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US Steel and Welfare Capitalism in Gary, Indiana, 1906-1930

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US Steel and Welfare Capitalism in Gary, Indiana, 1906-1930 Michigan Technological University Digital Commons @ Michigan Tech Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open Reports 2014 From Mill Gates to Magic City: U.S. Steel and Welfare Capitalism in Gary, Indiana, 1906-1930 Carol D. Griskavich Michigan Technological University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/etds Part of the History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons, Labor Relations Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Copyright 2014 Carol D. Griskavich Recommended Citation Griskavich, Carol D., "From Mill Gates to Magic City: U.S. Steel and Welfare Capitalism in Gary, Indiana, 1906-1930", Master's Thesis, Michigan Technological University, 2014. https://doi.org/10.37099/mtu.dc.etds/842 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/etds Part of the History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons, Labor Relations Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons FROM MILL GATES TO MAGIC CITY: U.S. STEEL AND WELFARE CAPITALISM IN GARY, INDIANA, 1906-1930 By Carol D. Griskavich A THESIS Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE In Industrial Archaeology MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2014 © 2014 Carol D. Griskavich This thesis has been approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in Industrial Archaeology. Department of Social Sciences Thesis Advisor: Dr. Steven A. Walton Committee Member: Dr. Carol A. MacLennan Committee Member: Dr. Bradley H. Baltensperger Department Chair: Dr. Patrick E. Martin For the people of Gary—past, present, and future. Table of Contents List of Figures .................................................................................................................... ix List of Tables ...................................................................................................................... x Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ xi Abstract ............................................................................................................................. xii Chapter 1 : Tapping the First Heat of a New Paternalism .................................................. 1 Industrial Paternalism and Welfare Capitalism in Company Towns .............................. 2 Previous Research and Literature .................................................................................... 3 Research Design .............................................................................................................. 5 Archival Research ........................................................................................................ 5 Ethnographic Fieldwork .............................................................................................. 6 Thesis Organization......................................................................................................... 7 Introducing the “Steel City” to the Calumet Region ....................................................... 8 Chapter 2 : Housing a “City by Fiat” ................................................................................ 15 Learning from Mistakes, Planning from Successes ...................................................... 16 Gary’s Original Layout ................................................................................................. 19 Gary Land Company’s First Subdivision ...................................................................... 21 735 Van Buren St. ..................................................................................................... 24 Polk Street Terraces - 402-422 Polk Street ............................................................... 26 The “Steel Mill Quarter”: Gary Land Company’s Ninth Subdivision .......................... 33 1340 Carolina St. ....................................................................................................... 35 1320-1324 Carolina St. .............................................................................................. 40 Chapter 3 : Education for All, Education for Life ............................................................ 55 William A. Wirt............................................................................................................. 57 Deweyan Education....................................................................................................... 57 Arts and Crafts Movement Influence ............................................................................ 59 The School Plant ........................................................................................................... 61 Equal Time and Equal Importance for Work, Study, and Play ..................................... 62 Schools as Community Centers, Adult Education, and Americanization ..................... 66 vii Implementation Outside Gary Meets Criticism ............................................................ 70 Segregation in Gary Schools ......................................................................................... 74 Chapter 4 : Welfare Capitalism as Social Capital ............................................................. 87 “Good Welfare Work, Like Good Business, Pays” ...................................................... 88 Safety First .................................................................................................................... 91 U.S. Steel Safety, Sanitation, and Welfare .................................................................... 94 Time Well Spent While Not at Work ............................................................................ 96 Cultivating Healthy Americans ..................................................................................... 97 The Settlement Movement ............................................................................................ 99 Serving a Catholic Majority ........................................................................................ 101 Segregated Social Welfare .......................................................................................... 105 Chapter 5 : Perception, Place, and Pride in a Paternalistic Model City .......................... 119 List of References ........................................................................................................... 125 Appendix of Permissions ................................................................................................ 133 viii List of Figures Figure 1.1 Hon. Elbert H. Gary ........................................................................................ 12 Figure 1.2 Map of Gary, Indiana, and the Calumet Region ............................................. 13 Figure 2.1 Map of Gary Land Company’s First and Ninth Subdivisions ........................ 44 Figure 2.2 735 Van Buren Street ..................................................................................... 45 Figure 2.3 Edison Concept Concrete Homes, 600 blk. Polk Street, 1912 ....................... 46 Figure 2.4 Map of Edison Concept Concrete Homes ...................................................... 47 Figure 2.5 Polk Street Terraces, 400-422 Polk Street, 2013 ............................................ 48 Figure 2.6 1340 Carolina Street, 1922 ............................................................................. 49 Figure 2.7 1340 Carolina Street, 2013 ............................................................................. 50 Figure 2.8 “John H. Smith (Colored), Janitor, Gary, Indiana,” 1922 .............................. 51 Figure 2.9 1320-24 Carolina Street, 1918 ........................................................................ 52 Figure 2.10 Map of Gary Land Company’s Ninth Subdivision. ...................................... 53 Figure 2.11 1320-24 Carolina Street, 2013 ...................................................................... 54 Figure 3.1 Supt. William A. Wirt ..................................................................................... 78 Figure 3.2 Jefferson School, ca. 1912 .............................................................................. 79 Figure 3.3 Map of Gary Public Schools. .......................................................................... 80 Figure 3.4 Emerson School, 1913 .................................................................................... 81 Figure 3.5 Emerson School First Floor Plan, ca. 1914 .................................................... 82 Figure 3.6 Gary Students Folk Dancing........................................................................... 83 Figure 3.7 Froebel School, 1913 ...................................................................................... 84 Figure 3.8 Froebel School Ground Floor Plan, ca. 1914 ................................................. 85 Figure 3.9 Roosevelt School, 1938 .................................................................................. 86 Figure 4.1 Two Generations of U.S. Steel Danger Signs .............................................. 109 Figure 4.2 Screen captures from “An American in the Making,” 1913 ......................... 110 Figure 4.3 The Gary Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), 1913 ................... 111 Figure 4.4 Labor Day Track & Field Meet at Gleason Field, 1920 ............................... 112 Figure 4.5 Gymnasium,
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