A Steel Worker’s Story: How the stories of steelworkers, the steel industry, and the United States intertwine and run together like the threads of a steel cable
By Jarrett E. Brown
Note: The following is a story about one man’s experience in the steel industry and the legacy he left behind. As you will read, the man’s story tracks with the stories of the steel industry and the United States. My purpose in writing this was not to put the man on a steel pedestal. Rather, I sought to make it apparent that the stories of steelworkers, the steel industry, and the United States are intertwined and run together like the threads of a steel cable. The efforts of steelworkers fortify their personal legacies, their work legacies, their companies, the industry, their communities, and our country.
The South was destroyed between 1861 and 1865 by a war it brought upon itself. Some people in the South still prefer to call it “The War Between the States,” but we all know it as the Civil War. After the Civil War came to an end the people in the South were left to pick up the pieces. There had never really been any industry in the South and there certainly was not any by the end of the war.
My ancestors were mostly Scots-Irish Presbyterians who had first been expelled from Scotland and then from the area now known as Northern Ireland. They likely entered the United States at Philadelphia in the late 1600s and early 1700s and made their way to the Carolina colony, an area that was divided into the states now known as North Carolina and South Carolina. They were made unwelcome in their prior homelands because of their religion, but they traveled down the Great Wagon Road and settled in to build modest lives for themselves in the Carolinas. There is no indication that any of my ancestors had property to amount to much. They were small-parcel farmers, tenant farmers, and sharecroppers.
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In the late 1800s, the United States was changing rapidly. There was an influx of immigration and there was also urbanization because of industrialization. People moved from rural areas where they grew food for survival to small towns and cities where everything that was needed could be bought with money earned working in a factory or other small business.
My great-grandfather, John Brown Pridmore, was born in 1911 near Spartanburg, S.C. to parents who worked a farm. At some point, his father moved the family to Kings Mountain, N.C. where he continued to farm. Kings Mountain is located in Gaston County, N.C. which has been one of the most important areas to the textile industry since the late 1800s. Gaston County borders Mecklenburg County, which is where the modern metropolis of Charlotte is located.
Instead of going to work at one of the many cotton mills in Gaston County, J.B. Pridmore went to work in Charlotte around 1929 for Southern Engineering Co., an outfit that manufactured steel and erected steel structures. The company, which was incorporated in 1911, was an important economic engine in an area that had been largely devoid of industry other than agricultural production and moonshine distillation until the late 1800s. The area where the plant was located was known by the moniker “Little Pittsburgh.”
J.B. Pridmore married my great-grandmother, Merle Pridmore, better known as Mother Merle, and then started a family that included my father’s mother, Maxine Pridmore Brown. Finances are tight for most families that have seven members, but during the Great Depression finances were tight for just about everyone. Most privately financed development came to a halt, millions were left unemployed, and proud men became desperate men rather quickly.
Sometime between the onset of the Great Depression and 1935, J.B. Pridmore moved to Fayette County, West Virginia to work. From what I can surmise, the reason he went there was to ready a metals manufacturing plant for production.
A subsidiary of Union Carbide was building a metal manufacturing company in Fayette County near Alloy, WV on the New River. The manufacturing facility, formerly known as Alloy Metallurgical Plant, is still in operation today under the name WVA Manufacturing Co.
Another subsidiary of Union Carbide, the New Kanawha Power Co., was building a hydroelectric plant to supply the metal manufacturing company with power. An issue that the hydroelectric plant faced was that there was not enough water in the river in the area where the energy transformer was being built. That part of the river was called “the shallows” and just could not supply enough water to run the metal manufacturing plant. There was a part of the river 3-miles away where the water was deeper. The deeper section of the river was not easily accessible because Gauley Mountain stood in the way.
The New River makes a natural boundary around Gauley Mountain. A tunnel had to be burrowed through Gauley Mountain to get the water from the deep section of the river to “the shallows” where the hydroelectric plant was being built,
A dam was built to stop the flow of water downstream and divert it into the tunnel where it would travel through the mountain and come out on the other side where the hydroelectric plant was being built. The hydroelectric plant would have enough water supply to generate the power needed for the metal manufacturing plant.
The tunneling of Gauley Mountain began in April of 1930 and lasted until September 1931. During that time around 3,000 men, mostly African-Americans from the rural South, worked on the project. They believed that they were going to be given relatively high paying jobs in the West Virginia coal mines. It was only after they arrived that they learned they would be helping to dig what is now known as Hawk’s Nest Tunnel.
Working underground in a coal mine is rough, but working on a tunneling project through a mountain made of silica is even rougher. The impact of the drilling machines against the silica created dust that covered the men’s bodies every night when they went home. Even worse, the dust was inhaled and ended up sticking to the insides of their lungs. The company in charge of the tunneling project knew early on that the silica dust was causing workers to get sick and die, but it decided to pretend like it wasn’t happening instead of taking action to protect the men from exposure.
The men worked until they were sick from silicosis. Once they were too sick to work any longer they were evicted from their company housing. The sick men would then return home and live with the effects of silica exposure until they died from that or other causes. Estimates on the number of deaths caused by exposure to silica dust in the tunnel range from 109 to more than 1,000. According to the results of a Congressional investigation, the number of deaths is likely just under 500. Accurate records were not kept about how many people were exposed, how many became ill, and how many died so the exact statistics are not known. What is clear is that the tragedy was one of the worst industrial disasters in the history of the United States.
There is no evidence that J.B. Pridmore worked in the tunnel or was exposed to the silica dust. No one in my family ever recalled him having any breathing issues or other symptoms. No one in my family ever recalled him mentioning West Virginia or that he worked there. However, his death certificate indicates that he died in 1978 from a respiratory illness.
J.B. Pridmore worked in Fayette County until late 1935 or 1936 when he and Mother Merle returned to Gaston County, North Carolina. My grandmother, Maxine Pridmore Brown was born in the late summer of 1936 and is still alive as of this writing. She is pictured below in the arms of her mother.
After my grandmother was born, J.B. Pridmore and my great-grandmother moved to the mountains of eastern Tennessee where J.B. Pridmore worked on dam and bridge projects for the Tennessee Valley Authority. My grandmother spent the first few years of her life on her grandparents’ farm in Kings Mountain, North Carolina while her parents were away. In the late 1930s or early 1940s, J.B. Pridmore and Mother Merle returned home once again, this time for good.
J.B. Pridmore resumed working for Southern Engineering in Charlotte, N.C. as a supervisor. He filed a draft card during the years of World War II, but he was not selected and did not volunteer. All indications are that he continued to work in the plant throughout the war.
The men and women who served overseas during World War II were in obvious danger. The men and women who stayed at home and worked in the factories were also in danger due to inexperience and incompetence. There were 2.5 million lost time accidents in stateside factories during 1943 alone. In response, the federal government created a program to train plant operatives on how to protect workers from the possibility of injury or death.
In North Carolina, the federal government contracted North Carolina State University to create and implement a training program to protect workers. As a supervisor at Southern Engineering, J.B. Pridmore was in a position of responsibility and was assigned to take the course. He and his fellow members of management continued to work their shifts and took classes that were held during off hours. Although the program did not result in a degree it was a form of education that would benefit the members of management and the employees in their charge. J.B. Pridmore completed the program and attended a ceremony held at a landmark hotel in Charlotte aptly named Hotel Charlotte. He was the first person I know of in his family to undertake studies of any kind past high school.
After World War II, Charlotte began to grow outward from downtown because of federal government programs that made it affordable to own a home. The growing city needed venues for its citizens to gather for events of interest. Previously, the city had a good-sized armory and a good-sized auditorium, but neither of these venues could host big-time events. After more than 15 years of discussion, the city began construction of the Charlotte Coliseum in 1953. Southern Engineering, the firm J.B. Pridmore worked for as a supervisor, was one of the contractors. The job of his crews was to erect the steel “bones” of the building.
Opening day at the Charlotte Coliseum in 1955 was an important day for the city. World-famous evangelist Rev. Billy Graham conducted the opening ceremony. Everyone marveled at the mid-century modern architectural style of the building and the fact that it had the largest unsupported dome in the world at the time. Some of the world’s all-time great sports, entertainment, and political performers have demonstrated their skills underneath the coliseum’s unsupported dome. The fact that J.B. Pridmore was part of the team that built the Charlotte Coliseum (Bojangles Coliseum) probably always will be a source of pride among his family and descendants.
In December 1957, Southern Engineering held a Christmas party to celebrate the holiday, honor its employees, and entertain the workers’ children. When workers and their families entered the room where the event was held they saw metallic Christmas trees and heard the musical sounds of the season. Workers found out that they were to receive their regular share of the profits plus a bonus check. Workers who reached anniversaries received a certificate and an “emblem.” Santa Claus and his helpers were there to give a gift to each child in attendance. Fred Kirby — a regionally famous singing cowboy — and his beloved horse Calico were there to meet the starstruck youngsters. Jack Pentes a local celebrity magician and clown was there to keep the kids in awe. J.B. Pridmore, who has been in the industry for nearly 30 years, received an anniversary award for having between 20 and 24 years of experience with the company.
He brought members of his family to enjoy the festivities. My grandmother, Maxine Pridmore Brown brought my favorite aunt, Shari Brown Burnette, who was less than two at the time. Their photo was taken and published in a Charlotte News story about the occasion.
J.B. Pridmore continued working steadfastly for Southern Engineering until sometime around 1973. Two of the last projects that J.B. Pridmore worked on appear to be the universally appreciated monorail at the Carowinds Amusement Park and the architecturally advanced Charlotte Civic Center.
Carowinds, a regional attraction just south of Charlotte, straddles the North Carolina-South Carolina state line. Everyone who ever went to Carowinds enjoyed themselves, but having fun in the sun can be tiring. The monorail helped visitors get from one side of the park to the other without having to wear out the soles of their shoes. All they had to do was step on in one place and step off in another. J.B. Pridmore was said to have designed the people mover, but the Charlotte Observer gave credit to a design firm that specialized in monorails. Considering his listed position and known responsibilities it is more likely that J.B. Pridmore drew a diagram to instruct workers where they should stage steel beams before they were laid in their permanent position.
The Civic Center, much like a convention center, was built to host meetings of people from outside of the city, state, and country. City leaders hoped that bringing in outsiders would help it create local jobs, increase the city’s brand recognition, and create opportunities for future economic development. Leaders of the little city of Charlotte hoped the city would one day become a much larger and more prosperous version of itself. The Civic Center’s unique design garnered attention and made it easy to find. It had pyramid-shaped structures on its roof which made it easy to spot from the ground or the air. Although I do not recall having ever stepped foot in the Civic Center, I recall seeing it in photos, on television, and from a distance as a child. The building no longer stands, but I am still proud that J.B. Pridmore helped erect it in the first place.
Sometime around 1973, J.B. Pridmore left Southern Engineering and spent the remaining five years of his career and life at SteelFab Inc. of Charlotte.
At some point during his tenure, he was injured when a steel beam being transported in the plant either rammed into him or landed on him. He spent approximately six weeks in the hospital recovering from his injuries. J.B. Pridmore may have slowed down at the job, but he continued to build and create at home. He erected a workshop for personal projects in his backyard on Main Street in Mount Holly, N.C. Either at the plant or in the workshop he made a miniature version of a cannon for his grandson, Marty Pridmore, who was also his adopted son. My family visited the home from time to time when I was a child. When my parents and my Mother Merle started having adult conversations my brother, sister, and I would go play in the yard. The three of us often fought battles against imaginary enemies using the cannon J.B. Pridmore made with tools held in his hands. Although the Pridmores are gone and another family lives in their place, the cannon sits in Marty Pridmore’s front yard somewhere in N.C.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the financial industry was systematically deregulated. Local bankers saw and seized on the opportunity to grow their banks outside of the state’s boundaries. They bought up banks around the country and operated them from their headquarters in Charlotte. The city, known for the first American gold rush and a longstanding host of a branch of the U.S. Mint, became the second-largest banking center in the country. The little city grew much larger as its leaders had long hoped and buildings made of concrete and steel rose so high as to scrape the sky. Instead of being known as a place where things were produced, it became known as a place where financial services were rendered. Since the banking boom began, Charlotte has become less and less affordable for many of its citizens.
J.B. Pridmore had five biological daughters, none of whom followed him into the steel industry. Marty Pridmore, his grandson and adopted son, was taught how to weld by his grandfather and carries an appreciation for the skill. I worked more than 17 years in manufacturing plants around the country including a 1.5-year stint in a warehouse that sold metal parts for the power utility industry. One of my last jobs before completing a Master’s degree and being admitted to law school was at a metal plant where products were finished and sent off to fulfill their purpose. Incidentally, one of the most instrumental people in helping me achieve my goal of leaving manufacturing plants to work in law offices and courtrooms was Sachin Shivaram, a metals manufacturing industry veteran who holds a law license and is the CEO of Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry in Manitowoc, W.I. He helped me finish off my career in manufacturing and leave to fulfill my purpose in the legal services industry.
During his 67 years, J.B. Pridmore was a witness to and a part of the development of the steel industry and the building of his community. He was born at a time when cotton fields dominated the landscape and died around the time that high rises began to dominate the skyline. In the years since his death, the area where he lived has grown rapidly and the world has changed dramatically. Even after the structures that steelworkers erect are taken down the legacy of what they build lives because their efforts and their accomplishments are a part of the intertwined histories of steelworkers, the steel industry, and America.