Iron and Steel Workers

Iron and Steel Workers. Three Rivers Heritage Trail. The shift to mass production in the steel industry brought thousands of new workers to Pittsburgh and forever changed the city. Between 1870 and 1900, Pittsburgh's population quadrupled. Through Ellis Island and from across the nation came the people who would forge Pittsburgh's famous work force. , , Workers labored in twelve-hour shifts for seven days a week, never seeing the light of day. In overcrowded boarding houses and shanties, landlords rented the same rooms for two shifts. Typhoid fever and industrial accidents claimed hundreds of lives. , , Reform movements initiated by strong trade unions and civic leaders improved work and living conditions. , , The hills and valleys surrounding J&L became insulated neighborhoods where Old World cultural traditions endured. Churches, clubs, and societies defined the old ways of life, and Pittsburgh's ethnic neighborhoods remained stable during decades of change in the 20th century.