Description: Dated 1930-1943, this photograph shows a worker silhouetted against white-hot molten metal being poured from a blast furnace into a ladle. This could be one of any number of steel mills in Ohio. In the early nineteenth century, there were a number of furnaces in Ohio that processed iron. These small industries were made possible by local iron ore deposits in southern and eastern Ohio. In addition, some parts of Ohio also had coal deposits that could be used to fuel furnaces. Because of their proximity to the state's iron manufacturing, by the second half of the nineteenth century communities such as Cleveland, Akron, Canton, and Youngstown had begun to emerge as major industrial cities. Railroads also encouraged the growth of the iron industry. After the American Civil War (1861-1865), iron manufacturers in Ohio began to introduce new processes to refine iron ore. The resulting product was steel, which was much stronger and more versatile than iron. Because Ohio companies such as the Otis Steel Company were quick to adopt new technology, Ohio became the second largest producer of steel in the nation by the 1890s. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the rapid growth of some steel companies led to a wave of mergers that created big businesses like the United States Steel Company (U.S. Steel), Republic Iron and Steel Corporation, and Youngstown Steel and Tube Company. Very often, smaller companies that had produced either iron or steel since the early 1800s were taken over or driven out of business because they were unable to compete with the large corporations. The developments in the steel industry helped to encourage construction of large buildings, such as skyscrapers, as well as bridges and other projects. The automobile industry also contributed to the growth of the steel industry in the early decades of the twentieth century. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B07F07_012_1
Subjects: Industries--Ohio; Factories; Steel-works--Ohio--Pictorial works; Blast furnaces--United States
Places: Ohio
 

Description: Interior view of the blast furnace at the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company's Campbell Works in East Youngstown (Campbell), Ohio. The bottom of the blast furnace is known as the hearth. Sheltered by the cast house, this part of the furnace is pierced, or tapped, to release the pig iron from within. The pig iron then flows through runners in the cast house floor. The man in this ca. 1930-1939 photograph is taking a sample of the pig iron so that its composition can be tested. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05596
Subjects: Blast furnaces--Ohio; Ohio Economy--Economy--Labor; Steel industry and trade--Ohio--Youngstown--History
Places: East Youngstown (Ohio); Campbell (Ohio); Mahoning County (Ohio)
 

Description: Steelworkers use a mud gun in the cast house at the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company's Campbell Works, East Youngstown (Campbell), Ohio, ca. 1930-1939. The mud gun swung from an arm mounted on a pedestal in the cast house. The clay plugged the hole by plugging or screwing in the clay. The plugging method varied depending on the type of gun being used at the time. The gun could be powered by steam or an electric motor. After every use, the gun needed cleaning and the clay was discarded. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05609
Subjects: Blast furnaces--Ohio; Ohio Economy--Economy--Business; Steel industry and trade--Ohio--Youngstown--History; Iron and steel workers--Ohio
Places: East Youngstown (Ohio); Campbell (Ohio); Mahoning County (Ohio)
 

Description: A steelworker plugs the cinder notch in the cast house at the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company's Campbell Works, East Youngstown (Campbell), Ohio, ca. 1930-1939. Workers first flushed the slag out of the blast furnace at the cinder notch. Then they used a long steel bar called a bott to plug the cinder notch. At the end of the bar was the cinder notch plug, or the monkey bott. Later, at the end of the monkey bott was an oxygen lance. The worker operating the monkey bott was called a keeper. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05610
Subjects: Blast furnaces--Ohio; Ohio Economy--Economy--Business; Steel industry and trade--Ohio--Youngstown--History; Iron and steel workers--Ohio
Places: East Youngstown (Ohio); Campbell (Ohio); Mahoning County (Ohio)
 

Description: This is a photographic reproduction of a an illustration showing the fueling of a conical blast furnace. Iron and steel production in Ohio go back to its admission to the Union in 1802. The first blast furnace for iron was established in northeastern Ohio near Youngstown. Even though the first furnace was in northeaster Ohio, southern Ohio dominate the first half of the 19th century's iron production, especially at Hanging Rock by the Ohio River. However, from the mid 1800s onward, northeastern Ohio emerged as the primary region for iron production in Ohio by replacing their charcoal furnaces with coal furnaces. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL01706
Subjects: Blast furnaces--Ohio; Iron industry; Ohio Economy
Places: Ohio
 

Description: Pieces of blast furnace down comers built by the William B. Pollock Company of Youngstown, Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AC2_YHCIL_MSS0031_B03F95_004
Subjects: Blast furnaces--Equipment and supplies; Blast furnaces--Design and construction; Steel industry and trade--Youngstown; Blast furnaces--United States; Blast Furnace--Ohio
Places: Youngstown (Ohio); Mahoning County (Ohio)
 

Description: Glass plate negative showing Walter Black (1895- ), a Youngstown, Ohio, steelworker, in 1920. Walter Black was born in 1895 in Knoxville, Tennessee. During World War I, Black moved to Youngstown, and like many other African Americans, he sought employment in the steel industry. In 1915, Black found a job at Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company's Hubbard blast furnaces. African Americans had largely been excluded from jobs in the iron and steel industry prior to the First World War. During the war, however, a severe labor shortage led many steel companies to actively recruit African Americans for employment; as a result, thousands of African Americans migrated from the South to take new jobs in the industrial North. Starting as a common laborer, Black worked his way up to cinder snapper, scrap man, stove tender, and assistant blower. Eventually, Black became a blast furnace foreman--one of the first African Americans to be promoted to foreman in the Youngstown District. On August 16, 1920, a worked named A.S. Morris was overcome by poisonous gas while working at the top of the #2 Hubbard blast furnace. Black climbed to the top of the furnace and carried Morris to ground level. Morris, who had stopped breathing, was revived when Black applied mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. This photograph was taken shortly after he saved Morris's life. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL02994
Subjects: African Americans -- Employment; Blast furnaces -- Ohio; Ohio Economy -- Economy -- Labor; Steel industry and trade--Ohio--Youngstown--History;
Places: Youngstown (Ohio); Mahoning County (Ohio); Trumbull County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph depicts a sign instructing workers to receive permission from their foreman before going on top of the blast furnaces. Blast furnaces are used to smelt iron ore with coke to produce pig iron. This is the first step of steel production that occurs at mills. Air is forced into the bottom of the furnace, supporting the combustion, and giving the furnace its "blast" name. This photograph belongs to the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Audiovisual Archives, so its subject is likely located at a Youngstown company plant. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AC2_YHCIL_MSS0140_B02F21_003
Subjects: Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company; Steel industry and trade--Safety measures; Blast furnaces; Safety; Labor--Ohio
 

Description: This photograph depicts a worker reading a sign instructing workers to receive permission from the foreman before going on top of the blast furnaces. Blast furnaces are used to smelt iron ore with coke to produce pig iron. This is the first step of steel production that occurs at mills. Air is forced into the bottom of the furnace, supporting the combustion, and giving the furnace its "blast" name. This photograph belongs to the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Audiovisual Archives, so its subject is likely located at a Youngstown company plant. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AC2_YHCIL_MSS0140_B02F21_004
Subjects: Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company; Steel industry and trade--Safety measures; Blast furnaces; Steel workers; Safety; Labor--Ohio
 

Description: This photograph depicts a worker cleaning a mill building's roof near a blast furnace. Blast furnaces are used to smelt iron ore with coke to produce pig iron. This is the first step of steel production that occurs at mills. Air is forced into the bottom of the furnace, supporting the combustion, and giving the furnace its "blast" name. This photograph belongs to the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Audiovisual Archives, so its subject is likely located at a Youngstown company plant. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AC2_YHCIL_MSS0140_B02F22_001
Subjects: Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company; Steel industry; Blast furnaces; Steel workers; Safety; Labor--Ohio