Playing Through the Whistle
Page 48
17 In the summer of 1925 . . . : “Immigrant Workers Sought New Beginning in Area’s Burgeoning Steel Industry”, Beaver County Times, February 25, 2015.
17 “On any payday” . . . : Girdler, 170.
18 “Shine was delivered in five-gallon tins” . . . : Zernich, Dr. Stephen, Dr. Steve. Pittsburgh, self-published, 1992: 3–4.
18 After it acquired the island . . . : “The Islands of West Aliquippa Were a Source of Food, Leisure”, Beaver County Times, February 25, 2015.
18 330 American college men . . . : Zimbalist, Andrew, Unpaid Professionals: Commercialism and Conflict in Big-Time College Sports. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2001: 8.
19 Professional football began in Pittsburgh: “Birth of Pro Football”, Pro Football Hall of Fame, http://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/birth-of-pro-football/.
19 “The AAA expense sheet” . . . : ibid.
19 “What the Pittsburghs tried to do” . . . : ibid.
20 “Leading citizens found fault” . . . : “History of the WPIAL”, Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League, http://www.wpial.org/history.asp.
20 “You cannot play two kinds of football” . . . : “Glenn ‘Pop’ Warner”, National Football Foundation, http://www.footballfoundation.org/Programs/CollegeFootballHallofFame/SearchDetail.aspx?id=10054.
20 “Ha! Ha!” . . . : Condor, 1915, Aliquippa, Pa., Woodlawn High School, 33.
22 “My mother was born in 1909” . . . : Steals, Melvin, author interview, February 1, 2013.
22 The fathers of James Frank . . . : Frank, James, author interview, May 14, 2012.
22 . . . and Eugene “Salt” Smith . . . : Smith, Eugene, author interview, November 28, 2011.
22 Private William Little . . . : “The Meanest Little Town . . .” The Early County News, March 25, 2015.
22 Some 500,000 blacks . . . : Dickerson, Dennis C. Out of the Crucible: Black Steelworkers in Western Pennsylvania, 1875-1980. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1986: 31.
22 During the last few years of World War I . . . : Dickerson, 32.
23 Workers made 33 cents an hour . . . : “Steelmakers Turned to African Americans in South to Fill Employee Rosters”, Beaver County Times, February 25, 2015.
23 Enough white ethnics . . . : “Aliquippa Housing Plans Show Journey of Immigrants”, Beaver County Times, February 25, 2015.
23 When J&L built . . . : Aliquippa: The Union Comes to Little Siberia, The Great Depression, WGBH, Boston, prod., PBS, 1993.
24 60 cents an hour . . . : Dickerson, 50.
24 Superintendent of J&L’s seamless tube . . . : Perriello interview, 462.
24 “Betrayed by Reconstruction” . . . : Murray, Albert, Trading Twelves: The Selected Letters of Ralph Ellison and Albert Murray. New York: Vintage Books, 2001: preface, cit.
25 250,000 . . . : “The Ku Klux Klan in Pennsylvania, 1920–1940”, Jenkins, Philip, The Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine, Vol. 69, No. 2, April 1986.
25 300,000 . . . : Loucks, Emerson Hunberger. “The Ku Klux Klan in Pennsylvania: A Study in Nativism.” Harrisburg, Pa.: The Telegraph Press, 1936.
25 Next-door Allegheny County . . . : Jenkins, Philip, Hoods and Shirts: The Extreme Right in Pennsylvania, 1925–1950. Chapel Hill, N.C.: The University of North Carolina Press, 1997, 71.
25 . . . Beaver County, with nine klaverns . . . : Ku Klux Klan Kleagle Robe Reports 1924-25 (Series #30.19); Record Group 30, Records of the Pennsylvania State Police; Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg.
25 In July 1923 . . . : Jenkins, Hoods and Shirts, 67.
25 . . . Ku Klux Klan of Woodlawn.” It was announced in the spring of 1922 with a late-night launch of skyrockets, a burning cross . . . : Woodlawn News, letter, April 28, 1922, p. 1; article, June 2, 1922, p. 5.
25 “To drive the colored people” . . . : Girdler, 179–180.
25 Many a night the town’s young black men . . . : Cobb, Clark, interview, May 14, 1980, in the Beaver Valley Labor History Society Collection, 1909-1981, AIS.1981.08, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh; Box #2, File 48, p. 35.
26 In 1923 . . . : Dickerson, 81.
26 . . . welcomed in “the regalia of their order” by town pastors . . . while a choir sang “Onward, Christian Soldiers” . . . : Woodlawn Gazette, January 11, 1924, p. 1.
26 . . . celebrated with a “special sermon” at an evening Methodist service at Woodlawn High . . . : Woodlawn Gazette, February 26, 1924, p. 1.
26 “Sometimes in the summer” . . . : Mancini, 16.
26 Some, like Emory Clark . . . : Stephenson, Sam. “Sonny Clark, Part 2.” The Paris Review, January 26, 2011, http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2011/01/26/sonny-clark-part-ii/. Based on Stephenson interviews with Sonny Clark’s surviving family members and friends in Herminie No. 2, Pennsylvania.
27 Reputedly outraced a horse . . . : North, E. Lee, Battling the Indians, Panthers, and Nittany Lions: The Story of Washington and Jefferson College’s First Century of Football, 1890-1990. Daring Publishing Group, 1991: 125–132.
27 In the off-seasons . . . : “Sport and Black Pittsburgh, 1900-1930”, Ruck, Rob, ed., Miller, Patrick B., Wiggins, David K. Sport and the Color Line: Black Athletes and Race Relations in Twentieth-Century America. New York: Routledge, 2004: 12.
28 A waiting crowd . . . : North, 125–132.
28 “We didn’t bring him with us this time” . . . : ibid.
28 The first time a black man . . . : “Meet the Presidents”, Meyer, Walter G., Pittsburgh Magazine, October 30, 2014.
28 “He was an idol of mine” . . . : “Payoff: Pruner Makes Hall of Fame”, Washington Observer and Reporter, Washington, Pa., April 17, 1979, 19.
29 “It was segregated, but not in sports” . . . : Thomas, Townsell, author interview, April 10, 2015.
30 Though his customary suit had been replaced . . . : Green, James, “Democracy Comes to Little Siberia”, Labor’s Heritage, Vol. 5, No. 2, Summer 1993, George Meany Memorial Archives, Silver Spring, Md.: 11; Brooks, Thomas R. Clint: A Biography of a Labor Intellectual. New York: Atheneum, 1978: 129.
30 By seventeen . . . : Brooks, 14, 16, 20.
30 Golden’s clothes . . . : Golden, Clinton S., letter to wife Dora, undated (Tuesday P.M.), Clinton S. Golden papers (1565), Historical Collections and Labor Archives, Special Collections Library, Pennsylvania State University.
31 The idle in Aliquippa talked women, baseball . . . : Brooks, ibid.
31 Twenty steelworkers . . . : Cortner, Richard C. The Jones & Laughlin Case. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1970: 34.
32 On New Year’s Day 1920 . . . : Stevenson, David. Cataclysm: The First World War as Political Tragedy. New York: Basic Books, 2009: 440.
32 The Attorney General then spent the winter . . . : “May Day Death Plot Is Uncovered”, Tulsa Daily World, April 30, 1920, p. 1.
32 But on September 16 . . . : “Havoc Wrought in Morgan Offices”, New York Times, September 17, 1920, p. 1.
33 “The idea is if we don’t look out” . . . : Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1925: Chapter 1.
33 By 1920 . . . : Inman and Wollman, 289-290; The Iron Age, January 2, 2013, American Iron and Steel Institute.
33 By 1924 . . . : Inman and Wollman, 92.
33 “Girdler” . . . : “An Occurrence at Republic Steel”, Fast, Howard, in Leighton, Isabel, ed., The Aspirin Age, 1919–1941. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1949, 399.
34 “Break it up, you Hunkies!” . . . : Davin, Eric Leif. Crucible of Freedom: Workers’ Democracy in the Industrial Heartland, 1914–1960. Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books, 2012, 160.
34 “Woodlawn is governed and regulated by fear” . . . : Woodlawn News, March 30, 1923, p. 1.
34 Four days later . . . : Woodlawn News, April 3, 1923, p.1.
35 “American Plan” . . . : Brooks, 49–50.
35 Girdler boasted . . . : Girdler, 175–176.
35 “In that day you had to keep your mind shut . . . : Razzano, Angelo, interview by Hoffman, Alice M., January 16, 1974, in the United Steelworkers of America Oral History Collection, Penn State University. P. 3. This interview is listed as being with “Angelo Rozzano.” For the sake of historical consistency, I’ve chosen to use the name listed in U.S Census and Supreme Court records, as well as contemporaneous accounts.
35–36 “We don’t discharge a man for belonging to a union” . . . : Brody, David. Labor in Crisis: The Steel Strike of 1919. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1965: 89.
36 “It wasn’t so much union” . . . : Zahorsky.
36 “Typical Cossack town” . . . : Davin, 160.
37 “He’s reading the Declaration of Independence” . . . : Muselin, Pete, “The Steel Fist in a Pennsylvania Company Town”, in Schultz, Bud, Schultz, Ruth, It Did Happen Here: Recollections of Political Repression in America, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1989: 69–71.
37 “One of the dirtiest” . . . : Muselin, 72.
38 “Hopelessly maladjusted” . . . : Spiniza, Judith Ader. “Women of Long Island: Cornelia Bryce Pinchot, Feminist, Social-Activist-The Long Islander Who Became First Lady of Pennsylvania.” www.spinizalongislandestates.com.
38 “There was nothing” . . . : Perriello interview.
38 “Sometimes we would have a customer for the day” . . . : Steinfeld, Jesse, author interview, June 27, 2012.
38 “They’d bring in maybe twenty or thirty of us” . . . : Perriello, interview.
39 “What my father thought of Franklin Roosevelt” . . . : Interview with Tom Girdler, Jr. , conducted by Blackside, Inc. on December 22, 1992, for “The Great Depression.” Washington University Libraries, Film and Media Archive, Henry Hampton Collection.
40 One, fifty-year-old John Mayer . . . : Mayer, John S., affidavit, August 29, 1933, Clinton S. Golden Papers, Box 5, Historic Collections and Labor Archive, Pennsylvania State University; Green, William, letter to Pinchot, Gifford, August 30, 1933, Clinton S. Golden Papers, Box 5, Historic Collections and Labor Archive, Pennsylvania State University; Brooks, 128-129; Heineman, Kenneth J. Catholic New Deal: Religion and Reform in Depression Pittsburgh. University Park, Pa.: Penn State Press, 2010: pgs. 50-51.
40 Publicly called on “patriots” . . . : “Probe Demanded by Legion speaker”, Pittsburgh Press, November 13, 1935, pg. 38.
40 In October ’33 . . . :”Insurgent Miners Fight Peace”, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 3, 1933, page 4.
41 “Come and take ’em!” . . . : “Ambridge Riot Described By Eye-Witness”, Baubie, James A., Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, October 6, 1933.
41 “It was probably meant for me” . . . : Muselin, 74.
41 “One of the most wonderful things that ever happened in this valley” . . . : Davin.
42 “Violent terroristic action” . . . : National Labor Relations Board ruling, April 9, 1936.
42 “We want you to get busy” . . . : Brooks, 133.
42 “One of the most fearless, well-controlled people I’ve ever seen” . . . : Girdler, Jr., interview.
42 “He shot at me and missed” . . . : ibid.
44 “Always told us we had to win THAT game” . . . : “Rubinstein Honored, Ambridge Pays Homage.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. August 30, 1977: 6.
44 “Their frequent conflicts” . . . : “Casp’s Age Challenged by Ambridge.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. October 24, 1934: 16.
45 The Cleveland native wanted to be a doctor . . . : Mark Kriegel, Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich, New York: Free Press, 2008: 17.
45 Perhaps the worst loss: “Casp’s Age Challenged by Ambridge.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. October 24, 1934: 16.
45 On September 24, 1934, an unnaturalized Slovak named Mary Isasky . . . : Mary Isasky, letter to Mrs. Pinchot, Sept. 24, 1934. Cornelia Pinchot papers, Collections of the Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
46 Her father had been a congressman . . . : Miller, Char. Gifford Pinchot and the Making of Modern Environmentalism. Washington, D.C.: Shearwater Books, 2001: 177.
46 Leveraged a $15 million fortune . . . : Beers, Paul B. Pennsylvania Politics Today and Yesterday: The Tolerable Accommodation. University Park, Pa.: Penn State Press, 2010: 101.
46 By 1914 . . . : Miller, 180.
46 “One of the keenest political minds” . . . : “Cornelia Bryce Pinchot (1881–1960)”, Grey Towers National Historic Site website, http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/greytowers/aboutgreytowers/history/?cid=stelprd3824418.
46 “Pinchot never dared” . . . : Bruen, E.J., “MRS. PINCHOT, BOSS; Pennsylvania Old Guard Regards Her as Warwick Behind Candidate”, New York Times, August 27, 1922.
46 “Women don’t want generalities and hot air” . . . : Grey Towers NHS website.
47 “It was due to Mrs. Pinchot” . . . : ibid.
47 “All my speeches are extemporaneous” . . . : Beers, Paul B. Pennsylvania Politics Today and Yesterday: The Tolerable Accommodation. University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, 2010: 103.
48 “Well, here I am” . . . : “Mrs. Pinchot Gives Mellon Word Licking”, Pittsburgh Press, November 26, 1933, 12.
48 “Grisly farce” . . . : Bryce Pinchot, Cornelia, speech, February 28, 1934, “Just Wolves, Mrs. Pinchot Says of NRA”, Associated Press, The Daily Oklahoman, February 28, 1934.
48 “No business on this side of the river” . . . : Amalgamated Journal, August 30, 1934, Vol. XXXVI, No. 1, “Great Meeting at Ambridge”, page 1, column 1.
48 “For only just one reason” . . . : “Steel Town”, Ruttenberg, Harold. The Nation, November 28, 1934.
49 “You black-handed mothers” . . . : Brooks, 133.
50 “Neurotic and pathological tendencies” . . . : Liveright, Alice J., memorandum to Gifford Pinchot, October 19, 1934. Cornelia Pinchot papers, Collections of the Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
50 “Quiet and orderly” . . . : McKinniss, C.R., letter to Mary Isasky, September 20, 1934. Cornelia Pinchot papers, Collections of the Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
50 “Let me know about this” . . . : Bryce Pinchot, Cornelia, letter to Mary Isasky, September 29, 1934. Cornelia Pinchot papers, Collections of the Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
51 “Spotted and followed” . . . : Golden, Clinton S., letter to wife Dora, October 6, 1934, Clinton S. Golden papers (1565), Historical Collections and Labor Archives, Special Collections Library, Pennsylvania State University.
51 “You could almost feel the relief” . . . : ibid.
51 “As sane as I am” . . . : Brooks, 135.
52 Oct. 14, 1934 . . . : ibid.
53 “It was wonderful” . . . : Amalgamated Journal, October 25, 1934, Vol. XXXVI, No. 9, page 7.
53 “Friends”, she began . . . : Bryce Pinchot, Cornelia, October 14, 1934, speech to the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers, Aliquippa, Pa. Cornelia Pinchot papers, Collections of the Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
55 “She came to Aliquippa” . . . : Interview with Harold Ruttenberg , conducted by Blackside, Inc. on December 21, 1992, for “The Great Depression.” Washington University Libraries, Film and Media Archive, Henry Hampton Collection.
56 “In a very dramatic way” . . . : Bryce Pinchot, Cornelia, letter to Roger Baldwin, November 16, 1934. Cornelia Pinchot papers, Collections of the Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
56 “It’s the crazy house” . . . : Amalgamated Journal, November 1, 1934, Vol. XXXVI, No. 10, page 3.
56 “I want somebody’s names” . . . : Golden, Clinton S., letter to wife Dora, October 24, 1934 (est. “Wednesday P.M.”), Clinton S. Golden papers (1565), Historical Collections and Labor Archives
, Special Collections Library, Pennsylvania State University.
56 “We can’t believe what that damn fool governor says” . . . : “More Lunacy Commitments To Be Studied”, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 26, 1934: 8.
57 37 percent unemployment . . . : Bezilla, Michael. Penn State: An Illustrated History. University Park, PA.: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1985.
57 “We had a happy town” . . . : Perriello, interview.
57 “If my mother was sick” . . . : Interview with James Downing, Jr. , conducted by Blackside, Inc. on December 20, 1992, for The Great Depression. Washington University Libraries, Film and Media Archive, Henry Hampton Collection.
58 On Labor Day, two competing worker parades . . . : “Two Celebrations Mark Labor Day”, The Daily Times, Beaver, Pa., September 8, 1936, pg. 1.
58 Deep rich green turf . . . : Aliquippa Gazette, September 25, 1936: 1.
58 “Vast mechanism” . . . : N.L.R.B. v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp., 301 U.S. 1 (1937), U.S. Supreme Court, April 12, 1937.
59 Employing 22,000 . . . : “Jones & Laughlin: Depressions & Mutations of a Mighty Dynasty: Work Change in Steel’s 4th Largest”, The Bulletin Index, April 9, 1936.
59 “40 percent of its limestone” . . . : ibid.
59 60 million tons of iron ore . . . : National Labor Relations board ruling, Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation and Amalgamated Association of Iron Steel & Tin Workers of North America, Beaver Valley Lodge No. 200, April 9, 1936.
59 “The ramifications of the Jones & Laughlin” . . . : N.L.R.B. v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp., 301 U.S. 1 (1937), U.S. Supreme Court, April 12, 1937.
60 “The company’s opposition to a union was very simple” . . . : Perriello, interview.
61 “I have been reading over some of the cases” . . . : Bryce Pinchot, Cornelia, speech, Aliquippa, Pa., September 1, 1935. Cornelia Pinchot papers, Collections of the Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
61 Martin Dunn . . . : Cortner, 83.
61 Over the succeeding months . . . : ibid.
62 After his dismissal . . . : Razzano, Angelo, interview with Hoffman, Alice, January 16, 1974, page 8