Union Switch and Signal Company strike photograph collection, June 1914.

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Union Switch and Signal Company. Union Switch and Signal Company strike photograph collection, June 1914.

Union Switch and Signal Company strike photograph collection, June 1914.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/31312455

The Union Switch and Signal Company Strike Photograph Collection contains 90 black and white photographs documenting the June 1914 walkout of over 1,000 workers at the Union Switch and Signal Company (US&S) plant in Swissvale, Pennsylvania. Also included is a strike bulletin distributed by the Allegheny Congenial Industrial Union, Local No. 2, on June 16, 1914. The purpose of this album is unclear. It was salvaged by noted labor historian and former UE chief steward at US&S, Charles McCollester, before it closed. The identity of the photographer(s) responsible for the creation of the photographs is also uncertain, although the name "S.J. Turocy" appears written throughout the album. Some photographs of striking workers are taken from high vantage points while other shots are taken from close-up, as if the subjects posed for the photographs. Interestingly, one of the images clearly shows another photographer and his camera positioned on a railroad crossing bridge with striking workers, giving support to the idea that more than one photographer was responsible for documenting the strike. It is difficult to identify the exact dates that photographs in the collection were taken. Given the evidence, however, it seems likely that many of the photographs originated on June 12th: the day of the initial walkout and parade.

90 items (1 album).

University of Pittsburgh