Early Life
Fraser was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1916. His father, Samuel, was an electrician and an active and vocal trade unionist. The family was so poor that his father, who worked at a brewery, would sometimes fuel the family stove with stolen whiskey. Samuel Fraser moved to Detroit, Michigan, when he was a young boy. In 1922, his mother, with Douglas and his sister and brother, sailed to New York City aboard the SS Cameronia and were inspected at Ellis Island on April 23, 1923. They travelled to their new home in Detroit by train.
He was deeply influenced by the Great Depression. His father was out of work for long periods, and Fraser admitted that the poverty and social disorder he witnessed changed his life.
Read more about this topic: Douglas Fraser
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