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The Great Steel Strike Of 1919–20 In Lackawanna, New York
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 December 2008
On November 4, 1919, six weeks into the Great Steel Strike, the citizens of Lackawanna, New York, elected John H. Gibbons as their Mayor. Gibbons' victory was a major upset. He defeated John Toomey, the incumbent who had the support of the steel firm after which this quintessential company town was named, by forging a loosely knit coalition of native and Eastern European immigrant workers during the height of the xenophobia of the ongoing Red Scare. Gibbons' election came at a time when the Socialist Party was in decline and the various levels of American government enthusiastically used their repressive mechanisms to crush the country's “un-American” Left.
1 Resolutions to the question of whether or not the Socialist Party was on the decline ultimately hinge on the ideological nature of the party. Daniel Bell, for instance, views the pre-1920 Socialist Party as ideologically rigid and therefore alien to the American experience. James Weinstein, on the other hand, argues that prior to 1920 the Socialist Party was diverse and democratic with broad appeal to the masses. See Daniel, Bell, “The Background and Development of Marxizan Socialism in the United States”, in: Socialism and American Life, ed. by Donald, Drew Egbert and Stow, Persons (Princeton, 1952), I, pp. 213–425;Google Scholar James, Weinstein, The Decline of Socialism in America 1912–1925 (New York, 1967).Google Scholar Other pertinent works include Alan, Wolfe, The Seamy Side of Democracy (New York, 1974),Google Scholar which gives a good general overview of the use of repression throughout the United States. Robert, Murray, Red Scare (New York, 1971),Google Scholar also provides a good overview of the times. For an instance of red baiting and violence during the 1919 strike, see David, Brody, Labor in Crisis (Philadelphia, 1965), pp. 147–78. Also, United States Senate, Committee on Labor and Education, Investigation of Strikes in the Steel Industry, Hearings, 66th Congress, 1st Session (1919), pp. 542−47, 603−07. For information concerning the repressive activities of New York state government during this period see Legislature, Joint Legislative Committee to Investigate Seditious Activities, Box 7, folder 33, New York State Archives, No 281.Google Scholar
2 Although David Brody does not analyze the Lackawanna experience, even he takes this position in his prescient work Labor in Crisis. More general works on the politics of the Great Steel Strike include Commission of Inquiry, Interchurch World Movement, Report on the Steel Strike of 1919 (New York, 1920); United States Senate, Committee on Labor and Education, Report to the Senate on the Causes of the Steel Strike, 66th Congress, 1st Session (1919). Also, Walter, W. Benjamin, “Bishop Francis J. McConnell and the Great Steel Strike of 1919–1920”, in: A Miscellany of American Christianity: Essays in Honor of Shelton Smith, ed. by Stuart, C. Henry (Durham, NC., 1963), pp. 22–47.Google Scholar For a critique of the Interchurch World Movement Report see Marshall, Olds, Analysis of the Interchurch World Movement Report on the Steel Strike (New York, 1922), pp. 189–209.Google Scholar For a balanced analysis of the two views see Phillip, C. Enley, “The Interchurch World Movement and Steel Strike of 1919”, in: Labor History, XIII (1972), pp. 217–30.Google Scholar
3 For a discussion see Frances Fox Piven and Richard, Cloward, Poor People's Movements (New York, 1977), pp. 96–180;Google Scholar Henry, B. Leonard, “Ethnic Cleavage and Industrial Conflict in Late 19th Century America: The Cleveland Rolling Mill Company Strikes of 1882 and 1885”, in: Labor History, XX (1979), pp. 524–48.Google Scholar
4 Piven, and Cloward, , Poor People's Movements, p. 36.Google Scholar
5 For a discussion see Leon, Fink, “The Use of Political Power: Toward a Theory of the Labor Movement in the Era of the Knights of Labor”, in; Working-Class America, ed. by Michael, H. Frisch and Daniel, J. Walkowitz (Urbana, 1983), pp. 104–22; also, id., “Class Conflict in the Gilded Age: The Figure and the Phantom”, in; Radical History Review, III (1975–1976), No 1–2, pp. 56–72.Google Scholar
6 For a short discussion of the early development of Lackawanna, see Lackawanna Bicentennial Commission, The History of Lackawanna (Lackawanna, 1976); Entwisle, E.F., “Development of the Iron and Steel Industry on the Niagara Frontier”, mimeograph paper presented to the Buffalo Section Association of Iron and Steel Engineers, 10 10, 1944;Google Scholar Clara, Whelan, “History of Lackawanna”, unpublished manuscript, 1935,Google Scholar Lackawanna Public Library; Gertrude, G. Schroeder, The Growth of Major Steel Companies, 1900–1950 (Baltimore, 1953).Google Scholar
7 The History of Lackawanna, p. 13.
8 Ibid., pp. 13–15; personal interview with DrJoseph, Kij, Lackawanna. 08 24, 1982; personal interview with John Osborne, Lackawanna, August 11.Google Scholar
9 In 1904 local Republicans were so concerned with this practice that they spent $2500 to verify registration lists. It should also be noted that small-business interests supported incorporation because they felt abused by the Lackawanna Steel Company and wanted the steelmaker to assume a larger share of the tax burden. See Buffalo Express, January 18, 19, 23 and February 12, 1904; Buffalo Evening News, January 18 and February 12.
10 Buffalo Express, February 12.
11 For a discussion of the relationship between geographical and juridicial size and the influence of vested interests, see Grant, McConnell, Private Power and American Democracy (New York, 1967).Google Scholar
12 Lackawanna Journal, July 6, 1909; The History of Lackawanna, p. 17.
13 United States Congress, Senate, Immigrants in Industries, Pt II: Iron and Steel Manufacturing, I, 61st Congress, 2nd Session [Senate Document 633] (1911), p. 73 (hereafter referred to as Senate Document 633).
14 Ibid.
15 The term new ethnic refers to Eastern European immigrants, most of whom were not citizens of the United States and therefore could not vote. Although published United States Census data do not distinguish naturalized citizens by ethnic group, data do indicate that in 1910 eleven per cent of all male immigrants age 21 or over had become citizens. By 1920 some eighteen per cent had been naturalized and an additional twentythree per cent had filed their first papers toward naturalization. See Richard, S. Sorrell, “Life, Work and Accumulation Patterns of Eastern European Immigrants in Lackawanna, New York: 1900–1922”, in: The Polish Review, IV (1969), pp. 78–79;Google Scholar for a discussion of xenophobia see John, A. Fitch, “The Human Side of Large Outputs, Steel and Steelworkers in Six American Cities: I, Lackawanna – Swamp, Mill and Town”, in: The Survey, XXVII (1911), pp. 931–36; Buffalo Morning Express, March 26 and August 2, 1907; Buffalo Evening News, March 3; interview with Joseph Kij.Google Scholar
16 There were two clusters of company homes. Monthly rents in the new village (125 homes) ranged between $16.50 and $19.50, and in the old village (450 homes) between $6 and $7.50, depending upon the size of the facilities. United States Congress, Senate, Department of Commerce and Labor, Report on Conditions of Employment in the Iron and Steel Industry in the United States, III: Working Conditions and the Relations of Employers and Employees, 62nd Congress, 1st Session [Senate Document 110] (1913), p. 436.
17 Fitch, , “Lackawanna”, loc. cit., pp. 934–35.Google Scholar
18 Senate Document 633, p. 779. For another description of the squalid living conditions in the immigrant section of the city see Elizabeth, S. Williams, “Clean Up Week in Lackawanna”, in: The Survey, XXVIII (1912), pp. 561–62.Google Scholar
19 Senate Document 633, pp. 791–92.Google Scholar
20 Ibid., pp. 792–96.
21 Entwisle, , “Development of the Iron and Steel Industry”, bc. cit., pp. 18–22,Google Scholar discusses Lackawanna Steel's innovations. See also F. G. Slagel, Sociological Director, Lackawanna Iron and Steel Company, to Lee, H. Shumway, 03 28, 1912,Google Scholar Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society; also, Sorrell, , “Life, Work and Accumulation Patterns”, loc. cit., pp. 74–76.Google Scholar
22 Buffalo newspapers reported numerous accidents in Lackawanna's steel plants during the period in question. Perhaps best encapsulating the public attitude toward safety, one newspaper described the death of a worker who was scalded by molten metal as “one of the risks that the steelmakers take”. It continued by describing the horrors of what it called another of the accidents which appear to be unavoidable. Buffalo Express, August 2, 1907.
23 The physically demanding jobs, low wages and abject living conditions of the foreign worker often reinforced the negative attitude of the native worker toward his foreign counterpart. According to some sociologists, the patterns of ethnic discrimination fostered, from a negative perspective, a sense of community among the immigrant population. Significantly, one study found that in the early 1920's Buffalo Poles felt they were subject to discrimination in greater proportion than any other ethnic group in that community. See Stefan, Wolszczewski, “The Polish ‘Sociological Group’ in America”, in: The American Slavic and East European Review, IV (1945), pp. 142–57;Google Scholar also, Niles, Carpenter, Nationality, Color, and Economic Opportunity in the City of Buffalo (Westport, Conn., 1970), pp. 125–30.Google Scholar
24 Sorrell, . “Life, Work and Accumulation Patterns”, p. 70;Google Scholar Fitch, , “Lackawanna”. p.938.Google Scholar
25 Senate, Document 633, p. 763.Google Scholar
26 For a good discussion of immigrant mobility see Brody, Labor in Crisis. Also, James, R. Green, The World of the Worker: Labor in Twentieth-Century America (New York, 1980).Google Scholar This is not to suggest, however, that all immigrants suddenly decided to remain in the United States. During this period, there are numerous stories in the Buffalo press of the mass immigration of foreign workers. The fact remains, however, that following the war the “globe-trotting” experience of the immigrants largely ended, and that most of those who remained in this country now had a permanent commitment. For a brief discussion, see MrsHarry, Sternberger, “Are Our Foreign-Born Emigrating?”, in: The Survey, XLIII (1920), pp. 539–40.Google Scholar The disillusionment of the foreign worker is graphically captured in Mary, Veaton Vorse, Men of Steel (London, 1922), p. 183-85.Google Scholar
27 Sorrell, , “Life, Work and Accumulation Patterns”, pp. 74–76;Google Scholar Senate, Document 633, p. 799.Google Scholar
28 Although labor unions gained about 2,000,000 new members during the war, the gains in the iron and steel industry were minimal. The advances achieved were largely the result of the policies of the War Labor Board, which made it difficult to fire workers for union membership. They were not the result of the organizational policies of the Amalgamated Association. Lewis, L. Lorwin, The American Federal of Labor (Washington, 1933), p. 181;Google Scholar Raymond, Patrick Kent, “The Development of Industrial Unionism in the American Iron and Steel Industry” (unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Pittsburgh, 1938);Google Scholar Hoaglund, H. E., “Trade Unionism in the Iron Industry: A Decadent Organization”, in: Quarterly Journal of Politics, III (1917), pp. 674–89.Google Scholar
29 During World War I, Lackawanna Steel produced 4,500,000 tons for the war effort and earned $114,000,000.
30 Buffalo Express, September 17, 1919; Monthly Labor Review, September, pp. 108−10.
31 Buffalo Express, March 5.
32 Brody, , Labor in Crisis, p. 73.Google Scholar
33 Entwisle, “Development of the Iron and Steel Industry”.
34 Although steelworkers were not organized, bricklayers and railroad workers were. For a discussion of the proletarianization of the labor-force see Katherine, Stone, “The Origins of Job Structures in the Steel Industry”, in; The Review of Radical Political Economics, VII (1974), pp. 61–97;Google Scholar also, David, Brody, Steelworkers in America (Cambridge, Mass., 1960);Google Scholar Richard, Edwards, Contested Terrain; The Transformation of the Work Place in the Twentieth Century (New York, 1979);Google Scholar Harry, Braverman, Labor and Monopoly Capital (New York, 1974);Google Scholar David, Montgomery, Workers' Control in America (New York, 1979).Google Scholar
35 For a good analysis of the problems of organizing steelworkers along craft lines, see Hoaglund, “Trade Unionism in the Iron Industry”, loc. cit.
36 William, Z. Foster, The Great Steel Strike and Its Lessons (New York, 1920).Google Scholar
37 There was some limited upward mobility among unskilled workers at the Lackawanna plant. For a discussion see Sorrell, , “Life, Work and Accumulation Patterns”, pp. 74–76.Google Scholar
38 For a discussion of the role of consciousness of past failures as a contributing factor in the failure of the strike, see Robert, Asher, “Painful Memories: The Historical Consciousness of Steelworkers and the Steel Strike of 1919”, in: Pennsylvania History, XLV (1978), pp. 61–79.Google Scholar For an overview of the attitude of workers outside the Pittsburgh area toward the actions of the Pittsburgh workers, see David, Saposs, “In the Wake of the Big Steel Strike”, in: Labor Age, III (1923), p. 7.Google Scholar
39 Lackawanna Journal, September 22 and October 6, 1917.
40 It is virtually impossible to determine the exact number of workers terminated. The company claimed only 600 were dismissed; other reports had as many as 3,000 being fired. See Buffalo Express, August 26, 1919, and Lackawanna Daily Journal, August 25. There are numerous other reports of Lackawanna Steel's use of spies and other forms of intimidation to prevent unionization, but conclusive documentation does not exist. A number of works have documented such practices by other companies in other towns. See, for instance, Charles, A. Gulick, Labor Policy of the United States Steel Corporation (New York, 1927), pp. 111–37; also, Commission of Inquiry, Interchurch World Movement, Public Opinion and the Steel Strike (New York, 1921), pp. 1–86.Google Scholar
41 Lackawanna Journal, August 28, 1919.
42 Amalgamated Journal, October 2.
43 Major George F. Chandler of the New York State Constabulary to Governor Alfred E. Smith, September 22, Governor Alfred E. Smith Papers, Box 260, file 168, New York State Archives. All citations of Smith Papers are taken from this file. Also, Buffalo Express, September 22.
44 Buffalo Express, September 21.
45 Mayor Toomey to Governor Alfred E. Smith, September 19, Smith Papers; also, Buffalo Express, September 21.
46 Toomey might very well have underestimated the strength of the union because representatives of the steel company predicted that only 15 per cent of the workforce would strike. Still, the huge turnout at union rallies, despite strictly imposed controls by the police, should have alerted the Mayor to the inaccuracy of the company's predictions.
47 The political clout of steel plants in medium-sized company towns has been described by the Bureau of Labor in the following terms: “So completely are the people, as well as the business activities of most of the ‘steel town’ dependent upon the local steel plant that any proposal made with the sanction of the company would be carried out if within the powers of the community.” Report on Conditions of Employment in the Iron and Steel Industry, III, p. 472.
48 Lackawanna Journal, 08 27, 1919.Google Scholar
49 Ibid., August 23 and September 23.
50 Charles Ellis, publisher of the Lackawanna Journal, printed a number of stories suggesting corruption between the steel plant and the Toomey administration concerning workers' compensation cases. See ibid., August 23, 25, 27 and September 3. The Journal's charges of collusion between the steel company and the city government were corroborated by statements of steelworkers and others close to the strike. An assistant superintendant in Lackawanna Steel's open-hearth department told interviewers that the company had been running the town to suit itself. Others accused Toomey of being a company tool. See Bertha Saposs, interviews with Mr Vetter, Mr Dougherty and “Man on Perch”; also, statement of John R. Commons, David J. Saposs Papers, Box 26, file 5, State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
51 Statement of John R. Commons.
52 Enrollments for 1919 showed the Republicans with 494 to the Democrats 1,298; the Socialists had but 52. Erie County and Buffalo Board of Election, Registrations and Enrollments, 1917-−1.
53 Buffalo Express, August 26 and September 3, 1919; Lackawanna Journal, September 3.
54 Buffalo Express, September 20.
55 Ibid., September 24; Buffalo Evening Times. September 23.
56 Buffalo Evening Times, September 21.
57 For accounts of the shootings see ibid., September 25; Lackawanna Journal, September 23; Buffalo Express, September 24; also, Foster, , The Great Steel Strike, op. cit., pp. 183–84.Google Scholar
58 Buffalo Express, September 24.
59 Ibid., September 26; Buffalo Evening Times, September 26.
60 Buffalo Evening Times, September 26; Amalgamated Journal, October 2: also, Bertha Saposs, interviews with Vetter and Dougherty.
61 Buffalo Express, September 28; Buffalo Evening Times, September 29; Lackawanna Journal, October 1.
62 As of May 7, 1921, the steel company paid some $17.000 in damages to the families of the slain strikers. No one was arrested for the shootings. For a more complete description see Lackawanna Journal, May 7, 1919. Foster claims the company made out-of-court settlements in addition to those made on the shootings, The Great Steel Strike, pp. 183−84.
63 Buffalo Evening Times, September 25; Buffalo Express, October 1; Lackawanna Journal, October 24.
64 The case of Agnes Woloszyn provides some clues as to how the nativist reaction was used against Eastern Europeans during the strike. Woloszyn and several other women were stopped and questioned by Police Chief Gilson. Woloszyn. the only member of the group who did not speak English. was held while the others were set free. See affidavit of Agnes Woloszyn, November 14, Smith Papers.
65 For a sampling of alleged incidents involving troopers and their horses see affidavits of Jennie Rykata and Mary Kurzon, signed November 14, and of Carolina Ciolek and Apolonia Jablonska, signed November 22; also, Lieutenant E. J. Sheehan to Superintendent of New York State Police, November 9, ibid.
66 Affidavit of Teresa Wawryszewicz, signed November 22, ibid.
67 Lieutenant E. J. Sheehan to Superintendent of New York State Police, November 9.
68 Deputy Superintendent Dutton of New York Constabulary to Governor Alfred, E. Smith, 11 8, Smith Papers.Google Scholar
69 Lackawanna Journal, October 30.
70 It is significant to note that Gilson's defense attorney was also employed as counsel for the Lackawanna Iron and Steel Corporation.
71 Lackawanna Journal, October 22; Deputy Superintendent Dutton to Governor Alfred, E. Smith, 11 8.Google Scholar
72 Petition signed by 38 of Lackawanna's small businessmen submitted to Governor Alfred E. Smith, October, Smith Papers. There was also a newspaper account of another petition with fifteen signatures favoring Toomey's actions. While no copies of this petition are available, it was discussed during a regular meeting of the Lackawanna Common Council. See Minutes, Lackawanna Common Council, January 19, 1920.
73 Lackawanna Journal, October 25, 1919.
74 Report, Agent M. F. Blackmon, November 28, Bureau of Investigation, file No OG 790720, Microfilm Reel 184 B, National Archives; Lackawanna Journal, October 20; also, Assistant Director and Chief Bureau of Justice to Brigadier General M. Churchill, Director of Military Intelligence, War Department, November 13 (unsigned), Bureau of Investigation, loc. cit.
75 Lackawanna Journal, October 8; Buffalo Express, October 11. See also Bertha Saposs, interviews with MrsCummins, and MrsDornin, ; Brody, Steelworkers in America, op. cit., pp. 254–55.Google Scholar
76 This estimate is based on information compiled from the following sources: Senate Document 633. p. 733; various editions of the Lackawanna Journal, the Buffalo Express and the Buffalo Evening News for 1919; Foster, The Great Steel Strike; Report, Agent Blackmon, M. F., 11 1, Bureau of Investigation, loc. cit.; United States Census Office, Fourteenth Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1920 (Washington, 1922), III, p. 33. It should be noted that an unidentified number of steelworkers lived in Buffalo and could not vote in Lackawanna. The evidence indicates, however, that their numbers were not sufficient to distort the present findings.Google Scholar
77 By 1919, women had gained the right to vote in New York State, and this contributed to the increased turnout in Lackawanna. Yet, the data indicate that only 505 women registered to vote in 1919. Even if all 505 voted, which is unlikely, their participation does not in itself explain the great increase in voter turnout. See official canvas for Erie County, General Election, November 4, 1919, Erie County and Buffalo Board of Elections, Registrations and Enrollments, Special Enrollment for Women, May 1918.
78 Fourteenth Census of the United States, III, p. 56; also, Report of the Secretary of State on the Enumeration of Inhabitants, 1915 (Albany, 1916), pp. 1243−51.
79 Although again, precise data are not available, analysis of New York State Manuscript Census data for 1915 and 1925 reveals that a large number of first-generation scions of Eastern European parentage lived in both the second and third wards. Dr Joseph Kij, who came to Lackawanna as a child in 1902 and has been very active in the Polish community, attributes Gibbons' success in the third ward to the fact that many first-generation Americans of Polish parentage lived there. According to Kij, who also lived in the third ward, the Poles were vehemently opposed to Toomey and supported Gibbons overwhelmingly. Interview with Joseph Kij. Yet, the data are just not available to verify this hypothesis with certainty, and other facts such as election campaigning, degree of company repression, etc., certainly must be considered in explaining Gibbons' margin. See Donald, Adams Clark, “Men on Relief in Lackawanna, New York: Social Pathology in a Satellite City”, in: The University of Buffalo Studies, XIV (1937), pp. 106–07. Ward-by-ward voting data were extracted from Official Canvas for Erie County, General Election, November 4, 1919. Board of Elections. See also, New York State Manuscript Census data, 1915.Google Scholar
80 Weinstein, , The Decline of Socialism in America. op. cit., p. 108.Google Scholar
81 For a more complete discussion see Alan, Dawley, Class and Community (Cambridge, Mass., 1976).Google Scholar
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