The new plants located along the river required so many workers that owners turned to the stream of immigrants to provide the backbreaking labor necessary to run a steel mill.  Most of these newcomers had to live close to the mills because they had to be able to walk to work.  They lived along the river in crowded, dirty conditions.  In East Youngstown (now Campbell) there were only a few hundred residents in 1900.  By 1910 there were almost five thousand residents, and by 1920 over eleven thousand.  Most of the residents were young single men who worked in the mills and lived in shacks and boarding houses.

Working conditions in the mills were hazardous: chemical explosions, extreme heat, and unshielded equipment threatened the lives of the men who tended the machinery.  Dr. William Hudnut, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, toured a local plant and expressed concern about the immigrant workers in a pit below.  The superintendent commented that “We work them out, and then get in a new batch.”  Dr. Hudnut said the superintendent’s observation was “a characteristic attitude toward labor.  The ingot was reckoned of more worth than the individual.  Those men in the pits were just numbers.”

A late-nineteenth century union of skilled workers was obliterated after machinery to replace them was installed, but the confrontations left bitterness between management and labor.  Twelve hour days, inconsistent employment, and no protection in case of accident or unemployment was the norm for steelworkers.  After strikes in 1916 and 1919, and a riot in East Youngstown, mill owners slowly began to improve living and working conditions, including building company housing and the Americanizing foreign workers with classes in English and citizenship.

What do you know about laws that protect workers today?  What conditions would you tolerate to earn a good paycheck?  Would you live in another country where you couldn’t speak the language?  To get a better look at these images, go to www.mahoninghistory.org.  Under Education, click on ‘What Do You Know’ for a list of articles, and click on the one you want.  Then click on the embedded images in an article for a downloadable file.