Ghosts of Industry: Export, PA

It saddens me to see what has happened to organized labor in America. Once a powerful advocate for the rights and dignity of all workers--not just union members--the movement has been beaten down by corporations and right wing politicians to the point where it's a shadow of what it once was. Most workers are once again on their own--and many are powerless in their dealings with employers. The unions, and the people who suffered and sacrificed to build them, are ghosts of industry.

Export, PA, where I grew up, played an important role in the history of organized labor, but I didn't learn about that until many years after I left, when Helene Smith published her fantastic book, Export: A Patch of Tapestry Out of Coal Country America. As part of her portrait of the history and culture of an iconic American coal town, she described the tough living conditions of the immigrant workers who toiled in the mines and recounted the two massive strikes, in 1910 and 1922. These were long, violent affairs that ended in the defeat of the workers when strikebreakers and militias crushed the strikes. Mother Jones came to Export and led protests by miners' wives.

Export's main drag today

Ghosts of Industry -- Research into Lost Times and Places

I'm fascinated with old industries--have been ever since I grew up in, Export, PA, a former coal mining town, and went to college in Pittsburgh at a time when the steel mills were still going full blast and America still felt like the land of opportunity.

One of my favorite bars was called Franks. It was down by the J&L mill along the Monogahela River. It was a beautiful place--all dark hardwood interior with carved wood embellishments. The story was that it been built for the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 and the interior had been shipped to Pittsburgh afterwards to be Franks. I remember that at night, in front of the bar, the entire sky lit up with the glow from the mills. Also, draft Iron City cost 25 cents. A lost time and place.

Anyway, I'm now fascinated with the ghosts of industries--the old mills, the old cities, and my thoughts about the people, most of whom who are no longer living. They built those cities and mills and created the great American industries and the great American middle class.  This series of photos and stories is my homage to them.

I'm starting with Johnstown and Export. Look for updates as I make them.

For a teaser, here's a shot through a dirty window of the old Cambria Iron Works in Johnstown, where the steel industry was born. These are forges where they tested the steel.

The Bronx Revisited

I traveled to the South Bronx last evening to participate in a tech ecosystem-building event. I got off at the 3rd Ave stop on the 6 train and walked over to Per Scholas, about 1 mile. Most of the people I saw were Latino. Here are some photos:

Down Under the Manhattan Bridge

Yesterday afternoon, I traveled to the Brooklyn neighborhood called DUMBO. It was very cold, and the day's light was fading. A good time to shoot moody photographs of bricks, steel, river and glass.

Down the Danube on a Zille

In October of 2014 I took a one-week trip down the Danube River in Germany and Austria on a glorified rowboat with three friends, all of whom I have known for more than 40 years: Gerd Berger, translator and tour guide, Regensburg, Germany; Ed Bartlett, bassoonist, Salzburg, Austria; Tim Chegwidden, wine entrepreneur, Woodbridge, Connecticut; me, writer and videographer, Pelham, New York. (Snapshots are via iPhone)

Regensburg, Germany, at sunset

The boat was Gerd's 22-foot zille, powered by an outboard motor and kept off the rocks and docks by a stechruder (part paddle, part grappling spear). The zille is the traditional work boat of the Danube, in use there for centuries--with a flat bottom and a lot of carrying capacity. For fishing, transporting goods and basic transportation. I nominated myself to be First Mate, which meant I did some piloting, pointed out potentially dangerous situations to the Captain (Gerd), oversaw stowing of gear, and ghost wrote the captain's log. Ed was Grill Meister. Tim was Castoff Man.

The Opera House in Belém

I took a tour of the opera house in Belém with one of my colleagues. It was built in 1878, during the rubber boom, when Belém was one of the capitals of Latin America. I imagine this is what Werner Herzog's "Fitzcarraldo" had in mind when he dreamed of bringing opera to the remote regions of the Amazon. Lots of interesting detail.

Magnificent ruin in Belém, Brazil

Here's a ruin I walk past every day on my way The Nature Conservancy's office in old Belém: