jobs like the men thought were men jobs, the men did not really like that.

What was the best memory?

Frank:   As president of the union, I had a couple of good friends.  We had a base closure.  They were going to close JPG.  I had a good friend known as Vernon (Beano) Gudkese, Graduate of Notre Dame.  He was in management.  We went to Washington DC.  We fought and we won.  We saved the jobs for oh maybe 6 or 7 years.  I was very happy about that. 

The congress couldn’t get the job done.   A commission was setup to nominate bases to be closed.  The President had to sign the Commission’s recommendation or reject closing them all.  I was not there at the time, but the employees tried to save the place (BRAC 88) .

One time I applied for position as a supervisor, I was highly qualified.  Eventually they hired this individual in the mean time .  I talked to my fellow employees and they told me what had happened.. The man that was selecting the person, He asked the employees, “Why they would like to work for a (Nword)?”. I really did not appreciate the comments he made.  You were not supposed to discriminate against any body. 

They tried to keep the ladies out of the so-called men’s jobs.

Did Any Commander make an impression on you.

Frank: ( Laughter. )  I probably made an impression on them.  I was president of the Union. There were problems.

Have you ever been in the army? 

Frank: No my My father was in the army. I was in army bases for 16 years of my life.  He was in the Medical Corps.

That was different than the regular army.

These commanders, I don’t know

I worked at JPG for 22 years, I retired from there.  I don’t know what they will do with the land it is so contaminated.

Memories I would like to share:

Frank:  My trip to Washington.  How we met with a lot of the Dignitaries, Dept of the Army, DOD, especially Lee Hamilton.  The Washington folks wondered what we were doing up there.  They did not know what we did at JPG.  They were supposed to be working for JPG and they did not even know what we did.  We would get a canned letter.  I told them that I did not want to get a canned letter from them.  You would write a letter to one office they would copy that letter and send it on to another office.  They were rather frightened when we walked in.  They did not know what we did or what we were there for,  I was disappointed in them, my tax money and they were wasting it and did not know what we did.

But let me tell you this. There was another incident at Blue Grass and those people had not done their homework.  Mr. Gudkese, the most important thing was that we knew what we were talking about.

I was real proud of him.

Edward Inskeep

Edward Franklin Inskeep, 83, of Madison died Tuesday, Oct. 3 1 , 2006, at Hickory Creek at Madison. He was born Dec. 23, 1922, in Madison, the son of Roy and Mabel Perry Inskeep.

     He was an Army veteran and retired in 1986 from Jefferson Proving Ground as a supply specialist. He was a former house painter and had worked for Conn Organ for several years. He was a member of Ebenezer United Methodist Church where he was active and served as a lay speaker. He was a 48-year member of Eureka Lodge 30 of the F.&A.M. and was a past master; a patron of Jen-Era-Jeff Chapter 44 of the Eastern Star; American Legion, Jefferson Post 9; Jefferson County Democratic Party; president of his AFL-CIO union; former board member and chairman of Ohio Valley Opportunities; former board member of the Lide White Boys and Girls Club; was a charter member and former president of the local N AACP; and served on the first Mayor's Human Relations Commission. He loved bowling, playing in Madison's fast pitch softball league, and was an avid golfer.

     He is survived by one daughter, Beverly Inskeep Bradford of Louisville, Ky.; two sons, Neal Franklin Inskeep of Carrollton, Ky., and Dwight Steven Inskeep of Madison; eight grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

     He was preceded in death by his parents; his first wife, Claudia Burton Inskeep; his second wife, Mary Jackson Inskeep; one daughter, Kim Louise Inskeep; two sisters, Virginia Cosby and Harriet Wells; and one brother, Herbert Inskeep.

     The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Lytle Funeral Chapel. Burial, will be in Springdale Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday and from 10 to 11 a.m. Friday.

The Eureka_Lodge_of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Jen-Era-Jeff Chapter of the Eastern Star will have a memorial service at 7 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home.

     Expressions of sympathy may take the form of donations to Lide White Boys and Girls Club, P.O. Box 1128, Madison, IN 47250. Contribution i envelopes are available at the funeral home.

     An online video tribute and guest book are at www.LytleFuneralChapel. com.