Photographs
Jeanette Furnace
Jeanette Furnace was built in 1917-1918 by the Brier Hill Steel Company, and was later sold in 1923 to Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company. The furnace was named after Brier Hill Steel Co. president W.A. Thomas' daughter, Mary Jeanette. Jeanette Furnace was 90 feet tall and weighed 500 tons, and produced over 11 million tons of steel for both the BHSC and YSTC. If you have heard Bruce Springsteen's "Youngstown," you may have heard the line, "my sweet Jenny I'm sinkin' down," referring to Jeanette Furnace.
It ceased production in 1974, but remained standing until January 1997, when it was demolished. There were attempts by two groups to preserve the furnace, but adequate funding was unavailable.
Photo: American Iron and Steel Institute, ca. 1918-1923. Hagley Digital Archives.
YST Employees Playing Baseball
YS&T sponsored an annual outing at Idora Park, and this photo shows employees before a baseball game on Labor Day in 1939. The popular "Jack Rabbit" roller coaster can be seen behind the team.
Photo from our Youngstown Sheet & Tube Audiovisual Archives
"Trestle Laborer in Ore Bin, Wearing Belt and Life Line"
Maria Blazina Cole donated an ornately framed image of a trestle laborer, wearing safety gear, working in an ore car. The man in the image was John Blazina, a Yugoslavian immigrant who arrived in the United States in 1911. Blazina married and had four children, one of whom, John Blazina, Jr., worked at Campbell’s Youngstown Sheet and Tube Works as a locomotive crane operator for forty-three years. He also worked on the trestle over the blast furnace and was tasked many times with dredging and cleaning the Mahoning River.
Graduate Intern Research Assistant found the image in Safe Practice At Blast Furnaces: A Manual for Foremen and Men, 1917. The manual details prudent ways to work in and around blast furnaces as well as how to properly wear safety equipment. To view the original publication online, go to Google Books, enter the title, the image is on page 41, picture 25.
Citizens in Depression Relief Gardens
This photograph depicts men and women working behind their homes in Depression relief gardens, which were used to alleviate the Great Depression by providing citizens with food and work.
The Great Depression, which lasted into the 1930s, began with the stock market crash on October 29, 1929 (Black Tuesday). It was the longest and most widespread depression of the 20th century. Unemployment in the U.S. rose to 23% and 33% in other countries. Cities that depended upon heavy industry were hit the hardest.
Youngstown Sheet and Tube Audiovisual Archives