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Women at Work Presentation March 16, 6pm
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Ohio Humanities Grants $7,500 to Museum for Oral History Project
Donna DeBlasio Speaker 6:00pm 11-10-2022
Dr. Leary Lecture 6:00 pm June 2022
Applied History Program Schedule 2022
Talk on Youngstown General Duty Nurses' Association at Tyler History Center
Wuslich Scholarship November 2020
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Recent News
The Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor proudly announces a new partnership with Rick Rowlands and his Steel Heritage Site about steam-power in the mills and on the rails. Excerpts from his participation in the preservation of the 48-inch plate mill at Carrie Blast Furnaces National Historic Landmark are presented here.
THE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OF THE 48-INCH UNIVERSAL PLATE MILL
After spending decades in storage, the 48-inch Universal Plate Mill from the Homestead Works is undergoing historic preservation work with support from an array of funders and a collective of workers. Since May is National Preservation Month, we’re excited to take this opportunity to share some of the important work that is currently going on, outside of public view, at the Carrie Blast Furnaces National Historic Landmark.
Enter Rick Rowlands, the project manager heading up the mill rebuild for Rivers of Steel. As the executive director of Youngstown Steel Heritage, Rick became the only nationwide expert on old steam-powered rolling mills by restoring the Tod engine of a rolling mill in Youngstown, Ohio, and poring over the existing documentation on Homestead’s 48-inch Mill. Rowlands explains, “The best way of learning something is because you have to know it. There are two parts to this mill: The first half is the steam engine restoration, which will be completed by the end of 2024—then we’ll switch to the actual mill.”
“It’s kind of like the old days,” says Rowlands about Arambula and Stein, “where you’d come to the plant as an apprentice and get put onto different jobs to assist and do a little bit of everything.”
The workforce development initiative is part of Rivers of Steel’s ongoing commitment to developing a regional labor force of people who will have the skills to help with industrial restoration projects elsewhere in the country or who can apply what they have learned to other, more conventional jobs.
Rick Rowlands with the crankshaft from the 48-inch Mill.
Rick Rowlands adds: “Tens of thousands of people spent their lives building and working in this mill. They had their own communities around it. Then it all closed down, and you have these empty fields. Who were these people, and how did they do this? I like to think I’ve helped keep something around of those people and their lives.”
By Lynne Squilla,
Contributing Writer
Rivers of Steel
While her work has taken her across the globe, she’s rooted in the Mt. Washington neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and has a passion for sharing stories about our region’s past.
Archived News
Site News
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YSU Students Explore the Fuel that Fed the Iron and Steel Industry (May 7, 2021)
YSU Grad Students Present In-depth Study on Area's Coke Plants (May 6, 2021)
New Virtual Exhibit Celebrates Youngstown's Manufacturing History (October 19, 2020)
YSU Students Interview People in their Native Language for Hispanic Heritage Month Project (September 30, 2020)
Percy M. Kelty Jr. 1923-2020 (July 2, 2020)
Plans to Move Youngstown's Oldest Church on Hold Until City Council Votes on Selling Land (March 2, 2020)
Local News
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A Solid 40 Years for McDonald Steel (March 2021)