by S. L. Price
118 Students from next door . . . : “Aliquippa Cheers Gridders”, Beaver Valley Times, November 28, 1955, page 1.
118 “Even with the victory celebration” . . . : ibid.
119 Sacrifices like Johnny Reft . . . : “Obituaries”, Beaver Valley Times, January 25, 1949, pg. 14
119 37,000 more . . . : “The Ghosts of No Gun Ri”, Chicago Tribune, October 3, 1999.
120 With J&L its fourth-largest producer . . . : “CIO, Steel Only Six Cents Apart”, United Press, Madera Tribune, Madera, Calif., May 15, 1953.
120 Employed 650,000 . . . : American Iron and Steel Institute. Annual Statistical Report. New York, 1954: 24.
120 J&L was spending $676 million . . . : Beaver County Times, July 23, 1959; Hogan, William. Economic History of the Iron and Steel Industry in the United States. Lexington, Mass.: D.C. Heath and Company, 1972: 1,749.
120 By the end of the ’50s . . . : “Rise and Fall—The Death of a Steel Union”, Bauder, Bob, Beaver County Times, December 21, 2003; Inman, Wollman, 171.
120 Aliquippa’s population . . . : “Census of 1950”, U.S. Census Bureau.
120 “The customs and ideals of a new land” . . . : “Aliquippa”, The History of Beaver County Schools, Volume 1. Adams, Belle, ed. Beaver County Historical Research & Landmarks Foundation, printed by Closson Press, Apollo, Pa., 1982.
120 “Between 1946 and 1950” . . . : “Aliquippa”, The History of Beaver County Schools, Volume 1. Adams, Belle, ed. Beaver County Historical Research & Landmarks Foundation, printed by Closson Press, Apollo, Pa., 1982.
121 “The days when J&L would build swimming pools” . . . : “No ‘Ghost Town’ Likely Here—Aliquippa’s Future Bright Says Jones & Laughlin’s President”, Tilton, Al, drafts in Inman Collection; Inman, Donald R., Wollman, David H. Portraits in Steel: An Illustrated History of Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation. Kent, Ohio: The Kent State University Press, 1999: 128.
121 In January 1946 . . . : “Locals Call Immediate Walkout”, Fisher, C. Edmund, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 19, 1946, page 4, col. 1.
121 “Slave-labor law” . . . : “National Affairs: Barrel No. 2”, Time, June 23, 1947.
122 For steelworkers the end of every three-year contract . . . : Inman, Wollman, 157–159.
122 Its new chairman . . . : Inman, Wollman, 134.
122 “A true friend” . . . : Moreell, Ben, Men and Steel 6, no. 1, November 1952, page 7; Inman, Wollman, 148.
122 “So bad that we must experiment” . . . : Hoerr, John. And The Wolf Finally Came: The Decline of the American Steel Industry. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1988: 287; Inman, Wollman, 148.
123 “J&L made us all middle class” . . . : Piroli, author interview.
123 Pushed by the indefatigable Nick DeSalle . . . : Murphy, Cindy, Murphy, Ed. Images of America: Aliquippa. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing, 2013: 106; “Residents, Businesses Band Together to Help Build, Maintain Community Hospitals in Beaver County”, Snedden, Jeffrey, Beaver County Times, May 19, 2015; “Mills Built Pennsylvania Towns, Fostered Families”, Davidson, Tom, Beaver County Times, February 22, 2014.
124 In the late 50s Franklin Avenue . . . : “Aliquippa, J&L Steel, and the National Immigrant Movement: A History Lesson for Beaver County”, The Bridge, page 14.
124 “That drive down there was pretty nice” . . . : Ditka, Mike, author interview.
124–125 A workingman could make enough now to buy a four-bedroom house for $12,500 . . . : Casp, Joe, author interview, October 14, 2011.
125 “You have a job with A&S” . . . : Ditka, Mike, author interview.
125 A high school tour of J&L killed any interest in a job there . . . : Ditka, Mike, Ditka: An Autobiography, 50.
125 “My dad was what they called a scarfer” . . . : Evasovich, author interview.
126 In the summer of ’55 . . . : Marocco, author interview.
127 “Boy, Mom, one of these days I’m going to have four cars” . . . : Ditka, Charlotte, author interview.
127 “Ditka set all the standards” . . . : Yannessa, author interview, October 8, 2010.
128 “A little shit” . . . : Ditka, Mike, author interview.
128 “Did you ever see a lion jump through a hoop of flames?” . . . : “Coach: Ditka’s Talent Showed”, Mule, Marty, New Orleans Times-Picayune, January 21, 1986, page 24.
128 But now he’d grown two inches . . . : Ditka, Ditka: An Autobiography, 53.
128 “I didn’t think he was very good until his senior year” . . . : Evasovich, author interview.
128 But already Ditka . . . : “Iron Mike: From Aliquippa to Chicago, Bears’ Ditka All Business”, Prisuta, Mike, Beaver County Times, January 10, 1986, page C1.
128 In the second game of the ’56 season . . . : Aliquippa Quips 1910–2010.
129 “I didn’t do a good job” . . . : Yannessa, author interview, October 8, 2010 .
129 “Oh, my God” . . . : ibid.
129 Down 20-19 to Sharon . . . : Aliquippa Quips 1910-2010; Yannessa, author interview, October 8, 2010.
129 Ditka was named Most Popular . . . : Prisuta.
129 As a student he got Bs in English . . . : ibid.
129 Two weeks later . . . : Evasovich, author interview; Aliquippa Quips 1910-2010.
130 An embarrassing 55-13 finale . . . : Ditka, Mike, author interview, Aliquippa Quips 1910-2010.
130 “I was okay” . . . : Ditka, author interview.
130 “I was there the day” . . . : Zmijanac, Mike, author interview, September 23, 2010.
131 Ditka’s parents loved Penn State . . . : Ditka, Mike, Ditka: An Autobiography, 58; interview.
131 “Mike Ditka as a fucking dentist?” . . . : Yannessa, author interview, October 8, 2010.
131 “And guess what?” . . . : ibid.
132 After all, in 1944 . . . : Piroli, author interview.
133 Vince Calipari . . . : Calipari, John, author interview, February 9, 2011.
134 Starting in 1950 . . . : Jackson, Kenneth T. Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985: 4.
134 U.S. suburbs, meanwhile . . . : Miller, D. Quentin. John Updike and the Cold War: Drawing the Iron Curtain. Columbia, Mo., University of Missouri Press, 2001: 43.
134 “Nobody blames them” . . . : Zmijanac, author interview.
134 The whole family went back for big days . . . : “Immigrant Workers Sought New Beginning in Area’s Burgeoning Steel Industry”, Cubbal, Kayleen, Beaver County Times, February 25, 2015.
134 “In later years, you went to Villa’s” . . . : Zernich, Steve, Dr. Dr. Steve. Pittsburgh: self-published, 1992: 28.
134 “Those were the wild days” . . . : Letteri, Joe, author interview, May 11, 2012.
134–135 “Only five, six years of schooling” . . . : ibid.
135 “It wasn’t a perfect eden” . . . : Letteri, Gilda, author interview, May 11, 2012.
135 America accounted for 64 percent of the planet’s steel production . . . : “World’s Steel Output Drops 8 Million Tons”, United Press International, Pittsburgh Press, January 2, 1947, page 24. From American Iron and Steel Institute, Raw Steel Production Annual (Net Tons), 1860-2011.
135 By 1950 . . . : “Fortunes of the Steel Industry”, CQ Researcher, December 27, 1962.
135 “Malaise” . . . : Geneen, Harold, with Moscow, Alvin. Managing. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday and Company, 1984: 72.
136 “The handwriting was on the wall” . . . : ibid.
136 “To the other extreme” . . . : Radatovich, Paul, author interview, March 29, 2012.
137 “The biggest concern for unions in those days” . . . : Piroli, author interview.
137 “And I wanted to do more work” . . . : Evasovich, author interview.
138 “The union had ver
y much power” . . . : Vukmir, Rade B. The Mill. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, Inc., 2011: 357.
138 And in 1959 set new records . . . : “J&L, Crucible Steel Set Income Records”, Beaver Valley Times, July 23, 1959, page 1.
138 “You know what?” . . . : Yannessa, author interview.
138 At 11:25 p.m. . . . : “Big Mills Close Quietly: Pickets March In County”, Beaver Valley Times, July 15, 1959, page 1.
139 “I didn’t have a problem with it” . . . : Letteri, Joe, author interview.
139 Aliquippa’s local was flush enough . . . : “Strike Losses Keep Climbing Despite Reopening of Mills”, Beaver Valley Times, November 9, 1959, page 1.
139 A November 7 decision . . . : “County Steel Mills Reopen”, Beaver County Times, November 9, 1959, page 1.
139 Came within two points . . . : Aliquippa Quips 1910–2010.
140 “Best we’ve ever gotten” . . . : “Steel Firms Sign Up”, Beaver Valley Times, January 11, 1960, page 1.
140 U.S. steelworkers averaging $3.10 an hour . . . : Survey of Current Business, U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Business Economics, December 1959.
140 In 1959, for the first time . . . : “International Competition in the American Steel Market”, Revis, Joseph S., Hardy, Rudolph W., Business Horizons, Volume 3, Issue 4, Winter 1960, pages 30–37.
141 “If you aren’t from here, you can’t understand” . . . : Zmijanac, author interview.
142 “The single greatest thing that ever happened to me” . . . : ibid.
142 “School’s down there” . . . : ibid.
144 “Mike was one of the best sandlot shooters I ever saw” . . . : Pipkin, Robert, author interview, February 9, 2013.
144 “Look at you” . . . : Zmijanac, author interview, March 26, 2012.
144 “I remember punching him right in the mouth” . . . : Pipkin, author interview.
145 “We don’t stab you in the back here” . . . : Zmijanac, author interview, March 26, 2012.
145 “My current wife” . . . : ibid.
145 “That piece of shit!” . . . : ibid.
146 “Yeah”, she said. “For them” . . . : Browder, Carolyn, author interview, February 4, 2013.
146 “It was terrible” . . . : Vukmir, 406.
147 In 1946 the school board . . . : “Aliquippa”, The History of Beaver County Schools, Volume 1. Adams, Belle, ed. Beaver County Historical Research & Landmarks Foundation, printed by Closson Press, Apollo, Pa., 1982.
147 The town’s small—4,175; 15.9 percent—black population . . . : United States Census Bureau, 1950 Census of Population and Housing: Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., 1950.
147 “So my mother would beat me” . . . : Steals, Melvin, author interview, February 1, 2013.
148 “You could see the economics of racism as well” . . . : Harvey, Barron, author interview, February 14, 2013.
148 “It was brewing” . . . : Smith, Eugene “Salt”, author interview, November 28, 2011.
148 Black steelworker Matthew Strong . . . : “Worker: Aliquippa Mill in 1950s was Segregated”, Cubbal, Kayleen, Beaver County Times, August 31, 2014.
149 “It wouldn’t be all the whites and blacks” . . . : Yannessa, author interview.
149 Now the percentage of blacks in Aliquippa had risen to 21 percent . . . : 1960 Census of Population and Housing: Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., 1960.
149 Aliquippa’s population held steady . . . : ibid; U.S. Census Bureau, “Census of 1960.”
149 On July 4th weekend, 1960 . . . : Mancini, Henry, with Lees, Gene. Did They Mention the Music? Chicago: Contemporary Books, Inc., 1989: 221–222; “Mancini Worried About His Ride”, Legge, Norma, Beaver County Times, July 5, 1960, pages 1 and 4.
150 “I just can’t believe it” . . . : “Mancini Worried About His Ride”, Legge, Norma, Beaver County Times, July 5, 1960, page 4.
150 “Everybody wanted to play for Carl Aschman” . . . : Pipkin, author interview.
150 “Aschman had had disastrous seasons” . . . : Aliquippa Quips 1910–2010.
151 “We always had other people to fight with after the game” . . . : Harvey, author interview.
151 A clutch of Aliquippa teenagers . . . : “Fights Break Out After Grid Game”, Beaver County Times, September 8, 1962, page 1.
151 After the next game at Aliquippa Stadium . . . : “Quips Switch 3 More Games”, Beaver County Times, September 26, 1962, page 19.
151 “A rowdy minority group” . . . : “Aliquippa Abolishes Night Grid Games”, Kramer, Brute, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 26, 1962, page 27.
151 The Quips’ first win . . . : “Passes Conquer Ellwood, 13-7”, Rose, Ed, Beaver County Times, October 1, 1962, page 15.
151 “I talked to all the black football players” . . . : Pipkin, author interview.
152 “Some of us went to the coach” . . . : Yannessa, Gene, author interview, February 17, 2013.
152 For weeks, the national news . . . : “Meredith Registers at Bayonet Point”, Kuettner, Al, United Press International, Beaver County Times, October 1, 1962, page 1.
153 “On both sides, man” . . . : Mann, Richard, author interview, February 25, 2013.
153 “She really gave me hope” . . . : Pipkin, author interview.
153 “Kindergarten up through twelfth grade” . . . : Steals, author interview.
153 “Three years I went up there” . . . : Battalini, Anthony, author interview, October 12, 2011.
154 “He was a good man” . . . : Pipkin, author interview.
154 “But you were fearful of saying anything to him” . . . : Yannessa, Gene, author interview.
155 Though the Quips suffered humiliating losses . . . : Aliquippa Quips 1910–2010.
155 “He wasn’t going to budge” . . . : Aschman, Carl, Jr., author interview.
155 Just days after the walkout . . . : “Fighting Quips Stop New Castle, 19 to 19”, Schley, Tom, Beaver County Times, October 8, 1962, page 15.
155 Aschman eventually finished with 189 wins in all . . . : Beaver County Hall of Fame, “Carl Aschman”, http://www.bcshof.org/halloffamers/aschman1976.htm.
155 “We really jelled” . . . : Yannessa, Gene, author interview.
155 Surprisingly, news of Pipkin’s walkout . . . : Pipkin, author interview.
156 “He played basketball” . . . : Stokes, Larry, author interview, February 8, 2013.
156 Such ambivalence . . . : Pipkin, author interview.
156 Went on to score 27 points in the loss . . . : “Quips Best, Big John Says”, Mitchell, Jack, Beaver County Times, March 13, 1963, page 1.
156 “He’s great” . . . : ibid.
157 “I was the leading scorer” . . . : Pipkin, author interview.
157 In late ’62 . . . : Inman, Wollman, 289-292.
157 About half the town . . . : “They Came: They Saw the President”, Holovach, Nadine, Beaver County Times, October 13, 1962, page 1.
158 “Recipes and pictures” . . . : ibid.
158 The Beaver County Times’ photo . . . : “Hands and Hellos”, Shunk, Rudy, Beaver County Times, October 13, 1962, page 1.
158 “The crowd loved him” . . . : “Visit Came Off Without a Hitch”, Rose, Ed, Beaver County Times, October 13, 1962, page 3, col. 8.
158 “This country has many responsibilities” . . . : Kennedy, John F., “Remarks at a Rally in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania.,” October 12, 1962. Online by Peters, Gerhard and Woolley, John T. The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=8949.
159 Four Casp brothers . . . : Casp, author interview.
160 “Can you tell me how we can put them back to work” . . . : Kennedy, John F., “Remarks at a Rally in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania.,” October 12, 1962. Online by Peters, Gerhard and Woolley, John T. The American Presidency Project.
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=8949.
160 “No arrests were made” . . . : “Visit Came Off Without a Hitch”, Rose, Ed, Beaver County Times, October 13, 1962, page 3, col. 8.
161 “Who was that man?” . . . : “They Came: They Saw The President”, Holovach, Nadine, Beaver County Times, October 13, 1962, page 3, col. 8.
161 “What a glorious moment” . . . : Piroli, author interview.
162 “Guys from Aliquippa” . . . : Yannessa, Don, author interview.
163 “I’m going to Canada” . . . : Marocco, author interview.
163 “Teams of maybe thirty on one side” . . . : David, George, author interview, January 6, 2012.
164 “Very sarcastic” . . . : Mann, author interview.
164 “He was very humble” . . . : Marocco, author interview.
164 “I look back and whatever respect I had for him diminished” . . . : Yannessa, Gene, author interview.
164 “Took her to a party” . . . : Marocco, author interview.
165 Aliquippa opened the ’63 season . . . : “Aliquippa Team Easily Clobbers Steubenville, 32–0”, Schley, Tom, Beaver County Times, September 7, 1963, page 11.
166 “I got nervous” . . . : Marocco, author interview.
166 Finished 8-1 . . . : Aliquippa Quips 1910–2010.
166 “He didn’t do nothing” . . . : Marocco, author interview.
166 His son noticed too . . . : Aschman, Carl, Jr., author interview.
167 “We girls who kept trying out for cheerleading” . . . : Browder, author interview.
167 “Brown-Bag Brigade” . . . : “Residents Relate Their Struggle to Overcome Racial Prejudice”, Bauder, Bob, Beaver County Times, November 8, 2002.
168 “It was not until 1966” . . . : Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, Investigatory Hearing Report, Aliquippa, May 24–26, 1971.
168 Blacks at the Aliquippa Works . . . : ibid, page 31; Dickerson, 241.
168 “Reflect a rejection” . . . : Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, Investigatory Hearing Report, Aliquippa, May 24–26, 1971.
168 “We have been referred to and treated like objects” . . . : ibid.
169 “It caused the entire community to start looking” . . . : Harvey, author interview.
