Description: The Republic Steel Corporation Collection (MSS 192) consists of 13,000 black and white photographic negatives, 2,000 color photographic negatives, and many 35 mm slides which document Republic Steel Corporation’s main production facilities and its subsidiaries, 1941-1975. This collection also includes images of social events such as company picnics, award banquets, and dances. Founded in 1899, Republic Iron and Steel Company was a steel production company based in Youngstown, Ohio, and the result of a consolidation of 34 steel mills across the United States including the Mahoning Valley’s Brown Bonnell Iron Company, Andrews Brothers and Company, and Mahoning Iron Company. From 1927-1937, Republic Iron and Steel Company expanded its reach by acquiring a number of other companies such as Trumbull Steel Company in Warren, Ohio, and Central Alloy Steel Corporation in Canton, Ohio. With its expansion, Republic Iron and Steel Company became the third largest steel producer in the United States behind United States Steel Corporation and Bethlehem Steel Company, and changed its name to Republic Steel Corporation to reflect its new status. After the outbreak of World War II in 1941, the Corporation’s production increased by 33%. This increased production continued into the 1950s and 1960s as the company continued to be one of the leading developers of steel production technology. Due to a myriad of factors including decreased demand for steel from automobile manufacturers and imported foreign steel, steel sales declined and in 1984 the Republic Steel Corporation was purchased by LTV Corporation, which led to the closure of the Youngstown plant. LTV filed for bankruptcy in December 2000. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: YHC_MSS192_B05F0831B2_013
Subjects: Republic Steel Corporation; Steel industry; Youngstown (Ohio)
 

Description: 160 ton mixer-type hot metal car built for Armco Steel Corporation Ashland, Kentucky. Car was built by the William B. Pollock Company of Youngstown, Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AC2_YHCIL_MSS0031_B03F102_004
Subjects: Slag; Steel industry; Hot metal
Places: Youngstown (Ohio); Mahoning County (Ohio); Ashland (Kentucky)
 

Description: This photograph depicts a flame blowing through a Bessemer converter. Bessemer converters release oxygen gas through molten iron, which reacts with carbon and and other impurities to increase the quality of the steel, as well as producing a large flame. This photograph belongs to the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Audiovisual Archives, so its subject is likely located at a Youngstown plant. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AC2_YHCIL_MSS0140_B01F09_010
Subjects: Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company; Bessemer furnace; Steel industry
 

Description: This photograph depicts a large piece of mechanical equipment identified as a pusher bar in a coke plant. Coke plants burn coal in order to purify it and transform it into coke; then, blast furnaces burn layers of coke and iron ore to produce pig iron, the first step of the steelmaking process. This photograph is from the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company Audiovisual Archives, so it likely depicts a Youngstown company plant. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AC2_YHCIL_MSS0140_B04F70_009
Subjects: Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company; Steel industry; Coke plants
 

Description: Harry L. Williams identification photograph from the files of the Republic Steel Corporation, Central Alloy District. The Central Alloy District consisted of two plants: one in Canton, Ohio, and one in Massillon, Ohio. Identification photographs were taken over a period of time and logged into the files as one batch on June 3, 1942. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: YHC_MSS192_B01F082_08
Subjects: Republic Steel Corporation; Republic Steel Corporation -- Employees
Places: Ohio
 

Description: Illustration by Thomas Nast depicting the charge of the 54th Massachusetts on Fort Wagner. Caption reads: "Entred (sic) according to Act of Congress A.D. 1867 by Johnson, Fry & Co., in the clerks office of the district court of the southern district of New York" ALTERNATE TEXT: Two sides clash in an army battle. The scene is at night, with most of the light coming from gun shots or fires. Multiple flags are held above the battle, including American and Confederate flags. African American soldiers are included in the Union army and they all charge uphill toward the Rebel soldiers. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: NAM_SC16
Subjects: African American soldiers; African American men; Civil War 1861-1865; Artists
Places: New York
 

Description: This oval bread tray is made of tin painted red and decorated with flowers. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: H9387
Subjects: Society of Separatists of Zoar--History; Cooking tools and equipment
Places: Zoar (Ohio); Tuscarawas County (Ohio)
 

Description: This round cake pan was handmade from tin. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: H9406
Subjects: Society of Separatists of Zoar--History; Kitchen utensils--United States--History
Places: Zoar (Ohio); Tuscarawas County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of an employee moving a package in the mechanized receiving room, in the bulk service building of The F. & R. Lazarus Company, ca. 1950. Between 1851 and 1965, the F & R Lazarus Company retail store dominated the trade and physical landscape of Columbus. The company rose from its early years as a men's clothier in a 20 x 40 foot room downtown, to its position by 1965 as a member of the largest department store chain, Federated Department Stores. Lazarus' growth reflects that of the capital city; from small beginnings through a "golden age" of downtown development, and eventually branching out into the surrounding countryside. In 2003, the Lazarus Company was incorporated with Macy's, a member of the Federated Department stores, and is no longer in existence. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04431
Subjects: Columbus (Ohio); Lazarus Department Store; Employees; Ohio Economy--Economy--Business
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: Charles Foster (1828-1904) was governor of Ohio from 1880 to 1884. Foster chose to run as the Republican candidate for Ohio governor in 1879, and campaigned on the issue of sound money, which would require the government to back paper money with gold. Foster won the election and focused his administration on reforming the state government so that it was more efficient. In addition, Foster supported the temperance movement by favoring higher liquor taxes. Ultimately, his support of this tax, known as the Pond Law, contributed to his defeat in the election of 1883. He later went on to serve as Secretary of the Treasury under President Benjamin Harrison from 1891 through 1893. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL02808
Subjects: Governors--Ohio; Other--Federal Government; Republican Party; Temperance; Portrait photography
 

Description: This image shows the Perkins Observatory near Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio. Near the observatory is the famous "Big Ear" radio telescope, which had a collecting area of 340 by 70 feet (104 by 21 meters). The Ohio Sky Survey recorded here between 1965 and 1972 was the most accurate, reliable, and complete mapping of cosmic radio signals (the "radio sky") for many years. This observatory conducted a 24-year continuous search for evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence, during which the famous "Wow!" signal was received in 1977. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06504
Subjects: Observatories; Astronomy; Telescopes; Interstellar communication; Science and Technology
Places: Delaware (Ohio); Delaware County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph from the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus is of 17-year-old Louis Vernon Hand, a farm hand from Mercer County. His formal attire suggests that the photograph was taken during his trial or sentencing. Hand was convicted of murdering seven-year-old Richard Stover with a hammer in Rockford, Ohio. The caption at the bottom reads: “No. 239 Louis Vernon Hand of Mercer County, Legally Electrocuted January 14th, 1944, for the Murder of Richard Stover.” Some records list Richard's last name as Stober. 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: AL08293
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law; Capital punishment; Death row; Electrocution; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Corrections; Ohio Penitentiary (Columbus, Ohio); Prisons--Ohio
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio); Rockford (Ohio); Mercer County (Ohio)