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eBook Roots of Steel: Boom and Bust in an American Mill Town ePub

by Deborah Rudacille

Author: Deborah Rudacille
Language: English
ISBN: 0375423680
ISBN13: 978-0375423680
Publisher: Pantheon; First Edition edition (March 23, 2010)
Pages: 304
Category: Americas
Subcategory: History
Rating: 4.8
Votes: 289
Formats: txt doc lit lrf
ePub file: 1589 kb
Fb2 file: 1544 kb

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When Deborah Rudacille was a child growing up in the working-class town of Dundalk, Maryland, a worker at the .

As the American economy seeks to restructure itself, Roots of Steel is a powerful, candid, and eye-opening reminder of the people who have been left behind

As the American economy seeks to restructure itself, Roots of Steel is a powerful, candid, and eye-opening reminder of the people who have been left behind. When Deborah Rudacille was a child in the working-class town of Dundalk, Maryland, a worker at the local Sparrows Point steel mill made more than enough to comfortably support a family. But the decline of American manufacturing in the decades since has put tens of thousands out of work and left the people of Dundalk pondering the broken promise of the American dream.

When Deborah Rudacille was a child growing up in the working-class town of Dundalk, Maryland, a worker at the local Sparrows Point steel mill made more than enough to comfortably support a family

Read unlimited books and audiobooks on the web, iPad, iPhone and Android. When Deborah Rudacille was a child growing up in the working-class town of Dundalk, Maryland, a worker at the local Sparrows Point steel mill made more than enough to comfortably support a family.

She takes us from Sparrows Point’s nineteenth-century origins to its height in the twentieth century as one of the largest producers of steel in the world, providing the material that built America’s bridges, skyscrapers, and battleships.

As the American economy seeks to restructure itself, Roots of Steel is a powerful, candid, and eye-opening .

Deborah Rudacille teachers at UMBC and is an independent journalist and science writer. Her new book, Roots of Steel: Boom and Bust in an American Mill Town, was published by Pantheon in January 2010

Deborah Rudacille teachers at UMBC and is an independent journalist and science writer. Her new book, Roots of Steel: Boom and Bust in an American Mill Town, was published by Pantheon in January 2010. She also contributes to local and national publications, including USA Today, SEED, The Defenders Online, Baltimore Brew, and Urbanite. The New Mercury Reading Series is co-curated by Deborah Rudacille and John Barry.

The American mill town in Rudacille’s book is Dundalk, Maryland, developed as Bethlehem Steel’s company burg for its enormous Sparrows Point complex near Baltimore. Delivering a rust-belt story in outline, the author in substance recounts the tough conditions of steel-mill work, bargaining between the company and the union, and the racial and ethnic sociology of the workforce.

When Deborah Rudacille was a child growing up in the working-class town of Dundalk, Maryland, a worker .

When Deborah Rudacille was a child growing up in the working-class town of Dundalk, Maryland, a worker at the local Sparrows Point steel mill made more than enough.

The daughter of a steelworker, Deborah Rudacille spoke at Red Emma's about her book "Roots of Steel: Boom and Bust in an American Milltown" giving us an intimate history of the rise and decline of a steel town and an industry.

When Deborah Rudacille was a child growing up in the working-class town of Dundalk, Maryland, a worker at the local Sparrows Point steel mill made more than enough to comfortably support a family. But in the decades since, the decline of American manufacturing has put tens of thousands out of work and left the people of Dundalk pondering the broken promise of the American dream. In Roots of Steel, Rudacille combines personal narrative, interviews with workers, and extensive research to capture the character and history of this once-prosperous community. She takes us from Sparrows Point’s nineteenth-century origins to its height in the twentieth century as one of the largest producers of steel in the world, providing the material that built America’s bridges, skyscrapers, and battleships. Throughout, Rudacille dissects the complicated racial, class, and gender politics that played out in the mill and its neighboring towns, and details both the arduous and dangerous work at the plant and the environmental cost of industrial progress to the air and waterways of the Maryland shore. Powerful, candid, and eye-opening, Roots of Steel is a timely reminder, as the American economy seeks to restructure itself, of the people who inevitably have been left behind.

Samugor

Being from the area, and married to a steelworker, I found this book very educational. There was so much in it that I didn't know. It was nice to read about some of the people I personally know or knew in school. This business was such an integral part of Edgemere, Sparrows Point, and surrounding communities. To see what it has done to the neighborhoods, and to peoples' lives, is so sad and tragic. How unfortunate that the heads of the company in various stages looked out for themselves first and the workers who made them last!! I don't think America will ever be the great nation it once was.

Hinewen

An intriguing look at how race, politics, and corruption shaped the city of Baltimore. Many insights in this book help to inform the reader of the journey the city of Baltimore grew to become the diverse, troubled American city that it is today. As a Baltimore resident for over 20 years, I enjoyed learning historical information on the neighborhoods, places, and people who are part of my city's legacy. Subject matter of this nature can be dry, but Rudacille did a great job of keeping it interesting. Since I read this book, two friends have both eagerly borrowed it and enjoyed it as well. I plan to read it again when I get it back! :-)

Shomeshet

Very interesting read of what life was like working in the Steel Industry. My only gripe was that the book did not have any photos.

Arryar

A realistic account, well told, of the rise and ruin of the steel industry. Applies to large and small towns. Discusses the large integrated mill but pertinent to specialty alloy steel companies as well.

lacki

I purchased this book for my grandfather who is retired pipe from Bethlehem Steel. He loved it. He has read it several times.

invincible

I live in Baltimore so it is especially enjoyable to me.

Shazel

This is an interesting history of the Bethlehem Steel plant at Sparrows Point, near Baltimore. It is unapologetically slanted toward the lives of the workers, the author having come from a "steelmaking" family. It describes, with many quotes from personal interviews, the ups and downs of working there over the course of the 20th century. If you want the full picture, you should also read a more "objective" book, like "Making Steel". But this is a most worthwhile book.

I thought it was an outstanding read. My great grandfather, grand father, and father all worked and retired from "The Point". It gives a great appreciation on how life was as a steelworker.