Black Steelworkers in Western Pennsylvania

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Black Steelworkers in Western Pennsylvania Blacks constituted a sizable core of workers in the iron and steel industry of western Penn­sylvania between 1900 and 1950. Most had migrated to the Pittsburgh vicinity from the agricultural South during the two World Wars in hopes of improving their economic plight by obtaining jobs in area mills and foundries. However, racial discrimination prevented the majority of them from advancing beyond...
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Currents

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Currents Let’s Motor! Although Detroit has earned the title of “Motor City,” Pittsburgh was home to twenty automobile makers at the turn of the century, manufacturing such notable vehicles as the Penn 30 Touring Car, the Standard Model E Touring Car, the Keystone Six-Sixty, the Brush Model D Runabout, and the Artzberger Steam Surrey. Several of these automobiles attracted widespread...
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King Pearl L. Bergoff Invades McKees Rocks!

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on King Pearl L. Bergoff Invades McKees Rocks! On Monday, July 12, 1909, one of the bloodiest labor disputes of the early twentieth century broke out at the sprawling works of the Pressed Steel Car Company in McKees Rocks, Allegheny County. Located on the Ohio River several miles northwest of center-city Pittsburgh, the company employed hundreds of skilled workers, all of American-born descent, and thousands of unskilled first-and...
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Keeping the Torch of Justice Burning Brightly: William P. Young

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Keeping the Torch of Justice Burning Brightly: William P. Young He faced criticism at his appointment, confronted adversity in his duties, and battled poor health in his later years, but he kept the torch of justice burning brightly for all to see, maintaining his dignity and poise at every turn. He was William Pennington Young (1895-1968), the Keystone State’s fifteenth secretary of labor and industry, from 1963 to 1967, during the administration of...
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Letters

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Letters Fiery Beginnings Thank you for the article entitled “Cremation’s Fiery Beginnings” by Gretchen Dykstra in the Winter 2012 issue of Pennsylvania Heritage. It is exciting to see this footnote of history featured in your publication. As one of the researchers who prepared the National Register of Historic Places nomination for the LeMoyne Crematory in 1995 I noticed a few minor...
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