Defense Date

6-15-2011

Graduation Date

Summer 2011

Availability

Immediate Access

Submission Type

thesis

Degree Name

MA

Department

History

School

McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts

Committee Chair

Perry K. Blatz

Committee Member

Joseph Rishel

Keywords

Steel industry, Worktime, Labor history

Abstract

The iron and steel industry was rapidly changing between 1870 and 1939. The decline of iron and the rise of steel, coupled with technological developments and new immigration trends, brought about a new industry at the end of the nineteenth century that was starkly different from just a few decades earlier. The industry was much more mechanized and a larger part of it consisted of continuous production. Its workers were much less skilled and tended to work longer. This thesis follows the changing nature of worktime in this period, as more workers remained on the job longer with the growing industry, until the economic resurgence beginning with the Second World War, when workers began to return to their jobs after almost a decade of insufficient work due to the Great Depression. It also follows various movements and strikes, including the strike of 1919, which fought to limit worktime.

Format

PDF

Language

English

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