Duluth's Other Company Town

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DULUTH’S OTHER COMPANY TOWN The McDougall-Duluth Company, Riverside, and World War I Shipbuilding

MATTHEW LAWRENCE DALEY n the morning of July 4, from the launching, joined represen- the tonnage sunk by submarines 1918, more than 3,000 citi- tatives from the nearby Gary, New mounted, shipping managers in the Ozens, workers, and dignitar- Duluth, Fond du Lac, and Morgan United States and the Allied nations ies gathered in Duluth’s Riverside Park neighborhoods in a celebratory grew increasingly alarmed.2 Because neighborhood at the McDougall- march. The Lake Helen, while not European shipyards were filled with Duluth Company shipyard to share the first wartime vessel launched in military orders and repairs, opportu- in a celebration of patriotism and the Twin Ports or on the Great Lakes, nities emerged for American yards. wartime production. On the dais, marked the high point of the war This opening drew the attention of a Gertrude Barnes, daughter of the effort in Riverside’s yard. notable Great Lakes figure and led to company’s president Julius H. The approaching World War I the creation of the new Duluth com- Barnes, waited to christen a hull centennial has sparked renewed pany and neighborhood. decorated in ribbons and bunting public interest and scholarship. Most Scottish-born Capt. Alexander and painted with the motto “Liberty. discussion of the home front has McDougall found his greatest fame For. Ever.” Security at the normally focused on the rush to convert civil- during the 1890s as the builder of closed facility was tight, the result of ian industry to wartime production whalebacks, unusual ships for the fevered visions of a fanatical German and build new facilities. Key to this iron-ore trade. But the combined sympathizer planting a bomb.1 endeavor was the federal govern- impact of the Panic of 1893, rapid Though planned as a brief, for- ment’s Emergency Fleet Corporation changes in technology, and the mal ceremony, the event called for (EFC), which played a major role in consolidation of the Carnegie and some public celebration. The Duluth planning, financing, and managing Rockefeller steel, ore, and vessel em- News-Tribune presented an award the construction of merchant ves- pires had pushed McDougall out of for productivity to C. E. Dion and sels at giant new shipyards, which his Duluth shipyard by 1898. With his riveting crew, and a congratula- required vast worker-housing devel- his entrepreneurial drive and con- tory telegram from the director of opments. The nearly exclusive atten- nections from 30 years of work on the Emergency Fleet Corporation tion to the EFC’s East Coast yards the Great Lakes intact, McDougall was read to the crowd. McDougall- has overshadowed the contribution returned in 1899 to his childhood Duluth’s general manager A. Miller of those on the Great Lakes, includ- home of Collingwood, Ontario, to McDougall, son of company co- ing McDougall- Duluth. Its founders start a shipyard with funding from founder Alexander McDougall, had a vision of a shipyard free from the city’s Board of Trade. Colling- spoke, praising the war effort and tense labor-management relations wood Shipbuilding utilized his ex- the skill of the yard’s workers. At and supported by a comfortable, har- perience in steel construction and 9:30 a.m. the launching crew set the monious company town. To achieve produced conventional vessels for the hull on its way, the shipyard band this goal, company directors merged lakes trade.3 played, and Gertrude Barnes shat- wartime labor policies with their own During World War I, increased tered a bottle against the hull, for- welfare capitalism and opportunism. demand for grain from the Great mally christening the 256-foot vessel Plains, along with higher railroad the Lake Helen. Within minutes, the shipping rates, boosted traffic on the yard crew began to put in place the hen World War I newly rebuilt New York State Barge keel and bottom plates of a new ship. began in 1914, Canal system. McDougall set out to Stirred by music from the Fourth WAmerican exporters create a revolutionary design for use Minnesota Regiment band, the saw their business become vulner- crowd, although soaked by the wave able to disruptions in international Dr. Daley, an associate professor of shipping. Overnight, insurance history at Grand Valley State Univer- facing: Launching the Lake Helen, rates increased dramatically, which sity, Allendale, Michigan, also serves July 4, 1918, the high point of the war helped send markets into recession. as curator of the Fr. Edward J. Dowl- ing, S.J., Marine Historical Collection effort at Duluth’s Riverside shipyard As the war dragged on into 1916 and at the University of Detroit Mercy. He is working on a biography of Captain Publication of this article was supported, in part, by the Ken and Nina Rothchild Endowment Alexander McDougall. Fund for Business History.

Spring 2013 177 on that waterway. He approached 1918, the war ended before its first two potential investors, Duluth busi- vessel entered service. Meanwhile, the nessmen and grain merchants Ward Robert L. Barnes had commenced op- Ames and Julius Barnes. They agreed eration on the Great Lakes during the to McDougall’s proposal and in De- spring of 1917. Despite McDougall’s cember 1915 created the McDougall- hopes for the design, no contracts Duluth Company to build his canal were forthcoming.8 Looking to secure boats.4 his investment, Julius Barnes took McDougall set up shop where on a greater role in managing the he had built his first whaleback in company. 1888, a primitive shipyard on the Born in 1873 in Little Rock, sandbar at Fifteenth Avenue West Arkansas, Barnes had moved with and Railroad Street. Construction United States Shipping Board logo his family to St. Cloud in 1880 and commenced on August 20, 1916, Duluth in 1884. He went to work with McDougall providing day-to- squared-off appearance with few selling newspapers, became involved day management. Work proceeded fancy angles.7 with the YMCA, and eventually rose quickly and the first vessel, named The new system worked best in to door boy for the city’s Board of Robert L. Barnes for Julius’s son, yards designed for large-scale produc- Trade. He joined the grain business was launched on December 16 after tion, such as the huge start-up plants of Ward Ames Sr. in 1890, became crews cut through a foot of ice in the at Bristol and Hog Island, Pennsylva- a partner by age 26, and started his harbor.5 nia, and Camden, New Jersey. Each own ventures such as Klearflax Linen Meanwhile, the war in Europe faced enormous challenges: con- Looms, based in West Duluth. This ground on. President Woodrow Wil- structing the plant, organizing suppli- classic self-made-man background son and his secretary of the treasury, ers, and addressing critical shortages shaped his outlook and carried him William G. McAdoo, determined in manpower and housing. Though into public service. During the war, that both private funding and extant the Hog Island facility broke ground he served on the U.S. Grain Board yards were insufficient to build and in late 1917 to great fanfare and laid and as a food commissioner under operate the number of vessels re- the keel for its first ship in February Herbert Hoover, a long-time friend.9 quired. They persuaded Congress to pass what became the Shipping Act of 1916, which created the United States Shipping Board (USSB) and its public-authority entity, the Emer- gency Fleet Corporation.6 The EFC established assembly- line methods for building a steel merchant fleet. Traditional shipbuilding entailed shaping each piece on site. Under the new program, steel mills supplied identi- cal, punched hull plates ready for mass assembly, thereby reducing work hours as well as the number of rivets and other materials needed. The resulting ships had a heavily

Julius Barnes: businessman, investor, and active co-owner of the McDougall- Duluth Company

178 Minnesota History Drawing on his connections, Shipbuilding Company in Lorain, land and investor disputes. Not until Barnes persuaded the manager of the Ohio, led the calls for the EFC to con- 1905 did banker Jed L. Washburn New York-based Clinchfi eld Naviga- sider inland yards for contracts. Along clear the land title to form the River- tion Company to act as an intermedi- with McDougall-Duluth, two com- side Land Company. In 1910 he sold ary with international vessel owners panies in Superior, Wisconsin, also the standing structures to the Duluth and agents. From this, McDougall- began constructing EFC vessels.12 Iron and Metal Works.14 Duluth obtained its fi rst job in By the spring of 1918, the EFC The area received new attention March 1917, when a Swedish fi rm had decided to increase production in 1907 when U.S. Steel decided to contracted for a vessel, the Maski, not through new yards but by assist- construct a steel mill nearby. In 1914, at a price of $450,000. Using its ing existing fi rms to expand. To that a year before the mill fi nally began $54,000 advance, the shipyard purchased additional tools and materials and also began constructing “Ship No. 3” on speculation. The company Government contracts allowed did not wait long for a buyer. The the company to move beyond the British government had contracted for nearly 700,000 gross tons from a cramped and fl ood-prone confi nes number of Great Lakes shipyards, and of the Railroad Street yard. it purchased the new hull. By the end of May, the Clinchfi eld connection yielded fi ve more orders from several French vessel lines.10 end, new contracts offered a “cost- operating, Duluth’s fi rst company Starting with the Maski, plus” system that covered expenses town, Morgan Park, opened. Devel- McDougall-Duluth built ships of a for adding to facilities and also opers built two additional suburbs, type known as the modifi ed Fred- provided a payment to guarantee a Gary and New Duluth, to provide erickstad design, developed by the profi t, regardless of real costs. Barnes workers with more housing and com- Norwegian Board of Control. Their and McDougall had hoped to expand mercial amenities. By 1915 the city of overall length of 251 feet, 43 feet in their shipyard only as much as private Duluth extended Grand Avenue and beam, and 18 feet in depth allowed contracts warranted. However, under water mains to the area as construc- them to pass through size-restricted EFC policy—billed as patriotism but tion continued. Thus by the start of canals to the Atlantic Ocean. These couched as a demand—McDougall- the war, the old Ironton site had a distinctive vessels and their varia- Duluth, like other companies, grew.13 great deal to offer.15 tions would comprise the bulk of On the positive side, govern- Using a combination of cash and ships built on the Great Lakes for ment contracts allowed the company company stock, Barnes and McDou- the war effort.11 to move beyond the cramped and gall purchased the site, now offi cially fl ood-prone confi nes of the Railroad called Riverside, in August 1917. A Street yard. It turned its attention to year earlier, they had bought Duluth merica’s entry into the a marshy site along Duluth’s western Iron and Metal Works to provide war in April 1917 meant edge, up the St. Louis River on Spirit engines and specialized parts for A that foreign owners Lake. This area had been the focus of their vessels. Work at the site began would never take possession of ships extravagant plans when platted in the immediately with a $225,000 in- they had ordered from U.S. yards. 1870s. The Ironton Structural Steel vestment. Dredges carved out three Using the authority granted by the Company built a plant there, start- launching slips, three piers were Shipping Act, the USSB requisitioned ing in 1890, and the related Ironton built from the fi ll (held in place by all foreign and domestic vessels that Land Company sold lots for housing. wooden cribs), and pilings for docks were planned, in process, or com- (The fi rm hoped to produce steel were installed. The company hired pleted. Great Lakes shipyards eagerly nearer to the iron-ore sources than architects DeWaard and Stauduhar volunteered their services, and Mer- Pittsburgh.) The plant operated only to design separate machine and ton E. Farr, president of the American briefl y, closing in 1897 and sparking punch shops and an offi ce building.

Spring 2013 179 The fi rm of McLeod & Smith began radicalization. Paternalistic interven- constructing the buildings needed tion—welfare capitalism—was their for fi nishing vessels already under- response, embodied in places such as way at the old yard.16 the mining towns of Gwinn, Michi- As a result, when the hull for gan, and Tyrone, New Mexico, and the War Centaur was completed in industrial ones such as Torrance, October 1917, tugs towed it from the California, and Kingsport, Tennes- Railroad Street yard to Riverside for see—and Morgan Park.19 fi tting out. The fi rst Riverside-built World War I brought federal hull, the Lake Portage, entered the funding through the United States water on February 25, 1918, with the Housing Commission (USHC) to ease traditional sideways launching.17 the overcrowding that the giant new Infrastructure and housing posed East Coast yards produced in urban additional challenges. Even before areas. Brush Park in Philadelphia completing the purchase of the site, (for Hog Island), Atlantic Heights McDougall urged city offi cials to in Portsmouth, New Hampshire extend water mains to Riverside at (Atlantic Corporation), and most fa- a discounted rate. Speed was impor- Shipbuilder Alexander McDougall, mously, Yorkship Village in Camden, tant: dormitories were being built for whose plan for grain-carrying canal New Jersey (New York Shipbuilding) the fi rst set of workers, who would boats launched the Duluth fi rm all helped set the stage for the New Deal’s planned communities.20 Unlike other shipyards that relied on the EFC’s Housing Division Despite the relative proximity or the USHC for funding and plan- of Gary and New Duluth, Barnes ning expertise, McDougall-Duluth studiously avoided such programs. and McDougall opted for an Barnes and other company execu- expensive, long-term housing tives felt uneasy at accepting government funds that came with strings solution: a carefully designed and oversight. General Manager A. and planned company town. Miller McDougall expressed concern at the thought of being overextended and then beholden to possibly un- sympathetic government regulators. begin arriving in the late summer of McDougall opted for an expensive, Though some funds did come from 1917. One vast structure was broken long-term housing solution: a care- EFC contracts, Barnes and McDou- into fi ve units: two offered double- fully designed and planned company gall obtained most of their fi nancing decker bunks for 104 men per unit; town. In building a separate area for through local connections. Using two more were divided into 13 rooms some of Riverside’s workers (it was their seats on the boards of local each, holding 52 men per unit; and never large enough to house all of banks, they secured stable lines of the fi nal section contained the rest- them), the company joined a broad credit for the initial expenses of con- room, showers, kitchen, and shared movement of architects, reformers, structing the fi rst 25 houses.21 public room. The dormitory contin- and industrialists who believed that, ued to operate until 1919.18 to attract and retain a skilled work facing: Layout of McDougall-Duluth’s The development of Riverside force, a fi rm needed to provide ac- town and shipyard, Riverside Review, also involved constructing private ceptable housing. Progressive Era September 1918, which rotated the image. rental housing and commercial struc- managers such as Barnes thought Spring Street actually runs east–west. tures. Despite the relative proximity that substandard accommoda- Buildings without numbers or letters are of Gary and New Duluth, Barnes and tions acted as a catalyst for worker dwellings.

180 Minnesota History

The company also relied on con- upward-sloping site, planners placed established a stop and increased nections for planning and building. Spring Street, a focal point that bi- service on its Morgan Park line. The Barnes had worked previously with sected the residential area. Instead Northern Pacific provided additional the Fairmount Sales Company’s of a grid, angled streets followed the passenger cars to ease the demands development, Fairmount Park, not contours of the landscape.22 on transportation. The rail system far from his Klearflax plant in West Hanford chose the American was a critical link, as Riverside Duluth. For Riverside, Fairmount Craftsman style for Riverside’s archi- housed only a fraction of a shipyard contracted with Duluth architect tectural motif. Houses had wooden workforce that numbered into the Arthur Hanford to design the houses clapboard siding, exposed decora- thousands during 1918 and 1919. The and street plan, guided by precepts tive beams, and uniform two-story majority lived outside the immedi- of the City Beautiful movement. facades, though peaked or shed dor- ate area in West Duluth, nearly a Barnes was a proponent of this plan- mers gave them some visual variety. 20-minute streetcar journey. All had ning philosophy, which argued that In the northern area, three types of to pass through Riverside on their a community organized around the single-family bungalows, varying way to the waterfront. After a rash of principle of beauty would promote in square footage and placement of accidents on the railroad tracks, the social order. Duluth already had its porches and dormers, made up the shipyard installed a broad pedestrian stately St. Louis County Courthouse, majority of structures. This section overpass leading from the streetcar designed by Chicago’s influential City also had larger duplexes on corner stop to the yard’s main gates.24 Beautiful architect Daniel Burnham. lots. Until late 1919, these often were In March 1918 McDougall- Following City Beautiful dictates, subdivided to hold four or more Duluth opened a new facility that Riverside’s planners took advantage families. The neighborhood south of illustrated Riverside’s status as a of the site’s natural features. Out of Spring Street contained only single- company town. The combination necessity, the yard’s launchways and family homes of a larger size; the theater and general store, set into the major structures housing the metal largest of these, on Marine Court, hill at Industrial Avenue and Spring works, boiler shop, engine works, were designated for the yard’s head Street, added a Tudor flavor to the and paint facilities stood along the shipfitter and yard foreman. Heat development’s prevailing Craftsman shoreline. The Northern Pacific for the yard buildings and some resi- style. The theater seated between 750 Railway tracks formed the residen- dences came from a central steam and 800 people and could operate as tial area’s northern boundary. In a plant at the edge of the shipyard.23 either a vaudeville or film-projection natural valley at the middle of the By November 1917 the city water venue. Since the West Duluth com- and gas lines were operating and mercial district was about three renters occupied the newly built miles away, the theater also served houses. The Duluth Street Railway the Gary-New Duluth community.25 The general store was up and running by the summer of 1918. Ear- lier, Morgan Park’s company store had prompted a wave of complaints by West Duluth grocers and merchants who feared that it would sell Following City Beautiful dictates, at a loss to a captive market. No evidence of protests against the River- Riverside’s planners took advan- side store exists, either in the labor tage of the site’s natural features. or business-oriented press. It is likely that the many shipyard workers who lived in West Duluth also shopped there; in addition, Riverside families ring unionization, and all voluntary. chiefs all continued their support. were free to patronize nearby Gary Barnes believed that social programs On the baseball diamond, several stores. McDougall- Duluth went to would produce a stable and compli- company- and YMCA-sponsored great lengths, however, to explain ant workforce.28 leagues included the shipyards and how its bulk buying, effi ciency, and Social groups such as the River- other large industrial fi rms. Dur- good business practices would keep side Club (for all company employees ing 1919 Riverside workers fi elded prices low—a boon to families since “and no one else”) and neighborhood two teams: the Cubs of the shipyard food consumed a substantial portion associations helped foster a sense of and the Giants from the iron works. of their income, especially during identity while reinforcing Barnes’ phi- Again, the EFC offi cially discouraged wartime.26 losophies. Wartime encouragement the leagues but the local fi rms con- Education proved a constant sore to cultivate Victory Gardens also tinued them.30 point to Riverside residents, as chil- supported the City Beautiful ideal Another key to promoting Barnes’ dren had to attend schools farther of achieving social order through vision was the company magazine, north in Norton Park or in Gary- beauty; McDougall-Duluth offered a the Riverside Review. This monthly New Duluth. Company offi cials and cash prize for the best garden. The- publication reported on events in school board members negotiated ater groups performed plays that Riverside and also delivered the for several years over the necessity emphasized unity and patriotism. attitudes and positions of company for and cost of a new building. Not Music, too, played a vital role in com- offi cials. A major theme throughout until 1920 did the Riverside School munity culture. In 1918 the company its run (1918–20) was Barnes’ antipa- open for classes. Built in an English bought instruments for a 25-piece thy to communism and labor unions. neoclassical style, it would house band and a 21-piece orchestra. Soon, The fallout of World War I—the generations of students before clos- the Riverside Marine Band began Russian Revolution and Red Scare ing in 1982.27 giving noontime concerts during the in the U.S.—only reinforced his be- work week and even performed at the lief in the necessity of paternalistic 1919 Minnesota State Fair. One com- management to undercut potentially y 1918 Julius Barnes mon community gathering place was “subversive” union organizers.31 was playing a direct role missing from Riverside, however: the Despite Barnes’ efforts, factors B in operating Riverside saloon. Barnes supported national beyond his control also shaped the as a company town. Much like U.S. Prohibition and disagreed with the Riverside community. Its relative Steel in neighboring Morgan Park, popular notion that alcohol kept proximity to the rest of Duluth—and McDougall-Duluth practiced welfare workers happy.29 the fact that many shipyard workers capitalism, a system of company- Competition in the workplace and their families lived elsewhere— provided benefi ts and services and on the athletic fi eld also fostered limited the company’s authority popular during the early-twentieth group identity. To boost produc- over employees’ lives. Unlike the century. Besides Riverside’s housing, tivity, the EFC initially sponsored infamously repressive coal-mining there were recreation programs, a riveting competitions between the company towns of West Virginia, hospital, insurance, and social clubs Twin Ports’ three largest shipyards. Kentucky, and Pennsylvania, River- for employees—all aimed at deter- Though the agency later backed away side was not remote enough for the from these contests (citing quality vicious system of required residency facing: Riverside’s bungalows, pictured and safety concerns), the Superior, and scrip labor that those fi rms em- in the company magazine, 1918 Globe, and McDougall-Duluth yard ployed to control workers.32

Spring 2013 183 Then, too, Barnes held an oft- stated belief in “fair play,” a philosophy that extolled the virtue of paternalistic capitalism, rejected unions, and abhorred communism. It also rejected the iron-fisted tech- niques of other industrial firms. He knew that a heavy-handed approach might lead to rebellion. Given the enormous demand for workers during the war, it made sense to ease off. So, for instance, while Riverside renters signed contracts requiring cleanliness and stipulating mainte- nance of the houses, the neighborhood associations—not company inspectors—enforced these provi- sions. Evidence of Riverside’s day-today management policies is limited, but the labor press and company- friendly sources seem to agree that residents did not experience the blatantly intrusive and manipula- tive policies of, for example, the Ford Motor Company’s Sociological Department.33 Yet McDougall-Duluth could control who lived in its privately held community. According to the 1920 census, Riverside, unlike Gary and New Duluth, was primarily popu- lated by American-born residents and immigrants from Scandinavia, the British Isles, and a scattering of Riverside Marine Band, assembled for its daily noontime concert, October 1918, Central European countries. Only and the Cubs, Riverside shipyard’s baseball team, June 1918 one Jewish family, the pharmacist’s, appears. No African Americans re- workers. Even Duluth’s Labor World, men such as boilermakers, mold- sided there. While nothing is stated an American Federation of Labor- ers, and carpenters. Only a handful in existing company literature, this affiliated weekly, carried approving of unskilled workers from outside relatively homogenous population stories on the “Americanization” of the shipyard (such as laborers from was certainly not accidental, and it foreign-born workers.34 Klearflax and local sawmills) resided likely made it easier for the company The 1920 census reveals another in the neighborhood and dormi- to impose a level of social control. In level of selection. Of Riverside’s 887 tory. Just as the company appears to this, Riverside mirrored other major residents, 334 worked in shipyard- have controlled the racial and ethnic company towns—including nearby related occupations (most of the rest composition of Riverside, it likely Morgan Park—and echoed the racial were their spouses and children). and cultural attitudes of a city that These workers ranged from yard facing: Safety Committee made up of would experience the brutal June superintendent and chief engineer yard workers, whose motto was “Safety 1920 lynching of three black circus to medical staff and skilled trades- All the Time,” 1920

184 Minnesota History selected residents by profession, choosing only the most loyal and/or Barnes believed that social anti-union. programs would produce a stable and compliant workforce. arnes’ vision for labor-management rela- B tions received a boost from the unusual bargain struck between labor and management without Lower Lakes yards in Cleveland. In- labor, industry, and the federal gov- union involvement. While SLAB me- stead, the company charted a course ernment during the war. The demand diated between unions and employ- that combined EFC policies, welfare for war materials required constant ers, it also fragmented labor disputes capitalism, and Barnes’ personal phi- production which, in turn, required into individual departments (rivet- losophy and public standing. balancing labor rights against busi- ers, painters); shop committees were For example, during the summer ness practices—specifi cally, industry’s isolated from union infl uence ex- of 1918, the Iron Shipbuilders Union desire to maintain or impose the cept in the strongest trades, such as of the Twin Ports (an AFL-affi liated non-union or “open” shop. To man- boiler makers. SLAB both curtailed effort at a cohesive Great Lakes ship- age wage and other labor disputes, the worst anti-union practices and building union) requested retroactive the American Federation of Labor allowed employers to assert open- wage increases and the eight-hour (AFL) and the EFC agreed to create shop principles through traditional day, threatening to strike. The EFC a new agency, the U.S. Shipbuilding paternalism.35 McDougall-Duluth’s asked that a strike be postponed Labor Adjustment Board (SLAB). AFL unions, such as the boilermak- until a wage-adjustment meeting SLAB embraced the British model ers and painters, enjoyed decent rela- could take place to address the issue of allowing shop committees, elected tions with management and did not nationwide. Nearly six months later, by trade, to handle disputes between chafe under SLAB. Its other unions the increase came through SLAB were less amenable and did not fare and each company (depending on its as well. McDougall-Duluth did not labor contract), effectively marginal- directly confront workers, as did the izing the union.36

Spring 2013 185 The half-year lag and the man- ner in which the raise sidelined the union brought a scathing attack from Truth, the offi cial newspaper of the local Socialist Party, allied with the IWW and published in West Du- luth. Truth’s response highlighted its ideological split from Duluth’s more moderate Labor World. Both newspapers lacked the resources to thoroughly cover each critical labor event, however—a fact not lost on the pro-business Duluth News- Tribune, which kept a sharp eye on organized labor and reported in hys- terical rhetoric on a possible “Red” revolution at the shipyards.37 During the war, the Labor World Lake Markham in dazzle camoufl age, passing under Duluth’s aerial lift bridge stood by the AFL’s policy of “respon- and bound for service on the Atlantic Ocean, 1918 sible unionism,” pushed back against the IWW and, while offering muted evident when SLAB was phased out making and solidifi ed control over criticism, engaged the business com- during 1919. That October, a time of his company. munity. Though not uncritical of national labor unrest, McDougall- The postwar depression revealed Barnes, it reported and even praised Duluth got workers to agree to work the dual game that Barnes and the his views on politics, education, and mandatory, paid overtime—and gave company played. The end of govern- unions and printed his advertise- them a raise—in order to complete ment jobs led to a sharp decline in ments exhorting workers to abide by its fi nal government contracts. At the yard’s workforce. When union the AFL’s alliance with the Wilson the end of the month, the company molders and some painters went on strike throughout Duluth and Su- perior in March 1920, the company played hardball. Asked about the Barnes assured workers that strikers, General Manager McDou- gall replied: “Our molders have been McDougall-Duluth would out a long time, but we have ob- survive the end of the war. tained men to fi ll the places of many . . . our steel and iron foundries are both working.” Other fi rms settled, but McDougall-Duluth did not re- administration. It also published maintained the new wage and re- hire the strikers, preferring their Barnes’ attacks on the IWW. By giv- turned to the eight-hour day. While replacements.40 ing him a platform and some praise, Truth sharply criticized both the the Labor World effectively legiti- fi rm and the joint shop committees mized Barnes’ views—something he that sold the program to workers, he November 1918 ar- undoubtedly found valuable—and the Labor World defended Barnes, mistice caught builders placed itself in the position of de- noting that he had kept his word Tand government offi cials fending him from IWW attacks.38 and stood by wartime democracy.39 alike by surprise, as the EFC’s crash- The pragmatic nature of the re- In reality, Barnes, working through building program had anticipated lationship between Barnes and the the shop committees, had excluded that the war would continue until Labor World became particularly the major unions from decision- at least late 1919. Its end meant the

186 Minnesota History McDougall-Duluth resumption of global markets, and it also called attention to the enor- Company Ships mous outlays and limited returns Founded in late 1915, McDougall-Duluth began building ships in August 1916 in on the EFC’s cost-plus contracts, the fi rst of two yards in what would become Duluth’s Riverside neighborhood. Over which offered no incentive to control the next fi ve years, it constructed vessels in a variety of designs for government expenses. These contracts left the service and private owners. agency open to charges of graft and corruption and prompted Congress Ships are listed by hull number, ship name (in italic), and date delivered. to demand payment of taxes and overcharges from the shipyards. SEA-GOING CANAL BOAT—251'× 43' 1. Robert L. Barnes, 1917 For nearly a decade, the EFC would continue negotiating settlements on FREDERICKSTAD-TYPE OCEAN CARGO SHIP—250'× 40' 41 these costly agreements. 2. Maski (Lakemoor), Nov. 1917 Unlike the new yards, McDougall- 3. War Centaur (Lake Traverse), Apr. 1918 Duluth had performed well, produc- Foreign contracts delivered for wartime service ing ten ships for wartime service. 4. Lake Portage, June 1918 8. Lake Helen, Sept. 1918 Two—the Maski (renamed Lake- 5. Lake Markham, July 1918 9. Lake Indian, Oct. 1918 moor) and the fi rst Riverside-built 6. Lake Pepin, Aug. 1918 10. Lake Orange, Oct. 1918 ship, Lake Portage—fell victim to 7. Lake Geneva, Aug. 1918 submarines. After the war, the company completed EFC contracts for Emergency Fleet Corporation contract vessels 1327 Cedar Spring, Nov. 1918 1856 Lake Flanders, Oct. 1919 25 more, delivering the fi nal vessel, 1328 Ceralvo, Apr. 1919 1857 Lake Flatonia, Oct. 1919 Lake Flournoy, in early 1920. And it 1329 Cerosco, Apr. 1919 1858 Lake Flattery, Nov. 1919 settled the contract claims regarding 1330 Cerro Gardo, May 1919 1859 Lake Strymon, Nov. 1919 costs and taxes relatively quickly— 1331 Chamberino, June 1919 1860 Lake Flaxman (La Crosse), Apr. 1920 by 1923.42 1332 Chamblee, May 1919 1861 Lake Flippen (Fargo), Apr. 1920 By 1918 Alexander McDougall 1333 Chaparel, July 1919 1862 Lake Floise (Sioux Falls), Apr. 1920 had retired from an active role with 1334 Chantier, July 1919 1863 Lake Flomation (Great Falls), Apr. 1920 the fi rm, leaving his son, A. Miller, 1335 Chappell, May 1919 1864 Lake Floravista, Apr. 1920 and Julius Barnes in full control. 1336 Chautauqua, June 1919 1865 Lake Florian, Apr. 1920 Barnes assured workers that 1853 Lake Flagon, Sept. 1919 1866 Lake Floris, Apr. 1920 1854 Lake Flagstaff, Oct. 1919 1867 Lake Flournoy, May 1920 McDougall-Duluth would survive 1855 Lake Flambeau, Oct. 1919 the end of the war and continue its welfare-capitalism programs. Toward Post-war Frederickstads for private owners that goal, the company in late 1918 36. Theodore F. Reynolds, Aug. 1920 constructed the Riverside Hotel, 37. Julius Kessler, July 1920 featuring a dining room, lunch 38. Philip Publicker, July 1920 39. Josefa, Aug. 1920 counter, and 100 guest rooms—and 40. Antonio, Sept. 1920 employing 35 workers. If the fi rm were to draw potential clients to the GRAIN MOTOR VESSELS FOR NEW YORK STATE BARGE CANAL yard, they would need a place to stay. 41. I.L.I. 101, May 1921 Furthermore, the hotel would show- 42. I.L.I. 102, May 1921 case the community’s harmonious 43. I.L.I. 103, May 1921 operation.43 44. I.L.I. 104, May 1921 As president of the U.S. Grain 45. I.L.I. 105, July 1921 Board, Barnes once again drew on his connections to obtain new vessel contracts. The resulting fi ve hulls built in 1920 utilized existing equip- ment and experience, following the closed and the store was shuttered. during World War I, it traveled to basic Frederickstad design. Two were In August 1920 the hotel closed; the the Pacific and functioned as a sta- standard freighters; the others were building was leased for use as a men’s tion ship at Guam until its capture equipped to operate as molasses rooming house. By late 1921 the firm and subsequent use in the Japanese tankers.44 began to sell much of the yard equip- merchant marine. Recovered after The final five ships constructed at ment, though it retained control of World War II, it continued sailing Riverside in 1921 reached back to the the housing stock.46 until 1950.48 concept for the company’s first hull, Barnes fell heavily into debt dur- Only two of the company’s vessels the Robert Barnes, though they were ing the Great Depression and sold still exist, both from the last phase of somewhat different in design. These the Riverside houses. Though he re- construction. The Day Peckinpaugh 251-foot, 2,300-gross-ton grain activated the shipyard during World (originally I.L.I. 101), operated until motor ships worked on the New York War II, he proved unable to fund and 1994 and now serves as a New York State Barge Canal system, though operate it and sold the venture to State museum along its old route. Its they could also sail on open water.45 Walter Butler Shipbuilders in 1943. sister ship, Michigan (I.L.I. 105), has Barnes’ own company operated them After the war, the shipyard build- been sitting partially scrapped since into the 1950s. ings were demolished. Only the old 1976 in the Arthur Kill waterway Ironton Steel/Duluth Iron and Metal near Staten Island, New York.49 Works building remained by the Today, Riverside exists as a quiet ven before the last early 1970s, when it, too, fell.47 community off Grand Avenue, hidden ships entered the water, The majority of vessels built by from sight by a screen of trees and a E Barnes realized that the McDougall-Duluth operated for de- biking trail. The memory of Alexan- company’s days were numbered. The cades after the war under a variety of der McDougall’s and Julius Barnes’ yard began shutting down in 1920, flags. The Robert Barnes had perhaps effort to create Duluth’s other com- and the fixtures of welfare capitalism the most unusual career. After serv- pany town has faded, but the neigh- ended. First, the Riverside hospital ing off the East Coast for the navy borhood they created remains. a

Notes The author thanks Sara Blanck, Robert torical Collections of the Great Lakes, Shipping Board (USSB) Papers, Record Graham, Laura Jacobs, Pat Maus, Laura Bowling Green State University, Bowling Group 32, National Archives and Records Jacobs, and Neel Zoss, along with this Green, OH (hereinafter McD Records). Administration (NARA), College Park, MD. magazine’s reviewers for their guidance. 5. Duluth News-Tribune, May 14, 1917, 3. 9. Riverside Review, May 1918, 1; “Bio- 6. Senate Committee on Commerce, graphical Information,” Collection Inven- 1. Here and two paragraphs below, United States Shipping Board Emergency tory, Julius H. Barnes Papers, both in Duluth News-Tribune, June 20, 1918, 5, Fleet Corporation: Hearings, 65th Cong. 2d University of Minnesota Duluth Library, June 22, 1918, 16, June 30, 1918, 9, July 5, sess., 1918, S. Rep. 70, 7034, vol. 1: 3–25; Northeast Minnesota Historical Center 1918, 1; Labor World, June 29 1918, 3. Thomas R. Heinrich, Ships for the Seven (hereinafter NEMHC). Copies of Riverside 2. William J. Williams, The Wilson Ad- Seas: Philadelphia Shipbuilding in the Age Review, the company’s magazine, are avail- ministration and the Shipbuilding Crisis of Industrial Capitalism (Baltimore: Johns able at NEMHC and the Minnesota Histor- of 1917 (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, Hopkins University Press, 1997), 168–69. ical Society. 1992), 18–22. 7. Alexander H. Beard, “The Fabricated 10. Board of Directors, Minutes, Mar. 26, 3. Alexander McDougall, The Autobiog- Ship: How American Shipbuilding is Being 1917, May 26, 1917, McD Records; Richard raphy of Captain Alexander McDougall Revolutionized,” The Outlook, Apr. 10, 1918, J. Wright, “Give Us a Chance: Shipbuilding (1932; repr., Cleveland: Great Lakes Histor- 581–83; Edward N. Hurley, The Bridge to on the Great Lakes during World War I,” in ical Society, 1968); Duluth News-Tribune, France (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, Naval History: The Sixth Symposium of the Oct. 31, 1899, 8, Apr. 4, 1904, 16; Colling- 1927), 49–51; David B. Tyler, The American U.S. Naval Academy, ed. Daniel M. Master- wood Bulletin, Nov. 3, 1899, 1. Clyde: A History of Iron and Steel Ship- son (Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 4. “A Sea-going Canal Boat: From the building on the Delaware from 1840 to 1983), 149–50; John H. Wilterding Jr., Lakes to Atlantic Ports by the New York World War I (Newark, DE: University of “Duluth-Superior Shipbuilding, 1917–1918: State Barge Canal,” Scientiﬁc American, Delaware Press, 1958), 107–08. The Pre-War Frederickstad Ships,” The June 22, 1918, 568–69; McDougall, Autobi- 8. Richard S. Childs, “Building a War Nor’Easter, Mar.–Apr. 1981, 2–4. ography, 149, 157; Duluth News-Tribune, Town,” The Independent, June 22, 1918, 11. Fr. Edward J. Dowling, S.J., The Jan. 20, 1916, 13; Board of Directors, Min- 469–70; Heinrich, Philadelphia Shipbuild- “Lakers” of World War I (Detroit: Univer- utes, Jan. 26, 1916, McDougall-Duluth ing, 170; Robert L. Barnes ﬁle, General Dec- sity of Detroit Press, 1967), 13–19, 45, 101. Company Holding Company Records, His- imal File 300, box 107, United States EFC ships initially followed British naming

188 Minnesota History conventions: two words, starting with War. 25. Duluth News-Tribune, Feb. 5, 1918, 40. Duluth News-Tribune, Apr. 2, 1920, 2. Before delivery, most were renamed follow- 4. 41. Report of Conference held at Wash- ing the U.S. system: two words, beginning 26. Duluth News-Tribune, Jan. 5, 1916, ington D.C. on May 19, 1919: Shipbuilders with Lake. 2; Riverside Review, Apr. 1918, 4, June from Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Gulf Coast 12. Requisition Payment Schedule and 1918, 12. Divisions and United States Shipping Delivery Dates Contract, Sept. 12, 1917, 27. Duluth News-Tribune, Aug. 23, 1918, Board, Emergency Fleet Corporation General Decimal File 300, box 107, USSB 3, May 7, 1919, 3; “Welcome to the Superior (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Papers, NARA; Board of Directors, Minutes, National Forest and to Riverside School,” Office, 1919). Oct. 1, 1917, McD Records; Richard J. pamphlet, Apr. 2003, Superior National 42. Duluth News-Tribune, Apr. 22, 1918, Wright, Freshwater Whales: A History of the Forest Headquarters, Duluth. 1, Aug. 9, 1918, 3; Contract Specifica- American Ship Building Company and Its 28. Riverside Review, Oct. 1918, 6. tions—4050 ton Steel Cargo Vessels, Con- Predecessors (Kent, OH: Kent State Univer- 29. Riverside Review, Apr. 1918, 5, Apr. tract 322, General Decimal File 310.12, box sity Press, 1969), 184–85. The other yards 1919, 12, May 1918, 14, Oct. 1918, 11, Oct. 167, USSB Papers; Board of Directors, Min- were Superior Shipbuilding, a division of 1919, 2; Charles Stelzle, Why Prohibition! utes, Dec. 24, Dec. 31, 1919, Sept. 22, 1923, American Shipbuilding Co., and Globe (New York: George H. Doran, 1918), 116 McD Records. Shipbuilding, a February 1917 start-up. (quoting Barnes). 43. Duluth News-Tribune, Nov. 22, 1918, 13. Wright, “Give Us a Chance,” 152–53; 30. Duluth News-Tribune, June 1, 1918, 7; Board of Directors, Minutes, Dec. 24, Riverside Review, June 1918, 14; Special 12, June 16, 1918, 7; Riverside Review, July 1919, McD Records; Riverside Review, Apr. Meeting of Board of Directors, Minutes, 1918, 2, 3, 10, June 1918, 10–11, Sept. 1918, 1919, 6. July 4, 1918, McD Records. Charles Piez to 12. 44. Duluth News-Tribune, May 25, 1919, Barnes (initial request), May 25, 1918; 31. Duluth News-Tribune, Apr. 21, 1918, 10, July 23, 1920, 11. Howard Coonley to Directors, McDougall- 4, Apr. 13, 1919, 5A. 45. Duluth News-Tribune, Dec. 9, 1920, Duluth Co. (revised request), June 11, 1918; 32. For example, see David Alan Corbin, 6. A. T. Banning to EFC (certifying contracts), Life, Work, and Rebellion in the Coal Fields: 46. Duluth News-Tribune, Aug. 1, 1920, July 10, 1918—all in General Decimal File The Southern West Virginia Miners, 1880– 5, Feb. 4, 1921, 6. 310.12, box 167, USSB Papers. 1922 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 47. Memorandum of Agreement, June 6, 14. Duluth Sunday Tribune, Aug. 24, 1981). 1934, and Minutes of Shareholders’ Meet- 1890, 2; Duluth News-Tribune, June 21, 33. Board of Directors, Minutes, July 9, ing, Dec. 23, 1942, both McD Records. 1910, 9. 1919, and Occupancy Contract, Jan. 10, Barnes served as president of the U.S. 15. Arnold R. Alanen, Morgan Park: 1918, both McD Records; Duluth News- Chamber of Commerce from 1921 to 1924 Duluth, U.S. Steel, and the Forging of a Tribune, July 14, 1919, 6; Julius Barnes, The and chair from 1929 to 1931; Barnes papers Company Town (Minneapolis: University Genius of American Business (Garden City, finding aid, NEMHC. Donald Emmerich’s of Minnesota Press, 2007), 33–35, 53–63. NY: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1924), 5–14 photo shows the derelict building; “Aban- 16. Duluth News-Tribune, Aug. 19, 1917, (“The Philosophy of Fair Play”); Richard doned Factory in Riverside, A Suburb of 4, Mar. 23, 1918, 5. Hudelson and Carl Ross, By the Ore Docks: Duluth on the St. Louis River, June 1973,” 17. Duluth News-Tribune, Oct. 28, 1917, A Working People’s History of Duluth Documerica series, NARA Still Picture Re- 9, Feb. 26, 1918, 1. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota cords Section, 152/41/009101. 18. There was also a free-standing club- Press, 2006), 143. 48. U.S.S. Robert L. Barnes, Dictionary house. Riverside Review, July 1918, 8–9. 34. Here and below, U.S., census sched- of American Naval Fighting Ships, www. 19. Duluth News-Tribune, Aug. 22, 1918, ules, 1920, Duluth, 50th precinct, ward 49, history.navy.mil/danfs/r7/robert_l_barnes 6. Additional examples of company towns enumeration district 141, sheets 191–99; .htm (accessed Jan. 24, 2013). abound. For a local example, see Arnold R. Michael Fedo, The Lynchings in Duluth 49. Will Van Dorp, “Graveyard 2,” Alanen, “The ‘Locations’: Company Com- (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Tugster: A Waterblog, May 4, 2010, http:// munities on Minnesota’s Iron Ranges,” Press, 2000); Labor World, Dec. 14, 1918, 4, tugster.wordpress.com/2010/05/04/grave Minnesota History 48 (Fall 1982): 94–107. May 3, 1919, 2, for example. yard-2/; Day Peckinpaugh, Erie Canalway 20. Emergency Fleet Corporation, Hous- 35. Jeffrey Haydu, Making American National Heritage Corridor, www.eriecanal ing the Shipbuilders: Constructed During Industry Safe for Democracy: Comparative way.org/explore_things-to-do_peckinpaugh the War Under the Direction of United Perspectives on the State and Employee .htm (both accessed Dec. 10, 2012). States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Representation in the Era of World War I Corporation Passenger Transportation and (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997), Housing Division (Philadelphia: EFC, 122–26. 1920), 3–16, 40–42. 36. Duluth News-Tribune, May 22, 1918, The photos on p. 176 and 186 are courtesy 21. Here and below, Board of Directors, 1, Nov. 1, 1918, 3. the Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Minutes, Feb. 7, 1918, June 12, 1918, McD 37. Truth, June 7, 1918, 3, June 14, 1918, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Records; Duluth News-Tribune, July 1, 1917, 2, June 27, 1918, 3; Duluth News-Tribune, Green, OH. All others are courtesy Univer- 8B. Mar. 13, 1919, 1, Feb. 13, 1920, 12. sity of Minnesota Duluth Library, 22. Riverside Review, Sept. 1918, 11. 38. See, for example, “Away With Classes Northeast Minnesota Historical Center; 23. Riverside Review, Apr. 1918, 9 Declares Mr. Barnes,” Labor World, Aug. 31, p. 185 from a photograph and the rest (photo of houses), Aug. 1918, 8, Oct. 1918, 1918, 7. from Riverside Review. 6; Truth, Aug. 8, 1919, 3. 39. Labor World, June 28, 1919, 3, Sept. 24. Duluth News-Tribune, Nov. 2, 1917, 20, 1919, 2, Nov. 8, 1919, 1; Riverside Re- 4, Dec. 20, 1917, 5, July 31, 1916, 4, June 1, view, Oct. 1919, inside front cover; Truth, 1919, 4. Oct. 3, 1919, 2.

Spring 2013 189

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