The History of Steel in Baltimore

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Prompt for Engaged Learning
The History of Steel in Baltimore
Pennsylvania Steel Company brought steel in the City of Baltimore in 1893 by building a
shipyard and steel mill. In 1916, the organization acquired Bethlehem Steel resulting in the steel
industry dominating Baltimore’s economy (Stoddard 77). The Company constructed the Sparrow
Point, a residential community to accommodate its staffs. Workers from distinct nationalities
including African-American, Hungarian, Russian, German, Irish, and Welsh flocked into
Baltimore in pursuit of employment opportunities in the steel industry.
The Importance of unions in steel communities
Industrial workers in the early and late 20th and 19th centuries respectively were subjected to
desperate circumstances including poor working conditions, low salaries, and long working
hours. The rapid growth of factory production and mechanization coupled with the desperate
circumstances of employees resulted in the resurfacing of labor unions (Library of Congress). As
a consequence, a majority of steel workers were forced to seek the help of radical and socialist
labor organizations to address their economic and social inequalities triggered by industrial
capitalism (Fuechtmann 74). Even though it was somewhat difficult for labor unions to organize
a large number of staffs at the end of the 19th century, they succeed in organizing work stoppages
and strikes. Example of such strikes is the 1919 Great Steel Strike organized by the American
Federation of Labor. The workers were not happy with how the United States Steel Corporation