MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

The history of labor is one that is fraught with conflict and change. In looking at the history of a particular subject it is important to remember that things are never quite what they seem. Although facts and numbers can tell the story of an event, history itself is made up of human lives and interactions. It is a tapestry woven of both human triumphs and failures amidst the complex interaction of people and the society that they inhabit. The city of Pittsburgh is a unique example of how a particular industry can transform itself and the surrounding area with amazing speed and intensity. The rise and fall of the steel industry can be tied to the very foundation of the Unites States economic power. In examining the steel industry and how it shaped Pittsburgh it would be remiss not to speak of the men and women who drove the industry and business that made Pittsburgh one of the leading industrial cities. The legacies of these people is still felt today even with the collapse of the steel industry. The lasting impact of the conflict between the emerging labor movement and the large steel companies is still very much an important part of the city of Pittsburgh even almost a hundred years later.