Stepp, Marcellus "Marc"
(born: January 31, 1923 - died: June 3, 2016)Marcellus Stepp was an African American leader in the UAW. He was born in Versailles, KY, the son of Ulysses Grant Stepp and Elizabeth Buford Stepp. The family moved to Evansville, IN when Marcellus was eleven years old, according to the Walter P. Reuther Library. Marcellus later moved to Detroit, MI. He was an Army Air Corps veteran and held an accounting degree from the University of Detroit.
Stepp was employed at the Chrysler Highland Park plant for 19 years and served as vice president of Local 490 to the Chrysler-UAW National Negotiating Committee. He was appointed International Representative with Region 1B in 1967 and elected International Vice President in 1974. Stepp He was the second African American to serve on the UAW's International Executive Board. He was the first African American to lead negotiations at a Detroit automaker. He also served as executive director of the Institute for Urban & Community Affairs at the University of Detroit. Stepp ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Detroit Common Council in 1965.
Marcellus Stepp died in Detroit, MI, in 2016. He was the husband of Eleanor Hardy Stepp.
For more see African American Biographies: profiles of 558 current men and women, by W. L. Hawkins; Marc Stepp Collection Papers, 1940-2000, at Wayne State University Reuther Library; Who's Who Among African Americans, 1977-2006; Brent Snavely, "Marc Stepp: 1923-2016: Legendary UAW Leader aided Chrysler bailout," Detroit Free Press, 06/08/2016, p.8; Breana Noble, "Former UAW vice president Marc Stepp dies at 93," Detroit News (online) 6/7/2016.