East Youngstown 1916 Strike Photographs   Save
Youngstown Sheet & Tube Audiovisual Archives
Description: Five 8.5" by 11" (21.6 by 27.9 cm) images were taken during the 1916 strike in East Youngstown, later renamed Campbell, Ohio. National Guard troops are visible in the first three images, as is the damage caused the fires set during the strike, which are seen in the last two images. On December 28, 1915, five hundred workers at the Republic Iron and Steel Company's tube mill in Youngstown walked off their jobs. Urged on by members of the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.) and other labor organizers the steelworkers demanded higher wages from their company which had increased production due to the war in Europe. The strike quickly spread to other Republic Iron and Steel departments, as well as to other steel companies, and soon 16,000 area steelworkers were on strike. In response to the strike the steel companies hired armed guards to protect the mills and the employees who remained on the job. Confrontations soon erupted between the company guards and the striking steelworkers, culminating on January 7, 1916 when company guards at Youngstown Sheet & Tube's East Youngstown mill opened fire on a crowd of picketers. The crowd responded by rioting and burned much of East Youngstown's business district. The next day 2,100 National Guard troops arrived and restored order but not before three people had died and 125 were injured. The arrival of the National Guard as well as offers of increased wages by the steel companies convinced most of the striking workers to return to their jobs. Within a week of the riots the mills were once again operating near full capacity. The 1916 strike not only led to increased wages but also persuaded the steel companies to take more interest in their employees' welfare. Believing that the foreign-born employees had been controlled by the I.W.W. during the strike, the steel companies organized Americanization classes. The companies also noticed the poor housing and living conditions that many steelworkers faced and so undertook construction projects. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om1628_1919884_003
Subjects: Military Ohio; Business and Labor; Steel industry; Soldiers; Strikes; Fires
Places: East Youngstown (Ohio); Campbell (Ohio); Mahoning County (Ohio)