Steeltown U.S.A.: Work and Memory in Youngstown (CultureAmerica)

STEELTOWN U.S.A. is the collaborative product of two Youngstown (Ohio) State University Professors. They are Sherry Lee Linkon (English, American Studies, Co-director of the Center for Working-Class Studies) and John Russo (Management, Co-director of the Center for Working-Class Studies). I heard them live review their book and its eight-year history to date during a June 2010 conference in Boardman, a Youngstown suburb. ***** STEELTOWN U.S.A. is a visually attractive, much illustrated text. Merely to spend a quarter hour thumbing through its maps, photos, cartoons and banners gives an informed, gritty feel for a tough city, Youngstown, in northeastern Ohio, and its history since the early 1800s. ***** But there is much more: a generally Marxist, determinist theory of Youngstown's history as class versus class, rich versus poor, old versus new, official corruption, mob activities co-existing with active, often ethnic churches and parochial schools. The authors also believe that many people living in and near Youngstown in the early 21st Century either want to forget about their city's history or remain overwhelmed with shame, if they bother to remember history at all. According to Linkon and Russo, Youngstown's story is full of highs and lows and all of it must be remembered and understood if Steeltown U.S.A. is to have a sensible future. ***** In September 1977 "de-industrialization" descended like an angry cyclone on what was then arguably the most successful steel-manufacturing city in the world. The mills began to shut down. Within five years 50,000 people lost their jobs. The new growth industries were suburban shopping malls and four major new prisons (and some champion college football teams). ***** People fled the city. Property values tumbled. New highways tore old neighborhoods apart. The authors lay out reasons for this history: starting with geography: water, coal and iron in abundance. Cheap immigrant labor helped. Local people who grew rich quickly and until around 1970 continued to live in the area and pour fresh capital into steel and related industries assured stability. ***** There were stikes, successful labor union actions, Ohio State government repression of the poor, Federal government courts tending to side with the powerful owners. All this was the making of Steeltown U.S.A. People forget this history at the peril of the new, post-industrial Youngstown, still working to eradicate official corruption, mob-influence and to figure out: "Who are We?" -OOO-