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History Channel recognizes Homestead strike
Presented by: The History Channel
Michael Machosky can be reached via e-mail or at 412-320-7901.
The History Channel's "Ten Days that Unexpectedly Changed America" virtually dares them to disagree with the choices. The channel doesn't quite present the selections as the top 10 days that changed America. That would be like waving a Confederate flag in front of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, the Union's apostle of "scorched earth" warfare.
Instead of D-Day or Gettysburg, the History Channel chose 10 lesser-known days, whose full impact might not even have been known at the time. One of the "Ten Days" took place nearby and is depicted in the episode "The Homestead Strike," produced and directed by acclaimed documentarian Rory Kennedy ("American Hollow," "A Boy's Life.")
"They gave us 30 different dates to choose from," Kennedy says. "Homestead was the one I chose, in part because I think it's hard to tell the story of America without telling the story of the people who built it."
Most Pittsburghers are aware that The Waterfront shopping center stands on ground once dominated by the Homestead Steel Works. Where Pittsburghers now shop for shoes, the monstrous mill lay wreathed in smoke and fire, cranking out steel 24 hours a day.
"We did shoot some in Homestead -- the town, some abandoned mills, some working mills, the Frick House (in Point Breeze)," Kennedy says. "But most of it was shot in upstate New York, in a town called Hudson. You can't really shoot around that mall."
When Andrew Carnegie bought the Homestead mill, the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers was deeply entrenched there. In 1892, depressed steel prices took a big bite out of Carnegie's profits. Carnegie and his business partner, Henry C. Frick, were determined to slash pay and evict the union.
Carnegie usually presented a labor-friendly face to the public. But he ordered the plant closed and told workers to choose between their jobs and their union. They chose the union.
"The thing that was most eye-opening to me, in my research, was the idea that the workers felt that they had a claim to the mill," Kennedy says. "That mentality is so far from how labor is treated today. I think it's very clear that you work for the corporation -- you don't have any claim to it."
Frick built a giant fence to keep the workers out. On July 6, 1892, he sent a private army, hired from the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, to sail down the Monongahela River and secure the mill so "scab" workers could be brought in. Three thousand workers, aided by the sympathetic local population, met the armed Pinkertons at the water's edge.
A vicious gun battle ensued, and the Pinkertons' barges were set ablaze. With few photographs to work from, Kennedy staged a re-enactment.
"I had never done re-enactments before," Kennedy says. "To tell you the truth, I was really opposed to doing them, because they're so tacky. But the History Channel kind of pressured me, though they didn't force me."
To her surprise, the re-enactments became her favorite part of the experience.
"We were lucky that our 'Day' was very dramatic," Kennedy says. "It's very hard to re-create that, other than to do re-enactments. I've seen other films try to take this subject on, but you just don't get the drama of it when you're seeing a (two-)dimensional photograph."
The tide soon turned against the striking workers. An anarchist unaffiliated with Homestead tried to assassinate Frick, which damaged the public's opinion of their cause.
"I think the most significant turning point was when the militia was brought in," Kennedy says. "A few armed men and women couldn't take on the Pennsylvania militia."
The easiest part of making the film was working with narrator Martin Sheen.
"He's been so grateful to be part of the process," Kennedy says. "And he's got an amazing voice."
Kennedy draws a line from the workers' crushing loss all the way to contemporary corporate abuses at Enron, which is sure to vex some viewers.
"I do think there are links -- as a democracy and capitalist country, we are constantly struggling to balance business interests with the interests of the general public," Kennedy says. "I like to think the film celebrates those who rose up against Carnegie and Frick. But you can't get away from the reality that they lost.
"I do think there's still a lot to learn from the people who fought on that day. And I hope the story still resonates for people today."
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