Steel Town 1944

The visuals are stunning. Stacks spewing clouds of smoke into the sky, nearly obscuring the Home Savings & Loan building while men and women, all wearing hats, jump on and off busses at street level. Rivers of molten ore running down chutes to create the ships, tanks or guns that in peacetime would be office buildings. In Youngstown we make steel. We make steel and talk steel.

A World War II -era film created by the Office of War Information, 'Steel Town 1944' offers an incredible glimpse into Youngstown's past. My hope with this blog was to continue to spread Youngstown's rich past while highlighting some of the remarkable things going on to rebuild. For those who lived in the steel boom years of Youngstown's past, in the words of Doc Graham, "The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces."

Some interesting points to watch out for:

• 6:36 - Hooking up the hoist to a bucket of molten iron
  
• 7:30 - The 1944 Wilson-South football game at South High.
• 7:59 - South High School principal's office, classroom and cafeteria
  
• 10:05 - A Youngstown Symphony Orchestra made up entirely of steelworkers and their wives, rehearsing a piece written by Gerald Marovich, a Youngstown-native in the Navy

Not to give the ending away, but this closing quote is a classic:

"When the war is over, we're going to have other problems. We know about that in Youngstown. We've had it here before. There are times when there is no smoke in the sky and mills were quiet. The streets full of men, angry, questioning, wondering. We're beginning to understand that these things don't just happen in one place. They happen everywhere."

Downtown Hidden Gem #1

I am hoping to periodically post things from downtown that people generally don't know about. I heard of this first gem from my dad and was quick to find a magnificent room inside the Ohio One building (formerly the Ohio Edison Building, 25 East Boardman Street). This 80'x60' Great Room appears to have been the former lobby for the Ohio Edison offices as the building is addressed off of E. Boardman but the current entrance, a much smaller and less grand door, is on S. Champion. It features a 23-foot cathedral ceiling and black walnut paneling.

The room is currently locked and unused except for an apparent Christmas party, although there is no telling what year it occurred. Even to get into the building we had to convince a stern and frank looking maintenance man that we were legitimate. He informed us that the room sees little use and although the rest of the building is air conditioned, this room is not. It did have radiator heat, however.