Steel: The Diary of a Furnace Worker

A former Yale graduate trades his uniform for a soot‑streaked jumpsuit, stepping into the blaze of an open‑hearth furnace on the outskirts of Pittsburgh in the summer of 1919. Through the steady rhythm of ten‑hour days and grueling fourteen‑hour night shifts, he records the clang of metal, the roar of the blast, and the raw camaraderie that binds a disparate crew of laborers. His diary captures the physical toll of heat and fatigue while hinting at the deeper social layers—race, class, and the uneasy gap between the shop floor and the boardroom.

Beyond the furnace, the narrative offers a vivid window into a pivotal moment in American industry just before a historic steel strike. The observer’s reflections turn the plant into a microcosm of a nation’s economic pulse, revealing how ordinary workers perceive the forces that shape their lives. Listeners are invited to hear the honest, day‑to‑day pulse of an era where steel was both lifeblood and battleground.