Iron Artisans: Welsh Immigrants and American Age of Steel

The book explores the influence of Welsh workers and managers on the American iron and steel industry, concentrating in Pennsylvania and Ohio. It analyzes the continuity and change, and how Americanization worked within a small, privileged working-class ethnic group.

Format: Hardback
Length: 318 pages
Publication date: 04 April 2023
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press

The foundation of America's rise to global industrial dominance was laid upon the strength of iron and steel, and despite their relatively small population, no immigrant group contributed more strategically per capita to the advancement of basic industries than Welsh workers and managers. These immigrants arrived in waves that coincided with the different stages of America's industrial development, primarily clustering in the coal and iron hubs of Pennsylvania and Ohio. This captivating book delves into the profound impact of the Welsh on the American iron and steel industry, as well as the transnational cultural spaces they established within mill communities in the tristate area, encompassing the greater upper Ohio Valley, eastern Ohio, northern West Virginia, and western Pennsylvania. With a focus on the intersection of transnational immigration history, ethnic history, and labor history, Ronald Lewis examines the interplay of continuity and change, exploring how Americanization unfolded within a small, relatively privileged, working-class ethnic group.

The foundation of America's rise to global industrial dominance was laid upon the strength of iron and steel, and despite their relatively small population, no immigrant group contributed more strategically per capita to the advancement of basic industries than Welsh workers and managers. These immigrants arrived in waves that coincided with the different stages of America's industrial development, primarily clustering in the coal and iron hubs of Pennsylvania and Ohio. This captivating book delves into the profound impact of the Welsh on the American iron and steel industry, as well as the transnational cultural spaces they established within mill communities in the tristate area, encompassing the greater upper Ohio Valley, eastern Ohio, northern West Virginia, and western Pennsylvania. With a focus on the intersection of transnational immigration history, ethnic history, and labor history, Ronald Lewis examines the interplay of continuity and change, exploring how Americanization unfolded within a small, relatively privileged, working-class ethnic group.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780822947622