Description: Photograph of a group of people in hard hats observing the demolition of a portion of the Ohio Works, U.S. Steel in Youngstown, Ohio, on August 7, 1983. U.S. Steel, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was founded in 1901. In the early twentieth century the company manufactured more than sixty percent of the steel made in the United States. However, by the early 1980s, changes in the steel industry led the company to drastically reduce its steel production and become more diversified. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04499
Subjects: Mahoning County (Ohio); Ohio Economy--Economy--Business; Steel industry and trade--Ohio--Youngstown--History; Factories
Places: Youngstown (Ohio); Mahoning County (Ohio); Trumbull County (Ohio)
 

Description: View of a blast furnace in Cleveland, Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AC2_YHCIL_MSS0012_B04F02_001
Subjects: Republic Steel Corporation; Steel Industry; Blast furnaces--Equipment and supplies; Blast furnaces--Design and construction; Steel industry and trade--Youngstown (Ohio); Blast furnaces--United States;
Places: Warren (Ohio); Trumbull County (Ohio); Youngstown (Ohio); Mahoning County (Ohio) Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: View of a blast furnace and ore bridge in Cleveland, Ohio 1907. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AC2_YHCIL_MSS0012_B04F03_001
Subjects: Republic Steel Corporation; Steel Industry; Blast furnaces--Equipment and supplies; Blast furnaces--Design and construction; Steel industry and trade--Youngstown (Ohio); Blast furnaces--United States;
Places: Warren (Ohio); Trumbull County (Ohio); Youngstown (Ohio); Mahoning County (Ohio) Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: Lake Milton spillway in Mahoning County, Ohio, ca. 1940-1949 View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00376
Subjects: Mahoning County (Ohio); Lakes & ponds; Nature; Ohio History--Natural and native Ohio
Places: Mahoning County (Ohio)
 

Description: Ohio AFL-CIO Civil Rights Conference, Youngstown, Mahoning County, Ohio, ca. 1960-1969. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00652
Subjects: Social movements; Ohio Economy--Economy--Labor
Places: Youngstown (Ohio); Mahoning County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph from the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus is of 22-year-old William Patrick Jennings. His formal attire suggests that the photograph was taken during his trial or sentencing. Jennings was found guilty of beating 18-year-old James Oswald to death following a minor car accident in Youngstown. The caption at the bottom reads: "No. 234, William Patrick Jennings of Mahoning County, Legally Electrocuted March 31st, 1943, for the Murder of James Oswald." In 1885 the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, Ohio, became the location for all executions, which previously took place in the various county seats. In 1896 the Ohio General Assembly mandated that electrocution replace hanging as the form of capital punishment. The Ohio Penitentiary regularly offered tours as well as souvenir photographs and postcards of the building and prisoners on death row. A total of 315 prisoners, both men and women, were executed in the electric chair known as “Old Sparky” between 1897 and 1963. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08288
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law; Capital punishment--Ohio--History; Death row; Electrocution; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Corrections; Ohio Penitentiary (Columbus, Ohio); Prisons--Ohio
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio); Youngstown (Ohio); Mahoning County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph from the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus is of 18-year-old high school student, Donald Frohner. His formal attire suggests that the photograph was taken during his trial or sentencing. Frohner was convicted of murdering William Spieth in Youngstown, Ohio, and became the 260th individual to be executed via the electric chair in Ohio. The caption at the bottom reads: “No. 260, Donald Frohner of Mahoning County, Legally Electrocuted August 30th, 1948, for the Murder of William C. Spieth.” In 1885 the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, Ohio, became the location for all executions, which previously took place in the various county seats. In 1896 the Ohio General Assembly mandated that electrocution replace hanging as the form of capital punishment. The Ohio Penitentiary regularly offered tours as well as souvenir photographs and postcards of the building and prisoners on death row. A total of 315 prisoners, both men and women, were executed in the electric chair known as “Old Sparky” between 1897 and 1963. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08314
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law; Capital punishment--Ohio--History; Death row; Electrocution; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Corrections; Ohio Penitentiary (Columbus, Ohio); Prisons--Ohio
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio); Youngstown (Ohio); Mahoning County (Ohio)
 

Description: Reverse reads: "Cuyahoga Co., Republic Steel Corp." This photograph shows an exterior view of one of the Republic Steel Corporation buildings. Republic Steel Corporation was founded in 1899 in Youngstown, Ohio. The firm was originally known as Republic Iron and Steel Company. For the company's first three decades of existence, it prospered, as Ohio was one of the leading industrialist states of the period. In 1927, Cyrus Eaton purchased a majority of the stock in the Republic Steel Company. At the same time, Eaton also purchased stock in other companies. He hoped to unite these companies together to compete with the U.S. Steel Company—the largest steel manufacturer in the United States. Under Eaton's leadership, the Republic Steel Company expanded its manufacturing holdings to include plants in Massillon, Elyria, Canton, Cleveland, and Warren, Ohio. Thanks to Eaton's efforts, the Republic Steel Company emerged as the third largest steel producer in the United States. The Republic Steel Company, like many other businesses, faced an economic downturn during the Great Depression. The firm, unlikely many others, remained in operation and actually expanded its holdings by purchasing smaller steel companies as they went bankrupt. Tom Girdler now headed the company, and under his leadership, the firm's corporate headquarters moved to Cleveland. During the 1930s, the Republic Steel Company, as well as many other steel mills, faced tensions as its steel workers, wanting to unionize, started a strike over low wages and poor working conditions. While Republic Steel proved successful in the “Little Steel Strike of 1937,” with the outbreak of World War II, the firm quickly permitted unions in its mills so that the firm could acquire lucrative government contracts. The company prospered throughout the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, but competition from foreign steel, higher wages, and new environmental codes began to hurt the firm. The situation continued to worsen for the Republic Steel Company during the 1980s, and in 1984, the company merged with Jones and Laughlin to create LTV Steel. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B08F02_009_001
Subjects: Industries--Ohio; Steel-works--Ohio--Pictorial works; Republic Steel Corporation; Republic Iron & Steel Company
Places: Youngstown (Ohio); Cleveland (Ohio); Mahoning County (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: Interior photograph taken at Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company, which was established in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1900. Starting with capital of $600,000, the company became one of the largest steel manufacturers in the world. The Briar Hill Steel Company of Youngstown was purchased in 1923, along with The Steel and Tube Company of America in East Chicago and Indiana Harbor, Indiana, making it the fifth-largest steel manufacturer in the United States. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B07F07_013_1
Subjects: Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company; Industries--Ohio; Steel-works--Ohio--Pictorial works; Factories
Places: Youngstown (Ohio); Mahoning County (Ohio); Trumbull County (Ohio)
 

Description: Reinforced concrete rental housing of Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company's Blackburn Plat in East Youngstown (Campbell) Ohio, 1918. The company constructed this housing for mill workers and their families following a strike in the early 20th century, and deliberately made the houses small to discourage the immigrant practice of taking in boarders. These apartments were rented at $15, $18, and $20 per month with water furnished, which constituted about a quarter of the average laborer's wage. By around 1920, well over 200 homes made up Blackburn Plat. The company sold this complex, as well as three others, in the 1940s. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05503
Subjects: Mahoning County (Ohio); Ohio Economy--Architecture and Engineering; Mills and mill-work--Ohio; Steel industry and trade--Ohio--Youngstown--History; Prefabricated houses
Places: East Youngstown (Ohio); Campbell (Ohio); Mahoning County (Ohio)
 

Description: Construction of coke screening building foundation at Republic Steel's Birmingham, Alabama Works. Southwest View. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AC2_YHCIL_MSS0012_B04F01_001
Subjects: Republic Steel Corporation; Steel Industry; Coke plants;
Places: Warren (Ohio); Trumbull County (Ohio); Youngstown (Ohio); Mahoning County (Ohio) Birmingham (Alabama)
 

Description: Portrait of Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company President James A. Campbell, ca. 1920-1929. James Anson Campbell was born in Ohltown, Trumbull County, Ohio, on September 11, 1854. In 1900 he co-founded the Youngstown Iron Sheet and Tube Company, later to be renamed the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company, in East Youngstown with George D. Wick in 1900. Campbell spent thirty years with Youngstown Sheet and Tube, and during that time he participated in numerous charitable and civic activities. In 1926 the residents of East Youngstown chose to rename their city Campbell in recognition of his contributions to the community. Campbell died September 20, 1933, at the age of 79. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05552
Subjects: Youngstown (Ohio); Industrialists--Ohio; Ohio Economy--Economy--Business; Steel industry and trade--Ohio--Youngstown--History; Factories
Places: Trumbull County (Ohio); Youngstown (Ohio); Mahoning County (Ohio)