Walker Evans > Photos > Birmingham Steel Mill and Workers' Houses, 1936
Uploaded at: Aug 22, 2012 11:53am
Views: 3036
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Uploaded by:
Jessica Donaghy
Walker Evans (American, 1903-1975)
Gelatin silver print
7 1/2 x 9 7/16" (19 x 24 cm)
The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase
Tags: photography
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Cecile
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Sep 11, 2012 11:43am
note the tiny houses for the workers at this plant. they probably shopped at a company store (one of the larger buildings) and ran up a tab which would be taken from their wages
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My father's family lived in the company town for Dupont in Wilmington, DE. Yikes, indeed. Too bad there are so many who don't know or remember the excesses of those days and the mistreatment of workers.
Do you have enough family stories and information to write about those days in a book? That would be very interesting reading.
My father told some good tales. He was with the Royal Canadian Air Force, stationed in London England during WW2. His experiences were of a positive note, and I enjoy telling some of his stories.
They recently ended what may be the last company town in America. The town of Scotia, California was owned by Pacific Lumber Company. The houses were well kept and they had their own volunteer fire department. Scotia is now a Community Services District in the county of Humboldt.
My grandfather ran a "company town" in Missouri. It was not mean like that. The head of the operation (my grandfather) was responsible for providing education for the workers' children, and my grandmother started a Sunday school for them. The workers lived in small houses, but most of them felt lucky to have jobs. This was in the 20s or early 30s. The town, which was built around the limestone quarrying operation, no longer exists.
