SMOKY CITY PROJECT
BY
LINDA J. TUITE

OLIVER HIGH SCHOOL

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT:

INTRODUCTION
RATIONALE
OBJECTIVE
LESSON DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION
LENGTH OF UNIT
SECTIONS
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
ACTIVITIES
APPENDICES
STANDARDS

From the smoke and soot of the steel mills, coke ovens and iron works emerged the elegant city of Pittsburgh that we know today. However, we take for granted the culture and progress of this place without realizing the struggle of the people who worked, sweated, lived and died here. It is what these immigrants, mainly the Slavs and the African Americans, encountered during the last part of the nineteen hundreds and first twenty years of the twentieth century that will define and shape the direction of this unit. Many of the students will learn their roots, and possibly be able to identify and empathize with these people before the end of this lesson. Perhaps, too, the reading of the development of the steel era and our polluted city may create an appreciation of the backs of those individuals upon whom our city came to be carried and delivered.

Much of the impetus for this paper was created by the reading of "From Out of This Furnace" because the plight of the early mill workers struck a cord of empathy and sympathy. Many residents of Pittsburgh can trace relatives to European countries or to Africa and find that their own roots include people who struggled in the mills or in professions related to the steel making process. It is this recognition of the past and recognition of the struggle that will be realized in this paper. Life and the style of our lives, is taken for granted by many people. We take running hot and cold water for granted as well as electric lights, heat and air conditioning. We are given much in this technological age. When we see pictures or hear of the two-room wooden houses with outdoor privies and stoves that had to be loaded with wood or coal, it is difficult to imagine that people not only accepted this life, but survived it. One character in "Out of This Furnace" moves from Braddock to Homestead and places ALL of her meager belongings in one horse-drawn wagon.

We will read a selection of short stories from the book "From These Hills, From These Valleys" which are selected fiction about Western Pennsylvania and edited by David P . Demarest. Mr. Demarest is an aficionado of the resurgence of the mill worker’s plight and leads tours of the first ward of Braddock to mentally recreate the lives of the steelworkers who lived there. We will relive some of Mr. Demarest’s enthusiasm in his video and "walk with him through the first ward of Braddock"

Through the readings and the video, the students will be able to visualize the plight of the mill worker and in writings will be able to explore similarities and contrast to his/her own family background. The content standards will also apply for all material created, written or orally exhibited by the students.

In order to view the wealthy man’s lifestyle, we will review parts of Marcia Davenport’s "Valley of Decision". Again, we will write creatively to fulfill the criteria of the portfolio standards for English class.

The class will also be assigned the novel, "Out of This Furnace" by Thomas Bell so that they may explore the people and the environment in which they worked. This will give them an opportunity to discuss their heritage with the family members and perhaps develop a "family tree" to trace their roots. Along with this is the undercurrent of the ever-present smog, stench and pollution of this world to which the students may associate the vital history of this city and the reason so many of them live here.

The objective for this unit is that students will be able to research their past by the reading and development of the lives of family members around the turn of the twentieth century, to write a narrative about that family member, or a fictional one, using the pollution of the city as the setting and controlling issue, and finally to take a SCHOOL WALK through Oliver High School to determine areas of pollution or environmental danger that can be rectified. We agree that a multicultural conglomeration of people have embraced this area as home and yet we have limited our historical discussions of their arrival and failed to promote the rich heritage of those who established the city of Pittsburgh as the true "Gateway to the West". Perhaps through a few lessons and seminars of those of our past, students will develop an enthusiasm for further research.

It is important for the students to relate to the material through summaries, poetry analysis, short story analysis and project writing. From researching the Immigrant Arrival in Pittsburgh, the student will incorporate the writing standards and techniques of narrative, description, dialogue, research and action into effective compositions. The narratives, based on fact, will be written with emphasis upon sensory images, factual research information, creativity and visual enhancement. Through the writing process and oral presentations, the student will ascertain a sense of pride of ownership and an acquisition of knowledge that will lead to further, independent study.

A SCHOOL WALK THROUGH, with the permission of the principal, may create a project of "environmental change" throughout Oliver High School. It would raise the level of awareness for the students about their own living conditions and help them realize the smoky conditions under which their ancestral Pittsburgh lived and survived.

The unit is intended for the eleventh grade, junior class of American Literature. The activities chosen will enhance the student’ abilities in utilizing the content standards, and the rubrics for writing, reading, and speaking. Research techniques and a working knowledge of the computer will also be incorporated. The variety of activities will demonstrate the student’s knowledge of the curriculum content. This interdisciplinary lesson plan may also be used in conjunction with current studies in the Social Studies curriculum.

For the full benefit of study and research of this unit, at least four t six weeks should be planned for completion. This time frame will include any interruptions that may occur within this period, thus leaving the selection of lessons and activities of this unit to the teacher’s preference. With the reading of the short stories, writings for the portfolio, the completion of the novel and the presentations, the time allotment will be calculated to suit the needs of the students. Ideally, a field trip can be arranged to visit the Heinz Historical Center in the Strip District, the first ward in Braddock and the Braddock Library and/or an historical walk though Frick’s home, Clayton. If time permitted, it would be to our interest to visit Mt. Washington’s Duquesne Incline. The small museum of photographs of the black smoke and the floods at the turn of the century would give the students yet another look at the soot and dirt of Pittsburgh. One day would be needed for the choice of one of these trips.

The arrival of immigrants to this city is not new. However, because of the industrialization of the Pittsburgh area, especially the establishment of the steel mills, many people sought a better live by leaving European countries and providing for their families by working in the mills. This era of history, often forgotten, forged our city with its business centers and cultural events by the people and surplus of money that their work created.

Pittsburgh was created out of the need for a refuge at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers. This pristine spot was once a haven for both man and animal to live and prosper in the forests’ abundance. The rivers ran blue/green and clear while an assortment of fish flourished in their depths. The trees cascaded steeply from Mt. Washington lining the south shore and providing forest animals boundless forage and shelter. The Delaware Indians discovered this Mecca as they were pushed out of their native land near the Atlantic Ocean and forced to move relentlessly westward. They settled for a while until the white man discovered the "point" of land jutting into the water and claimed it for his own. The true wonder of the area lay not above the ground, but below it. After the land was deforested, then the richness of the earth became a source of treasure and greed. The development of the environment began a race against time and nature. The once aesthetic and pure convergence of three rivers became a raging, belching dinosaur of coal, smoke, grit and stench. This strategic position at the headwaters of the Ohio-Mississippi river system made Pittsburgh a major supply point for westward pioneers and a commercial entity early in the nineteenth century. The mineral resources tapped by the river system—coal, limestone and iron ore –spurred the industrial activity that created the quintessential symbol of the American industrial city. (Webber 15)

The names of Carnegie, Mellon, Westinghouse, and Henry Clay Frick became household words and were included in the elite club of the one half of one percent of the wealthiest men in the world at the turn of the twentieth century. At twenty one, Frick, who had great ambitions and a moderate income, purchased land and a few coke ovens from his cousin in an area near Washington, Pa. The cousin did not see the possibilities, but Frick did. Other areas had been known for their coke and beehive-shaped coke ovens and even though only a few existed in Washington at the time, Frick took the risk on developing them on his newly acquired property. The coke, needed to run the steel mills that have sprung up along the rivers’ banks, was in dire need and continual demand.

The residue of the burning coke smothered the city; coating not only the landscape but also the people whom constantly fed the furnaces. With the onslaught of the mills, their noise and dirt, there developed a whole new way of existence and the acceptance of all the blighted, abominable conditions that it brought.. Workers who were the last to enter this industrialized area were at the bottom of the "labor rung" and were given the worst jobs at the nadir of pay. Two and four room wooden houses held the families of these people who lived in abject poverty and in squalid conditions. In order to heat the house, the children collected bits of coal or coke found along the tracks. Indoor plumbing was nonexistent and electricity had not yet filtered into the "flats" or "bottoms" or "scab towns" where the workers lived. Children’s faces were covered in the dirt in which they played and grim-faced, women, aged before their time, buried child after child from typhoid, flu epidemics or cholera. Life spans were shortened for women by constant child birth and lack of medical attention as well as lung diseases, dysentery and malnutrition. They accepted their plight because it was a much better existence here than the starvation that they left behind on their farms and struggling cities. The Irish and Germans arrived first and through attrition, they rose to the "top" jobs in the mills, while other ethnic groups accepted the positions that were vacated by them. The next to migrate to the mills were the people from Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Balkan area. For many years these people lived in the areas closest to the mills and endured the smells, sounds and detritus spawned by the filmy pollution.

From the book "The Ethnic Experience in Pennsylvania" edited by John E. Bodnar comes the insight into the Croatian immigrants into Pittsburgh. During the 1850’s and 1860’s thousands of these people established themselves in the numerous places around the United States with a majority of Croats establishing themselves in Pittsburgh. The foundation of this movement came with the opening of a "Croatian Bank" in town that assisted people from the Adriatic regions begin life anew in this area. In 1872 Westinghouse opened a new plant in East Pittsburgh and later, in 1873, the Edgar Thompson Works were founded. The well-known Homestead Works started in 1880 and in 1882, Carnegie and Frick founded a financially rewarding enterprise, which eventually became United States Steel Corporation. All along the rivers new industrial centers were arising one after another. They needed thousands of workers who would be willing to work for simple wages in dangerous conditions.

Immigrants came from East and Southeast Europe and from Italy. The East European arrivals were mostly from the Austria-Hungary and Russia and also included Poles, Slovaks, Ukrainians, Rutheniens, Croatians, Slovenians and Serbs. The most numerous of these were the Croatians who were outnumbered only by the Poles and Slovaks among the Slavs.

In the beginning of this century the industrial giant known as Pittsburgh enjoyed national and even international prominence. During the "Slavic invasion" the skilled workers in Pittsburgh’s industry were generally the Anglo-Saxons, Germans and Irish. In the late 1890’s and early 1900’s, they replace the Irish and the Germans," who either stayed on better paid jobs in the steel industry or became policemen, politicians and city hall employees. (Bodnar 269)

Pittsburgh became, in the course of years, a typical steel mill town with a large number of people living close to the factories. In and outside the city, the homes of the workers were clustered about the mills which clung to the banks of the rivers. Grit, smog and pollution from the stacks filtered down and through the houses and the constant hum of the huge machinery became background noise that disappeared with constancy and acceptance. Black air or red air was a matter of course and considered part of the "territory"

This was the "Golden Age" of the immigrant who comprised one quarter of the population of Pittsburgh. "And as a contemporary observer remarked: ‘ The foreigner is nowhere more at home than here, and nowhere has he been more actively welcomed by employers.’" (Bodnar 270) This did not mean that those who had been here before nor by society in general welcomed the steelworker. The mills had their place by the river and so did the people. The houses higher up on the hills, away from the smoke and the noise, were for those "higher and above" those who suffered below. Those who managed to make their money and leave the "flats" found life much better physically and socially as the rise to financial independence began.

However, the Slav was considered as "sturdy, patient and submissive workmen." A visitor to a steel mill saw "only faces reddened by the glare of fire and hot steel, muscles standing out in knots and bands on arms, clothing frayed with usage and begrimed by machinery." (Bandar 271) Their fellow American workmen hated and despised them largely "because of this patience and submissiveness at the outset to work at any wages and under any conditions." Such an attitude reflects the prejudice and ignorance on the part of the American workers. They themselves—or their father also worked as newcomers for any price and under the same drastic conditions. The Slav or any newcomer was not necessarily submissive but he was patient and accepted the wages because he had no other choice. For many, the underlying belief was that this life, this job was only a temporary circumstance and that in time, when enough money was earned, he would return "home" to reclaim his life in a more secure fashion. Anything was bearable if he did not starve and continued to think of the life in the mill as only temporary.

Along with the suffering, there was also a feeling of readiness to help their countrymen. Even though the worker may not have a job for a few months, he kept boarders in his small, cramped home to help ends meet, even if they, too, were jobless. They were all united by mutual destitution and difficulties.

To the old-timers, these new Slavs were all "greenhorns" living in "hunky towns", paying high rents for small miserable apartments or houses and were discriminated against by industrial companies, landlords, merchants, schools and even non-Slavic churches. In addition, the police who came into these Slavic neighborhoods incorporated the worst of police brutality. (Bodnar 271) Life was not easy but it was accepted because there was no other recourse.

The first iron foundry opened in 1806 to build steam engines and steam boats and by 1860 nearly half of the city’s workers engaged in the production of industrial goods. Because of the abundance of coking coal, Pittsburgh held a natural advantage over other cities for inexpensive production of steel. In 1886 Henry Clay Frick Company alone owned nearly 210,000 acres of land from which coal could be mined and operated 12,000 coke ovens in the Connellsville region. Technological innovation contributed to the dominance of heavy industry in Pittsburgh by Carnegie’s introduction of the Bessemer process in 1868 and open-hearth production in 1888. The Edgar Thomson Works in Braddock introduced the continuous-operation process the same year. This became the prototype for the iron and steel industry, and in 1891 the Homestead Works established a record for producing 8,000 tons of steel in a month. Eight years later, Carnegie’s 33^rd Street mill produced 20,501 tons monthly.

Thousands workers were needed to run these mills and almost any man could claim a job. However, aggressive cost cutting practices were introduced not necessarily to save money, but to provide the owners with a hefty profit and the growth of the iron and steel industry. Operations were becoming more mechanized and the skilled worker was being laid off. The Carnegie Works in Homestead reduced its work force by 25 percent during the eight years following the unsuccessful strike of 1892. Prior to this wages were based on a tonnage basis and now they were assessed at an hourly rate. Ones wages could no longer reflect one’s output. Conn Strott, a soaking pit heater, explained the deteriorating wage condition of skilled workers: "Before 1892 I made $10 and $12 a day. After the strike wages went down to $7 and by 1903 they were $3. At the same time, the work lead increased and my hours of work were increased." (Webber 17) The cost of living during the same period increased by 12 percent.

The Carnegie Company had introduced an eight-hour day but quickly abandoned this experiment in 1877 and reestablished the twelve-hour day without an increase in wages. The working became more hazardous with the longer hours in the schedule. Newspaper articles announced, "Two Dozen Men Injured in Furnace Disaster: Two Will Die", or "Five Workmen Injured, Three May Die: Boiler Blew to Pieces, " or "Death in the Pit." (Webber 17) These stories became so commonplace that they were relegated to a regular entry on page five of the paper. The numbers given were approximate, as the companies never released the true figures. In a Pittsburgh Survey conducted by Crystal Eastman in an examination of work related accidents during this time, she discovered: "45 one-legged men; 100 hopeless cripples; 45 with useless arms; 30 men with empty sleeves; 20 with one hand; 70 one-eyed men—500 such wrecks in all. (Webber 18) All of this was the result of 16.5 cents per hour or $1.98 for a twelve-hour day.

Perhaps the saddest of all was the plight of the children who were expected by their families to work in the mines and mills by the time they were seven or eight years old. The life expectancy of these children was limited and the dangers of the workplace high. Their hours were the same as the adults and they were expected to produce and labor for their wages as any worker would do. Smoke and dust corroded the nostrils of the seven-year old and stung the corners of his eyes but he was accustomed to this as he lifted his heavy axe to dig further into the mine. The grime and the way of life were all that he knew and accepted, with the insidious dust the sign of industry and prosperity.

Industrialization not only weaned ordinary people away from the land, but it also altered the nature of the workplace. The need to acquire specific skills before entering factory work lessened as corporations sought was to improve efficiency and production. Thus many black families began to migrate to the factories and mills in Western Pennsylvania. After the abolition of slavery black people worked the land but found borrowing money to own their own property became very difficult, if not impossible. As share croppers, they were constantly cheated by the white farmers and through this disillusionment, they headed to the north to find jobs where they could. At this time, the bustling factories were in need of any worker willing to work. In one instance, black men were shipped, willingly, to the Mon Valley in closed boxcars as steel companies tried to undercut the unions with a supply of cheap labor. (Attaway 122) Often times the male of the household arrived from the South to work for supplemental wages, but was shocked at the environmental change of his life as well as his environment. The money often went to the occasional, but necessary, binge of liquor and visit to the houses of prostitution. The short-term movements not only provided additional income but familiarized blacks with wage labor and the possibilities of becoming business owners and entrepreneurs.. In this way, many Southern families migrated to the north and found areas in the Hill District and the North Side as well as the shabby areas of Braddock and Homestead which were also inhabited by the last wave of immigrants from Europe.

Discrimination evident among the Slavic people was even more apparent for the blacks. They, therefore, banded together and remained so in the mills as well as in their living quarters. The first African Americans arrived from the South as escaped slaves and once in Pennsylvania, became freemen. The Slavery Act of 1850, in which any black man could be captured by the Slave Catchers and returned to the South, created a backlash among the whites. Up until this time, many northerners were ambivalent about the question of slavery, however, considering the insidious aspects of this act, sentiment for the free black man ran high and many underground railroad safe houses were established. Thus, the rise of Abolition and the political pressure set the stages of the Civil War. Those blacks who had settled here opened businesses, participated in service positions such as waiters, maids, teamsters and some professional positions. Many found work in the mills and lived in the same squalor as their Slavic counterpart. The new "Southern blacks" who found there way to the north discovered that their arrival was anything but warm.

Between 1820 and 1860 wave after wave of freedmen and fugitive slaves from the border slave states poured into Pennsylvania. These newcomers were ill-equipped to handle the radical change of freedom. Without friends or kin, many died within a few months of arrival. Others merged with the black paupers already in the area to form a transient group that usually moved on every few months. Many former slaves became indentured servants for their masters in the states of Maryland and Delaware but upon completion of the term of contract, these people were abandoned by their former owners. Without trade or livelihood, many of these people traveled to the northern cities but without work or financial ability, starved to death Deplete of economic aid or decent living conditions in towns and rural townships, they either built crude huts on the "Barrens", the worst area of the town, or joined other transients in boarding houses. Some managed to secure intermittent employment as laborers or domestic help. Some people turned to crime such as "Jimmy Miller" who poached chickens and others who stole food, clothes and a little wood or coal for warmth during the winter months. If a black man were convicted of a crime, his dependents often became paupers. One man stole a wagon to move his family northward, was caught and subsequently caused the disintegration of the family and death of his wife. (Bodnar,231)

More black families were impoverished by the premature death of the head of the household and the death rate for black skilled and semi-skilled men between 1830 and 1860 was extremely high. When the father died young, it was almost impossible for his sons and daughters to maintain his status and these people swelled the ranks of the poor and homeless of the cities. Some of the black men were waiters, boatsmen, blacksmiths or mill workers and even with the knowledge of an impending death, such as tuberculosis, could not keep their children out of the ravages of the city streets. Even more disastrous was the loss of the positions to the next wave of immigrants who arrived. The social and economic status of many blacks was compromised because the Irish were willing to take the positions of menial workers in the shoe and boot industries, iron and steel trades and in light manufacturing factories. They were also deprived of some craft and building trades as well as positions in domestic labor. The case of John Coats, an itinerant black widower, typified the experience of many of these laboring blacks replaced by the Irish. "Why, with my quarrying job and a good wife, I paid twenty-five dollars rent a year, paid taxes and voted at elections….But I lost my job at the stone quarry on Nemans Creek to an Irishman and I have not worked any since. I got out of money and had to come to the poor house."

Even when black craftsmen were able to retain their jobs, they had difficulty in insuring that their sons could follow in the trade. Black skilled workers could no longer make apprenticeship agreements for their sons in the mechanical trades, a prerequisite for their son’s occupational advancement, because a new group of employers had replaced them with older, white workers. (Bodnar 102) Consequently, the number of blacks working in tailoring, tinsmithing, and blacksmithing in the 1850’s was sharply reduced and these crafts were usurped by the new immigrants, the Irish.

Through years of struggle, blacks managed to entrench themselves and their lives in the Pittsburgh area by clustering together in neighborhoods and maintaining independent professions. The trade of a barber was an excellent one for a black man as the white was loath to touch or cut the black man’s hair. Small business arose for the blacks in their neighborhood and by 1890 many families were secure in a moderate income and established in their fields.

Long-term black residents of Pittsburgh seemed unfriendly or unconcerned with the plight of their southern-born counterparts when the latter arrived in 1890’s looking for work and a place to live. Though most of these people were migratory, about one third did settle and remain here. However, black neighborhoods provided little assistance in the adjustment process of their new neighbors. These negative conditions, as well as long employment lines and hostile employers, no doubt sent many blacks out of the city quickly. Even though there was much prejudice, both racially and employment wise, many of the southern black persisted in living in the city. (Weber 122) They were either unwilling or unable to move to another town, even though they had migratory tendencies. If they were willing to accept positions that were dangerous and unwanted by others, they were able to establish a livelihood. The black aspiration in most cases was to work to attain modest gains and a measure of economic security. However, the harsh industrial environment took it toll on workers’ lives and overt discrimination forced many blacks to leave the city after a few months’ work. High infant mortality, industrial accidents and deaths, recurring economic setbacks, diseases and a constant struggle to create decent living conditions were common to the lives of not only black workers, but all who came here to establish a life. Even so, many black worker were undaunted and created a stationary life in the city of Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh was a city on the move in an upward spiral. For those who were heroes of the rags to riches story, their gain was great and a burgeoning upper middle class began to develop. The local newspaper of the early 1900’s interviewed several successful businessmen who proclaimed that the early twentieth century was indeed " the best age… for young men to rise in business and professional life". (Weber 130) Pittsburgh newspapers never tired of elevating Andrew Carnegie as an example—or quoting the pronouncements of the great Iron Master on the "Blessings of Poverty"-- that young men, particularly immigrants, should set for themselves. That, as one historian recently demonstrated, only five of the city’s 360 iron barons in nineteenth-and twentieth-century Pittsburgh could claim a true rags-to-riches experience made little difference to the city’s news or business leaders. Steel and coal created many wealthy men, but the three we will discuss are Henry Clay Frick, Andrew Carnegie and Andrew Mellon.

Henry Clay Frick as a young man was not born to parents who were wealthy, however, Grandfather Overholt was land rich and owned a distillery as well as a coal mine. Henry, who was called Clay, was a sickly child, and as a result, spent much time with his mother and other women while growing up. This, so his biographer claims, accounts for his love of art, his fine manners and his appreciation for women. Since Clay was not athletic or permitted to participate in sports, he developed a love of reading and working with figures. In later years, his ability to do accounting and his shrewd business acumen would be the result of his childhood love of books as well as brilliant strategy to analyze numbers.

In his early twenty’s, he lived sparsely in a two room cabin, borrowed his mother’s inheritance from the deceased grandfather and purchased coke ovens. He would rise at 4:00 a.m. and survey his workforce, scour the hilltops for coal seams, calculate their depth and return home to change clothes for the day. He would then ride the train from Connellsville into Pittsburgh to sell his coke to the iron and metal factories along the three rivers. His cousin owned a small coal mine and a ten mile railroad, a spur line, that both he and Clay used to transfer their products. As times became lean in the late 1800’s, Clay went to his grandfather’s friend, Judge Mellon, father of Andrew, to borrow $10,000 to purchase more coke ovens. Mellon hesitated only briefly when he heard Frick’s business plan. It is said that the young Frick reminded Mellon of himself as an ambitious entrepreneur. Frick returned to Connellsville and began to purchase rich coal lands from farmers that had fallen on hard times. He also managed to keep his fifty coke ovens burning even though few mills were purchasing the fuel. Henry Clay Frick rightly assumed that when the recession was over, the mills would once again operate in full force and would need the fine bituminous coal and coke from Connellsville. The bad times were not quite over and Frick returned to Mellon for another $10,000 which was granted. As Frick sat on the train on his homeward ride from Pittsburgh, he had a brainstorm.. The B&O Railroad did not have a line through the rich coal country and were competing with the current rail line for an edge. Frick immediately went to all the owners of his cousin’s ten-mile rail line and convinced them to sell to B& O. Then, Frick went to B&O, to offer them a deal of a lifetime (both his and theirs). B&O offered Frick $200,000 for the line and Clay kept $50,000 of this for his commission. With this windfall, he paid off some of his debts and reinvested it in more coal-rich farm land. When the recession was over, Frick became an extremely wealthy man. In later years, he was married, lived well and collected fine art. Unfortunately, he was not kindly to his workers, would not negotiate with the union for better working conditions or wages and when the men decided to strike, he called in the "Pinkertons" to break the backs of the men. The Homestead Strike in infamous because of the deadly consequences. Three Pinkertons and seven steel workers, including a young boy, were killed on July 6, 1892. In November, the strikers returned to work and the organized union did not materialize for another forty years. Frick received the full blame for the disaster at the Homestead even though his partner, Andrew Carnegie, supported his every move. Later, Carnegie publicly blamed Frick for the violence and confusion. On July 23, Alexander Berkman, an immigrant Russian and anarchist, shot Frick for his "crimes against society and the working man". Berkman was shocked to be subdued by some of these working men and beaten; he imagined them to be supportive of his actions. Frick survived, resigned from the board of Carnegie Steel in 1899, and enjoyed his life in New York City where he died in 1919.

Andrew Carnegie, on the other hand, became known as a great philanthropist in his life. He, too, had humble beginnings as his family fled Scotland and settled in Pittsburgh in 1848. Like Frick, Carnegie loved working with numbers and figures as a child and again was aggressive enough to plan his future. As a young man he realized the new technology of the day would be his salvation and delved wholeheartedly in learning the use of the telegraph. He was hired by Edgar Thompson, who became Carnegie’s mentor and friend, originally as a telegraph worker where he climbed his way, rapidly, into the good graces of the man who hired him. Carnegie immediately recognized an opportunity in fulfilling the need to create a harder steel for the construction of the railroad tracks. Carnegie sought the help of two German immigrants who had a mill in Millvale and convinced them to develop a methodology to produce this new steel. This lead to the development of the Carnegie Steel Works and later was sold to form United States Steel Corp.

Even though Carnegie was known for his humanity, he treated his workers poorly, would not negotiate with unions and slashed wages so that he would make an incredible profit. He rejected the eight-hour day and instituted the twelve-hour shift with no increase in wages. There was no attempt made to provide safety measures while working in the mill, but he did stipulate that if a worker died, the mill would send the family a check for $75.00 to defray the cost of the funeral.

On the personal side of his life, Carnegie pledged that he would always provide for his mother and did so for all of her life. He refused to marry because this would interfere with the relationship between himself and his mother. When she died in the summer in Cresson, Pa., Carnegie immediately proposed to the woman who had waited three years for his love. It was a perfect match for Carnegie and he lived quite happily until his death on August 11, 1919 at Shadowbrook, his summer home in Lenox, Massachusetts. During his eighty-three years, he had given away over $350 million and helped build 2,509 libraries throughout the English-speaking world. In Braddock there stands one of the first and architecturally aesthetic libraries, complete with music hall, that remains to many as the reminder of the blood, sweat and lives mill workers endured. Many of these men would not enter this building while they lived—it was a monument to Carnegie’s wealth and a reminder of their pitiful wages and the backbreaking effort of their meager lives.

Andrew Mellon’s life was of a decidedly different background than both Carnegie’s and Frick’s. Judge Mellon’s family was deeded land that formed the area of East Liberty a few years after the Civil War. With the family’s wealth, Mellon developed into a real estate baron, financier and entrepreneur. His son, Andrew William Mellon, continued the legacy of banking and building the family into the multimillionaires that they are today.

As a young man, Andrew Mellon enjoyed the company of Henry Clay Frick and the two socialized often together. Their relationship was cemented when Frick invited Mellon to join him on a tour of Italy early in their lives. This liaison lasted a lifetime much to the pleasure and profit of both men.

Mellon founded the town of Donora, Pennsylvania where he established a large steel plant. His career included titles such as financier, industrialist and statesman but we remember him for his philanthropic endeavors especially his extensive art collection and building in Washington, D.C. which was renamed The National Gallery of Art.

In 1877 Pittsburgh was a rather primitive place. There was no urban development beyond East Liberty and nothing existed beyond the North Side except farm land. At five stories high, the Monongahela House, at one Smithfield Street, was the only skyscraper in town and the only first class hotel. Cobblestones were used to pave all the streets and Penn Avenue was the city’s major thoroughfare, known as "The Pike" was paved with wooden blocks and intercepted by several toll houses. (Hadley 214) The trollycars were pulled by horses, the inclines rose from below Mt. Washington to convey miners and mill workers to and from work. Steam railroads were just making their appearance and candles, gas lights and oil lamps were illuminating the homes. Electricity had not yet been invented, however, telephones were the latest in technology and were beginning to gain interest. An acre of grass between Grant and Ross Streets was the only park in the city which was serviced by five different railroads. This idyllic setting is flawed by several notorious disadvantages. The mills that stretched out along today’s Point Park belched black, gaseous smoke and dust continuously into the air and that combined with the pollution of the iron and steel works further up the river. This curtain of smoke and dust enshrouded the city in darkness, disease and death. There was no word for pollution, the filthy air was accepted as part of the city itself. The following are quotes by notable people of the time about the most important city in Western Pennsylvania:

J.. Ernest Wright, an Early American Writer

"…the blackest, dirtiest grimiest city in the United States"

Anthony Trollope, English writer

Blackest place I ever saw. At my hotel everything was black; not black to the eye, for the eye teaches itself to discriminate colors even when loaded with dirt, but black to the touch. On coming out of a tub of water my foot took an impress from the carpet exactly as it would have done had I trod bare footed on a path laid with soot. I thought that I was turning Negro upwards, until I put my wet hand upon the carpet and found that the result was the same. And yet, the carpet was green to the eye.

James Parton, An American Biographer

"Every street appears to end in a big, black cloud. Pittsburgh is smoke, smoke, smoke—everywhere smoke—by night, it was Hell wi the lid taken off."

A Reporter for Harper’s Weekly

Pittsburgh—the dense volumes of black smoke pouring from the hundreds of furnaces, the copious showers of soot, the constant rumbling of ponderous machinery, the clatter of wagons laden with iron—the fiery lights stream forth, looking angrily and fiercely up toward the heavens.

Hamlin Garland, a noted American Writer

"…horrible streets, poor buildings, soot and dirt; its saloons are many and its club and reading rooms few."

Harry Castle—politician

"I know of no other city with darker skies and brighter men and women, with dirties hands and cleaner hearts, with narrow crookeder streets, and broader straighter hospitality"

1908 Researcher for Russell Sage Foundation

The common laborer in and around the mills works seventy-two hours a week…The congested condition of most of the plants in Pittsburgh adds to the physical discomforts for an out-of-doors people; while their ignorance of language and of modern machinery increases the risk. How many of the Slavs, Lithuanians, and Italians are injured in Pittsburgh in one year is not known. No reliable statistic are compiled; in their absence people guess. When I mentioned a plant that had a bad reputation to a priest, he said, "Oh, that is a slaughterhouse; they kill them there every day". I quote him not for accuracy, but to show how the rumors circulate and are real to the people themselves.

Willa Cather, a renowned American Novelist

"Pittsburgh was even more vital, more creative, more hungry for culture than New York. Pittsburgh was the birthplace of my writing. I’m quite fond of the place"

Herbert Spencer, an English Philosopher

 

"A month in Pittsburgh would justify anyone in committing suicide." (Hadley 228)

To introduce the unit, it would be best to review the background information about the early years of the steel mills and the people who ran them, worked in them and lived their lives because of them. By way of this introduction, the following short stories may be chosen to be read from the book: "From These Hills, From These Valleys":

"The Old Man’s Presence" by Marcia Davenport p. 83

"Another Flood" by Mary Roberts Rinehart p. 101

"Crazy-Mad Steel" by William Attaway p. 121

"Very young and Very Sweet" by John Dos Passos p. 129

"Double Birthday" by Willa Cather p. 143

" The Young Violinist" Michael A. Musmanno p. 163*

This story reflects the life of a young boy who is forced to work in a coal mine instead of following his dream of becoming a violinist. This was drafted by Musmanno, who later became state supreme court justice in Pennsylvania, as a propaganda piece to insure the civil and organizing rights of miners.

The following short stories would be read from "Only in Pittsburgh" by S. Trevor Hadley:

"Martin R. Delaney: Pittsburgh’s First Human Rights Hero" p. 143

"For Sale in Pittsburgh—Slaves p. 181

As we read these stories to recapture the history of the area, we will also be looking at the narrative style. We will take note of the context, point of view and people involved that establish the reader’s interest. Next, each student must determine the plot, conflict (man vs. man, self or nature) and finally the setting. Since we will concentrate upon the Pittsburgh and surrounding environs, the setting will be discussed in detail and description as well as sights and sounds. We will observe the characters as well-developed and complex people, having motivation and being affected by their environment. And finally, the student should grasp the meaning of the stories as well as their historical and environmental significance.

Upon reading the choice of stories, the students will write a short narrative that relates to the story of their choice in which they will become the protagonist, live in the era and emphasize the environmental issues of the time. This will be a PROCESS PIECE that will be included in the Writing Portfolio as a Narrative Account. It will contain all of the points listed above as integral parts of the multi-paragraph composition. (See Appendix A)

Core Curriculum Framework, 2,3,4,

New Standards: Reading 1a,b,c; Writing 2b,c; Conventions 4a; Literature 5a,b

 

ACTIVITY B

Choose one of the quotes in Section Four and write a short, emotional response in letter form to the author of the quote. The student has the choice to compare and contrast the two "different" cities or to persuade the author to "see" the Pittsburgh of today, the Phoenix that has arisen from the ashes. This will be conducted as a journal entry and may be included in the English "Writing Portfolio" as a Response to Literature. This short exercise will initiate creative visualization of how the city looked around the 1860’s.

Photographs from the pictorial file of the Pittsburgh room at the Carnegie Library or from the school library would be used to enhance this exercise. (Appendix B)

Applicable Standards for Activity B

Core Curriculum Framework 3

ACTIVITY C

THE READING OF "OUT OF THIS FURNACE" BY THOMAS BELL

The reading of the novel will be done as a group effort. Since the novel is divided into four sections, each group will be responsible for the reading and teaching of their section. This will be done by using the "Literature Circles" concept, a new trend in teaching literature. Literature circles are small, temporary discussion groups of student who read the same work. Each members agrees to take specific responsibilities during discussion sessions. The circles meet during class time and the discussion roles they choose to take. These roles are as follows: (also, see attached)

*Artful artist uses some form of artwork to represent a significant scene or idea from the reading

*Literary luminary points out interesting or important passages within the reading

*Discussion director writes questions that will lead to discussion by the group

*Capable connector finds connections between the reading material and something outside the text, in this case the link of the characters and the environment

*Word Wizard discusses words in the text that are unusual, or interesting or difficult to understand. This would include the definition of the steel mill equipment, such as Bessemer Converters (Appendix C)

Applicable Standards for Activity C

Core Curriculum Framework 1,2,3,4,6,7,8

New Standards: Reading 1a,b,c; Writing 2b; Speaking, Listening, and Viewing 3b,c,e; Conventions 4a,b; Literature 5a,b;

 

ACTIVITY D

OLIVER HIGH SCHOOL GROUP WALK THROUGH. The final project will also be a group related procedure and each group of students will present a cohesive "Investigative Report" as a single project. The groups will decide upon a section of the building to investigate and complete the following:

*locate environmentally unsafe situations

*research history of past efforts of repair or awareness

*interact with the maintenance people

*design and suggest solutions to the problem

*write a report of findings, contacts, procedures and solutions.

*present the report orally to the class

*defend report to teacher and/or principal

*determine personae reaction

Each student will be responsible for a portion of the written report that pertains to his/her investigative endeavor and this will be submitted to the teacher for an individual grade. As a group, all material will be synthesized into the completion of one final paper that will be presented to the class, teacher and possibly, to the principal. As each class prepares and presents the group findings, individual students may decide to pursue further steps to eliminate the hazardous area that was discovered. An example of their findings could be as simple as replacing the air filters in the heat ventilating systems and cleaning the unit in each classroom at least once a year or replacing the dim fluorescent lights found in many of the classrooms.

The students are responsible for a collective "Group Response Sheet" with all names, assignments and initial responsibilities. The second sheet, "Individual Response Sheet" will be completed concerning the work in progress along with detailed report of what has already been accomplished.

The final assignment will consist of an analysis of the reaction of those who are involved in the amending of the environmental problem. A short essay about the "supposed" response for each person or group to the problem will be the conclusion. In other words, how will this change affect the following:

Student, teacher, maintenance director, principal, school board member, superintendent.

Write a paragraph or two assuming the personae of each of the above so that the student may view the request for change from their eyes and imagine the individual’s reaction to your request. View the environmental problem by deciding how the person would respond. For example, the school board may protest that new filters for the heating vents are too costly for each school, that there aren’t enough maintenance men to install them and that changing them every six months is not going to improve the environment. From the teacher’s point of view, the reaction would be a positive health effect, more invigorating classroom atmosphere, and the knowledge that the administration cares about the welfare of its students and employees. The students would have fewer colds and would stay awake in the fresh air!! Look at the stockholders, see who would benefit, who would actually act and complete the project, who would worry about profit and loss, who would assume authority, etc. This would be presented along with the report on the environmental change. (Appendix D)

New Standards: Writing 2a; Speaking, Listening, Viewing 3a,b,c,e; Conventions 4a,b; Functional Document 7b.

Bodnar, John. The Ethnic Experience in Pennsylvania. Bucknell: Bucknell Univ. P, 1973. This is a discussion of the minority groups that arrived in the early 1850’s work in Pennsylvania mills and factories.

Bodnar, John, Roger Simon, and Michael P. Weber, Lives of Their Own. Urbana: U Of Illinois P. 1982. Detailed history of the Slavs, Italians, and African Americans as they arrive in Western Pennsylvania.

Cambor, Kathleen. In Sunlight in a Beautiful Garden. New York: Farrer, Straus Girolex. 2001. The poignant story of the Johnstown flood is viewed from the eyes of a young wealthy girl at the lodge at Stoneybrook and a young man who lives in Johnstown.

Kidney, Walter C. and Arthur P. Ziegler, Jr. Allegheny. Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Found., 1975. Photographs capture Allegheny City and the early North Side.

Sangar, Martha Frick Symington. Henry Clay Frick. New York: Abbeville P., 1998. Frick’s life and time is revealed through his paintings and details that reveal the businessman and legend as well as the husband and father.

 

 

Reading List/Material for Students

Andrew Carnegie: The Prince of Steel: Pro. A&E TV Networks, 1996 The video story of the life and times of Carnegie is revealed to us in pictorial terms.

Bell, Thomas, Out of this Furnace, Pittsburgh: U. of Pittsburgh, 1972. The re-capturing of the early, difficult years of foreigners who slaved in the mills.

From These Hills, From These Valleys. Ed. David P. Demarest, Jr. Pittsburgh:   Univ. of Pittsburgh, 1976. A variety of short stories about Pittsburgh people during the 1850 to 1920.

        Hadley, Trevor S. Only in Pittsburgh. Cincinnati: Ed. Publishing Resources, 1994.
        Interesting stories of the lives of people who were influential in the early Twentieth century and events that were          newsworthy at this time.

Out of This Furnace: A Walking Tour of Bell’s Novel. Pro. David P. Demarest, Jr.
U. of Pittsburgh Press. 1990. A video that takes us on tour of the first ward of Braddock by Mr. Demarest to relive Bell’s novel in our own minds.

The Andrew Carnegie Reader. Ed. Joseph F. Wall. Pittsburgh: U. of Pgh. P., 1992. Excerpts of Carnegie’s life and career in abbreviated form.

The River Ran Red. Ed. Steffi Domike & Nicole Fauteux. U of Pgh. P. , 1993. The video of the tragic and historic Homestead Strike and the fight with the Pinkerton men complete with violent consequences.

NARRATIVE ACCOUNT

After reading the various short stories, you are to assume a personae and place yourself in one of the stories. You may choose any of the stories, places or events, however, you must describe yourself in dress, mannerisms and particularly the essence of THE EARLY 1900’S. Most importantly, address some facet of the ENVIRONMENT and include this as part of your daily life.

You will live an adventure for one day in your character’s home, work, or social situation. You may add to and create new information but must maintain the integrity of the story and the character.

This would be a good time to interview your family to find out if a grand parent or great grand parent lived during this time and interview him/her to discover aspects of his/her life.

Remember to begin with an INTRODUCTION, continue with a BODY (three or more paragraphs) and finish with a CONCLUSION. Add details and enrich your writing with a variety of colorful, accurate information.

NARRATIVE RUBRIC

Context- logical presentation 5 4 3 2 1

Believable Personae 5 4 3 2 1

Interesting Introduction 5 4 3 2 1

Many and varied details 5 4 3 2 1

Established plot, conflict, setting 5 4 3 2 1

Developed well-round character 5 4 3 2 1

Included environmental problems 5 4 3 2 1

Included dialogue 5 4 3 2 1

Creative conclusion 5 4 3 2 1

Complete, flowing sentences 5 4 3 2 1

Spelling and grammar correct 5 4 3 2 1

Appendix B

Complete a brief journal entry in which you respond emotionally to the statement that was written about Pittsburgh. Convince the writer of the changes in our city today and prepare your entry as a letter to him/her. Make sure to have an introduction, body and conclusion with sufficient details and examples to support your response

RESPONSE TO LITERATURE

Clear response to quote 5 4 3 2 1

Specific and concrete details 5 4 3 2 1

Reveals personal feelings 5 4 3 2 1

Connect to present Pgh 5 4 3 2 1

Interesting Introduction 5 4 3 2 1

Specific ideas in body 5 4 3 2 1

Convincing conclusion 5 4 3 2 1

Correct conventions 5 4 3 2 1

Each group will be responsible for individual tasks in the Literary Circle. Work sheets will be set up for each of these tasks with the heading of either Artful Artist, Literary Luminary, Discussion Director, Capable Connector or Word Wizard. The worksheet will contain the following information:

NAME OF TASK

NAME

GROUP

DATE

SECTION OF BOOK

DEFINITION OF WHAT IS EXPECTED FOR EACH TASK

ROOM TO WRITE DOWN THIS INFORMATION.

AN EXAMPLE OF A WORK SHEET MAY BE AS FOLLOWS:

Writers often leave out many details because they assume that readers can fill in the missing pieces with their imagination. A skillful reader pictures in their minds the action, characters and setting. You are the Artful Artist and as such, you may draw anything about your part of the story that you wish. Draw on a separate piece of paper, or on a mural or on a canvas. Create your visualization of the story and present it to the class.

P.S. When your group meets, do not tell them what your drawing represents. Let them discuss it first, then you may point out your impression of it.

This investigative report would be Writing Exhibit-Entry 4 in the Writing Portfolio and would follow the criteria discussed there.

REPORT OF INFORMATION

Engaged the reader 5 4 3 2 1

Developed a controlling idea 5 4 3 2 1

Included facts and details 5 4 3 2 1

Described problem 5 4 3 2 1

Developed solution 5 4 3 2 1

Explained benefits 5 4 3 2 1

Explained limitations 5 4 3 2 1

Correct conventions 5 4 3 2 1

The English Language Arts program had adopted a Core Curriculum Framework of Standards which have been incorporated into this Literature/Environmental Unit. Particular aspects of the NEW STANDARDS ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS are as follows:

1a. Students read at east twenty five books.

1b. Students read and comprehend at least four books or equivalents about one

issue or subject

1c. Students read and comprehend informational materials.

2a Students produce a report

2b Students reproduces a response to literature

2c. Students produce a narrative account

3a Students participate in one-to-one conference

3b Students participate in group meetings

3c Students prepare and deliver an individual presentation

3d Students mare informed judgements about film productions

3e Students listen to and analyze a public speaking performance

4a Students demonstrate an understanding of the rules of the English Language

4b Students analyze and revise work to clarify and make more effective in

communicating the intended method or thought

5a. Students respond to non-fiction or fiction using interpretive, critical

and evaluative processes.

5b. Students produce work in at least one literary genre that follows the

conventions of that genre.

7b Students produce public documents appropriate to audience and purpose.