Ethnicity

In the files from the 1900s I noticed that most immigrants are portrayed as either the victims of homicides/industrial accidents, or, less frequently, the ones committing the homicides. In a considerable number of industrial accidents, such as in mines or the steel mills, immigrants generally are the ones meeting their death at the hands of machinery or other unfortunate accidents. A lot of the testimony relating to these deaths, generally from the foreman in charge, details how many of the immigrants barely spoke English, if at all, and had only been on the job for a relatively short period of time before they met their death.

I was curious to find out if turnover was generally high among immigrant workers in these occupations, and if certain ethnicities within the Pittsburgh area were more sought after or looked down upon. I have seen mentions of mainly Slavic and Polish immigrants within the case files, or men of an "Eastern European heritage", but not many specifics on just how individual ethnicities were looked upon. From my own experiences and heritage I know that the Pittsburgh area was one of the prime places of immigration for those of Slavic heritage, especially Slovakians. I imagine around this time in history Pittsburgh was exploding with a growing immigrant population, and I was surprised to see that those who were already living in America at the time did not act too harshly towards their new neighbors. As I mentioned, most portrayals of these immigrants were generally favorable, except when they were the ones causing trouble. These are all impressions made from the testimony for government documents, however, so it is likely that people may have hidden their true feelings on the matter from the coroner.

 Beyond these general impressions, in many files involving immigrant deaths, witnesses who could not speak English were provided with interpreters to allow them to give their testimony. The fact that they were willing to step forward and the fact that the officials of Allegheny County were willing to listen speaks greatly towards an acceptance of immigrants within the Pittsburgh society.

1959

This particular case (195908_9) got my attention because I have a class on caste and ethnicity this semester, and my professor said that one of the highest occupations that a black American could hold pre-Civil Rights Movement was that of a passenger car porter. These porters were actually powerful enough to form the only all-Black union in the country. This man was of such an occupation, so at 59 years of age he was probably pretty well-travelled. He died of throat cancer, so it is quite possible that he was a smoker. I'll wager that this individual had an impressive knowledge of the railroad industry along with the various landscapes of our country. This case seems very relevant to the history of both Pittsburgh and American Industry.

RB 05 Feb 2008