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Creating Legends: Graffiti Writers of the Past, Present, and Future

By Jordan Snowden

At the Carrie Blast Furnaces, energy and creativity have replaced molten iron as the leading commodities supporting their surrounding communities with the help of Rivers of Steel and local and non-local artists through festivals, events, and educational programming.

For the heritage nonprofit’s latest upcoming project, Creating Legends: Graffiti Writers of the Past, Present, and Future, graffiti artists from around the world will mix and mingle with one another and with residents of Pittsburgh and Mon Valley communities. The project is presented by Rivers of Steel in partnership with Hemispheric Conversations Urban Arts Project (HCUAP).

Running from October 14 – 20, this multilayered, community-based program serves as a weeklong residency for select artists to engage with youth, create new murals, and participate in free public events at The Warhol and Carrie Blast Furnaces.

Or, as Scott Brozovich, Rivers of Steel’s graffiti coordinator and teaching artist, put it: “Creating Legends serves as a way to work with legends—like New York graffiti writer pioneers and United Graffiti Artists, aka UGA, founding members Henry 161 and Mike 171—to create new legends.

“I think the part that gets slept on a little bit is the ‘creating,’” says Brozovich. “You know, because we’re bringing legends out, but that’s not the purpose of the program. The program, in my eyes, is to use people like Henry and Mike to inspire others to become legends themselves.”

Chris McGinnis, Rivers of Steel’s senior director of programs & regional partnerships, understands the excitement of bringing famous artists to the region and the impact it can make on youth but also acknowledges what programs like this can do for the communities over time.

“Our graffiti arts programs are anchored in the legacy of our region’s postindustrial past,” said McGinnis. “Not unlike a moth to a flame, creatives of all types have been lured by the Carrie Blast Furnaces, including the graf writers in the 1980s and ’90s. But more importantly, our program is also centered on our region’s future. By working with youth and partnering with an array of collaborators—HCUAP, individual artists, community centers including Rankin Christian Center and Dragon’s Den—we can build skills, create confidence, and spark interest among our communities’ youngest artists, while also crafting something beautiful for everyone whose eyes rest on the murals.”

The 2024 Program at a Glance

Creating Legends kicks off on Monday, October 14, with a community event during Rankin Christian Center’s Fall Festival. All of the Creating Legends artists—from the Netherlands’ hip-hop-leaning graphic muralist Mr. June to local artists working with HCUAP, including Shane Pilster who helped develop Rivers of Steel’s graffiti arts program—will be available for a meet and greet, as well as a live community painting session. Alongside music and food options are pumpkin carving, games, and a portrait mural session.

Come Wednesday, Mike 171 and Henry 161, known worldwide as The Boys from the Heights, join self-taught multimedia Venezuelan-American artist Ally Grimm at Homestead’s Dragon’s Den to speak with students about the artists’ backgrounds in the graffiti medium.

Front-runners of style-writing graffiti, The Boys from the Heights helped launch the graphic art form as a global cultural phenomenon and were some of the first graffiti artists to be written about in The New York Times during the 1970s. Grimm, meanwhile, will offer a more modern take on graffiti, as over the years her signature monochromatic style has evolved from paper to canvas, and now murals and digital installations found in cities across America, as well as the virtual world with augmented reality and non-fungible tokens.

That same day, across the river at the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Creativity, Roberto Seminario aka Sef, a graffiti artist from Peru whose realistic aesthetic focuses on themes of innocence and purity, and renowned Parisian street artist REVER will share their stories while creating accompanying live paintings.

Thursday, Creating Legends offers another student-focused educational leg, when Sef, REVER, Mr. June, and Grimm visit associate professor of communication Caitlin Bruce’s class at the University of Pittsburgh to share their stories, followed by a Q&A session.

Creating Legends opens back up to the public on Friday at The Andy Warhol Museum’s theater for a Q&A panel discussion featuring all of the artists involved, moderated by Emma Riva, a member of HCUAP. Riva is an art writer based in Pittsburgh. Her work has appeared in Artforum, The Art Newspaper, Newcity, The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, Belt Magazine, and more. She also serves as the managing editor of UP Magazine—an international graffiti and street art publication—and is the online editor of Pittsburgh’s TABLE Magazine.

Henry 161

Riva, who grew up in New York’s Washington Heights—where The Boys from the Heights did—is looking forward to the event. “I’ve done a couple of combinations at this point with different panelists, but this is the third discussion I’ve moderated with Mike [171] and Henry [161], so I feel like I know them pretty well, and they’re really fun people to talk to that have super inspiring stories.

“They’re both sweet people and positive examples of masculinity that are at a point in their lives where they want to share their stories with the world because they were some of the first graffiti writers in the U.S.,” says Riva. “They are some of the originators of the movement, and we’re lucky in Pittsburgh—in any of these arts institutions—that they speak and we get to be near them, to hear from them, while they’re still around.

Mike 171

“I’m always really excited to speak with people in the graffiti community because they are always such big personalities and take some elitism out of being creative,” says Riva.

Saturday, the fun moves to Carrie Blast Furnaces, where the artists will hang out and work on creating new pieces. Mr. June and Grimm are set to paint solo murals, while Sef and REVER are set to paint together. Meanwhile, The Boys from the Heights will lead a special version of the Hands-On Graffiti Tour before turning the spray cans over to guests, offering a chance to paint with the legends themselves.

Closing out the week on Sunday is a paint party at Trace Brewing’s Clement Way legal wall, featuring snacks, drinks, music, live painting, and murals by Dejouir Brown and Juliandra Jones, both of whom currently work with Brozovich to lead Rivers of Steel’s graffiti arts student programs.

For Brozovich, youth engagement is an essential element of the program. “This really means something to me because I didn’t get chances like this as a kid,” says Brozovich. “No one came into my school and was like, ‘Hey, you don’t have to go work in the local factory . . . you could do something else.’ That’s a big part of what the program is—showing youth that you can be something more than just your average worker; you can be a legend.”

Artworks by Michael Walsh (left) and Carlos Mare (right) created during the Industrial Grit and Graffiti program in 2022.

The Foundation for Creating Legends

In 2022, Rivers of Steel launched Industrial Grit and Graffiti, a program held at the Carrie Blast Furnaces that was dedicated to exploring the intersection between metal arts and graffiti.

For one week that summer, graffiti arts pioneers Carlos Mare, né Rodriguez, (aka Mare139) and Pittsburgh’s own Michael Walsh joined three local artists to collaborate, learn from one another, and push their personal boundaries and intersections of graffiti sculpture art. Some of those works, including Mare’s sculpture showcasing the movement of breakdancing, are still on display at the Carrie Blast Furnaces.

The program also connected with residents in the nearby communities in the Monongahela Valley—places shaped by both their industrial and postindustrial heritage—for interactive events, ranging from tours and workshops to internships and residencies. These activities, dubbed the Community Learning Series, also culminated with an artists’ talk at The Warhol Museum in December of 2022.

“What’s really nice about the organization is that it’s preserving this whole industrial space for artists to come look at it, be inspired by it, and then go make art,” said Mare in a 2023 video about Industrial Grit and Graffiti. “The opportunities that Rivers of Steel offers someone like me and Michael, who believe very strongly in the ethos of hard work, smart work, forward-thinking work, work that does not come easy—this is a place for people like us.”

Walsh echoed that sentiment, saying, “I was somehow, in these abandoned sites, almost taken over by this industry and the ghost of its spirit. The amount of energy that was expelled here, if you think about that, is pretty hard to grapple with. I think it’s only appropriate that someone from a city like Pittsburgh would work in this medium and continue to.”

While one of the purposes of Industrial Grit and Graffiti was to show how graffiti art can extend to other mediums and opportunities, the format was also a hit with the creatives who participated.

“I want to make this available in the way of encouraging other graffiti artists to work in the industrial arts and work with their hands . . . and 3D art and also work in the ever-emerging and expanding digital realm,” says Walsh.

“Industrial Grit and Graffiti was Rivers of Steel’s second major initiative that used graffiti as an inspiration for creative placemaking and community building,” said McGinnis. “It was borne out of the Murals on a Mission project. Now, picking up where the 2022 program left off, Creating Legends embraces that momentum and features public murals, community-based collaborations, and culminating public events.”

A canvas painted during a Murals on a Mission community event.

McGinnis also acknowledged the support he received from muralist Ashley Hodder. “Ashley was essential in getting Creating Legends off the ground, from early-stage collaboration in drafting the grant requests to connecting us with participating artists and helping coordinate their murals and locations. It was great to have the opportunity to work with her again.”

Creating Legends was made possible through contributions from The McKinney Charitable Foundation, The Heinz Endowments, and the McElhattan Foundation.

Get Involved

Join Rivers of Steel & Hemispheric Conversations Urban Art Project for a panel discussion featuring nationally recognized muralists and graffiti artists Mr. June, Sef, Mike 171, and Henry 161 at The Warhol Museum on Friday, October 18. The conversation, moderated by Emma Riva, will reflect on how the project is bringing together local, national, and international muralists to celebrate the origins of graffiti and its influence across generations. It is co-presented with The Andy Warhol Museum. The event is free, but registration is required. Sign up here.

Also, don’t miss the opportunity to join the special version of the Hands-On Graffiti Tour at the Carrie Blast Furnaces on Saturday, October 19, led by Mike 171 and Henry 161—The Boys from the Heights. Register here.

So grab your spray paints or simply your listening ears, and come, learn, have fun, and who knows—you may just be the next graffiti legend!

Jordan Snowden is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh whose work has been published in The Seattle Times, Pittsburgh City Paper ,and elsewhere. She also runs @jord_reads_books, a book-focused Instagram account where she connects with other bookworms. In her free time, Jordan can be found with a book in her hand or DIYing something with her husband.

Gledaj! sketching workshops explore Maxo Vanka’s perspective. Photo by Lynne Squilla.

Community Spotlight—Gledaj! Sketching Workshops

The Community Spotlight series features the efforts of Rivers of Steel’s partner organizations, along with collaborative partnerships, that reflect the diversity and vibrancy of the communities within the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area. Today’s story explores the Gledaj! Sketching Workshops that capture the spirit behind the inspiration Maxo Vanka took from Pittsburgh’s vistas.

By Lynne Squilla, Contributing Writer

Visions of Carrie

On a hot, sunny day in late July 2024, a group of 30 people gathered at the towering Carrie Blast Furnaces National Historic Landmark. Holding sketchbooks, easels, brushes, pencils, and pens, the group listened to some inspiration from local artists then quietly dispersed across the grounds, each looking around intently before settling down to create their own visions of this remarkable site.

This was the second Carrie Furnaces Gledaj! Sketching Session since 2023, conducted by the Society to Preserve the Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka (SPMMMV). It has become a happy collaboration between the Society and Rivers of Steel, sponsored in part by a Rivers of Steel Mini-Grant. The images these visitors created were diverse and breathtaking, capturing the power, beauty, and spirit of this National Historic Landmark. The experience tied together two of our area’s important industrial heritage sites, raising awareness of these treasures and their impact on the region and the world.

Sketching at Carrie. Photo by Anna Doering.

Croatian-born artist Maximilian “Maxo” Vanka was a classically trained artist who constantly sketched birds, animals, people, situations—and industrial structures. These Gledaj! sketching sessions were inspired by his bold murals emblazoned on the walls of St. Nicholas Croatian Church in Millvale.

“Maxo Vanka loved the grit and muscularity of Pittsburgh,” said Anna Doering, executive director of SPMMMV, pointing out that he first came here in 1935 and drew the dramatic landscape of factories and furnaces, as well as bridges, rivers, and the then newly constructed Cathedral of Learning.

Recruited by St. Nicholas’ priest, Father Albert Zagar, to fill the blank walls of his Croatian-Catholic church on a hill in Millvale, Vanka crafted 25 murals in two great bursts of energy in 1937 and 1941. They are a mix of religious imagery and poignant scenes of life for the Croatian immigrants who came to toil in Pittsburgh’s coal mines, iron furnaces, and steel mills.

“Look at The Immigrant Mother Gives Her Son for Industry, and there are blast furnaces in the background,” Doering reflected, referencing the murals. “Also in The Simple Family Meal. And Injustice: the flames at the feet of that figure [can be compared to] the flames of industry. Behind Father Zagar on the altar mural, you can see smokestacks and downtown Pittsburgh.”

Maxo Vanka’s mural showing Father Zagar, Croatian immigrants, and smokestacks of Pittsburgh. Courtesy of SPMMMV.

“So, tying the murals to Carrie and Rivers of Steel,” she continued, “the synergy is that both organizations are trying to preserve these parts of Pittsburgh’s history: its industry, its past, its workers. We’re telling very similar stories about the immigrant experience.”

The original concept for the sketching sessions came from a meeting between Doering and Pittsburgh-born architect John Martine, who traveled Europe drawing landmarks and landscapes. He also has a prestigious solo art career, along with connections to historical and preservation organizations. Martine remains involved in the sketching sessions that have featured other Pittsburgh sites and neighborhoods, with guidance from other local painters, architects, graffiti and mural artists, and educators.

Rick Landesberg, founder of Landesberg Design and retired faculty at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Design, led the Carrie sketching session in 2023, and in 2024 he was joined by designer, artist, and CMU professor, Laura Vinchesi.

Rick Landesberg at the Carrie Blast Furnaces. Photo courtesy of Rick Landesberg.

“I have always kept a sketchbook,” says Landesberg. “It is an observational tool that helps you look. So, even if you only draw moderately well, it forces you to look carefully at things. The energy of observing goes to the page. How often do you really look at something for six minutes? You sure do when you’re drawing. You own it!”

This concept of intense observation closely parallels Vanka’s approach. His mantra was the Croatian word Gledaj!, which translates to Look! See! The term became the theme for SPMMMV’s sketching sessions, as well as the title of a past collaboration with Rivers of Steel at its Bost Building in 2023: Gledaj! The Gaze of Maxo Vanka. More than 130 of Vanka’s early drawings and preparatory sketches for the murals were on display.

In particular, Vanka’s views of Pittsburgh’s rivers, bridges, and industry seemed appropriately placed in the Bost Building, which received National Historic Landmark recognition for its role in the1892 labor lockout and strike most commonly referred to as the Battle of Homestead.

Landesberg was impressed by how the Carrie sketch participants, who had a range of skill levels, took Vanka’s Gledaj! message to heart, keenly studying the sights before drawing them.

For Shaun Slifer, a multidisciplinary artist, founder of Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative, and creative director for the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum, it was his first visit to Carrie, though he had been aware of it and had visited the Vanka murals multiple times.

“I was doing a lot of Gledaj-ing,” he laughed. “It was a great way to spend a Sunday. I had no idea what any of the structures were for, not having grown up here with the mills. I drew this high-up room with corrugated walls, like a tree house. It did make me want to take a tour of the site to learn more!”

A sketch by Sue Mals. Photo courtesy of Sue Mals.

Two-time sketching session participant and retired engineer Sue Mals added, “The more you quiet your mind, the more you see. While sketching, I did think about all of the many feet that trod before where I was seated to do my sketching. It was an interesting dichotomy that it was rather quiet with just some bird song in the air while I was sketching, whereas when the Carrie Blast Furnaces were operational, a loud cacophony of sounds would have been in the air.”

What emerged from the four-hour sessions were bold charcoal portraits of the furnaces, fine-lined ink pen renditions, soft watercolors and pastel visions, playful crayon depictions, and simple felt marker silhouettes. Some of the representations were even reminiscent of Vanka’s sketching technique.

“The styles that came out of it were quite broad,” noted Landesberg. “I was surprised at how many brought watercolors and brushes. Some folks really stretched their medium. The work of one artist—Gideon Kossoff’s charcoal drawings—were really loose, really active. He went at it with great energy, though he is, in person, a really soft-spoken guy.” Many of the participants focused on the behemoth Furnaces #6 and #7, while others like Slifer zeroed in on some small detail of a gear or bolt or tree nestled within the massive structures. In 2023, one of the artists even placed paper on the surface of one of the edifices and made a textured rubbing.

A sketch by Shaun Slifer. Photo courtesy of Shaun Slifer.

“I got interested in seeing the plants growing up through the slag and rust. I drew a crumbling wall,” Slifer explained. “The place was eerie but wonderful.”

Charles Lucas had worked in U.S. Steel’s Open Hearth #4 as a college student and currently takes commissions to paint religious icons. It was his second session at Carrie, and he felt a connection between the industrial remnants and Vanka’s images of workers: “There’s the image of the fallen worker and the women weeping for him. That’s the worker—the ‘grunt’—that’s who some would say worked at Carrie. But they weren’t. Those guys were amazing and knew how to do their jobs.”

“Carrie is a strange and magical place,” Landesberg said. “It’s peaceful now, like a cemetery, but a violent place when it was active. It has a drama to it, though now sitting still and silent. And just in sheer physical, graphic terms, it is an amazing place.”

A charcoal image of furnace #7 and the gas washer sketched by Gideon Kossoff. Photo by Lynne Squilla.

Just as Rivers of Steel has done with the Carrie Blast Furnaces, the Bost Building, and the Pump House, SPMMMV works to preserve the Vanka murals and their stories inside St. Nicholas Croatian Church in Millvale by constantly devising innovative programming that appeals to an ever-broadening audience. The partnership with Rivers of Steel has allowed both organizations to reach visitors who might not otherwise know about these sites or the Pittsburgh history and universal lessons they represent.

“With Gledaj! helped by the Mini-Grants, SPMMMV can launch new programs and ideas, test them out as outreach, which helps us to establish an idea and make it sustaining or find new support for these efforts,” Doering explained. “We can also reach out to other organizations, and having this matching component is always vital to show donors new reasons to give.”

Doering was pleased by how much the groups enjoyed the sessions in 2023 and 2024. “People loved getting out to places they’d previously never been to, getting together with new people with similar interests, and engaging around the Vanka murals’ stories. These timeless stories are a gift to every generation, connecting us to shared history and lived experiences that influence our region and our country today. Unique sites like these make Pittsburgh a one-of-a-kind destination.”

Slifer put it more simply: “I just thought it’s great that two organizations that I think are cool are doing something together!”

Carrie was just one location for SPMMMV’s Gledaj! Sketching Sessions. Since 2023, the program also brought groups to Pittsburgh’s South Side and Polish Hill neighborhoods, as well as Allegheny Cemetery. On September 8 there will be a session at Allegheny Commons in the North Side, and on October 6 inside St. Nicholas Croatian Church and Millvale environs to sketch from the murals themselves, along with the surrounding postindustrial neighborhood. For more information or to reserve a space in the sketching group, visit https://vankamurals.org/events-activities/sketching-sessions/.

About the Mini Grant Program

Rivers of Steel’s Mini-Grant Program assists heritage-related sites and organizations as well as municipalities within the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area to develop new and innovative programs, partnerships, exhibits, tours, and other initiatives. Funded projects support heritage tourism, enhance preservation efforts, involve the stewardship of natural resources, encourage outdoor recreation, and include collaborative partnerships. Through these efforts, Rivers of Steel seeks to identify, conserve, promote, and interpret the industrial and cultural heritage that defines southwestern Pennsylvania.

The Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area is one of twelve supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). Funding is provided via DCNR’s Community Conservation Partnerships Program and the Environmental Stewardship Fund to Rivers of Steel, which administers the Mini-Grant Program.

Lynne Squilla is a skilled and creative storyteller. She honed her craft as a writer and producer / director of original scripts, documentaries, articles, web content, stage, and other live presentations. While her work has taken her across the globe, she’s rooted in the Mt. Washington neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and has a passion for sharing stories about our region’s past.

Check out Lynne’s previous article on Rivers of Steel’s new workforce development program.

The Golden Age of Carrie Baseball

Barney Terrell traces the origins of Carrie Furnaces’ baseballs teams from the earliest mention in 1895 through their final season in 1923 in this article about the players and the recreational culture that supported them.

The Carrie Nine & the Industrial Baseball Leagues

In the 1890s and the first decade of the 1900s, baseball was everywhere in the United States. Between 1876 and 1901, no fewer than six major leagues fielded teams. “Fast” minor leagues with high-quality teams proliferated to feed the increasing hunger for recreation and competition. Every town had its own ball club, and many business owners sponsored teams of amateur players. Industrial leagues were common in the Monongahela River Valley, serving not only as a source of pride for the mills, but also as a source of recreation and release in a time of brutal working conditions.

The Carrie Furnaces were no exception. June 22, 1895, saw the first mention of a Carrie Furnace ball club in local newspapers in a 17 – 14 defeat at the hands of the Consolidated Steel and Wire team. This Carrie Nine—a name referencing the number of players in the starting lineup—was likely brought together for weekend games to play against nearby mills in Braddock and amateur nines from Rankin and Swissvale.

The Pittsburgh Press, June 24, 1895 pg. 9

Between 1895 and 1907, the Carrie Furnaces likely had a team every summer. These teams scheduled games themselves and sometimes passed a hat through the crowd to take up a collection for the players. While not a part of established leagues, these teams served to promote athleticism, public goodwill, and comradery among industries, their employees, and rapidly expanding cities. Baseball was a sport where an individual could excel, but the outcome of a game was usually decided by the efforts of the team. Even the most uneducated, poorest, or least experienced players could make their mark by superior play. The Homestead Steel Works operated its own baseball league, occasionally supporting a dozen teams, each from a different part of the mill.

The Carrie Furnace Baseball Club & the Twilight League

In 1908, the Carrie Furnace club burst back onto the amateur scene in Pittsburgh, posting a 16 – 5 record between May and October. The team was dubbed The Millers in honor of their starting center fielder, H.V. Miller, who was a member of the chemical division at Carrie and performed testing on metal samples and gas. As the caption of the following picture points out, most of the club was drawn from the offices and chemical division at Carrie. The club played on Friday and Saturday afternoons, generally tracing the schedule of the Homestead Business Men’s League. This league was a “twilight” league for several years, fielding teams of grocers, plumbers, city employees, and office workers from the Homestead Works. Games were played at 5:30 p.m., meaning that all of the players were professionals during regular business hours. The majority of the workers at Carrie or Homestead worked six-day weeks of 72 hours or more and could perhaps catch a few innings of the games after their shift ended. Club backers, such as chief clerk Thomas Kenney, supplied uniforms and equipment and split scheduling duties with Theodore Hirsch, the assistant superintendent at Carrie. Hirsch’s son, Theodore Jr., was a student at Pitt as well as an apprentice in the electrical department at the Homestead Works.

The Millers were led on the field by two players: their namesake, Miller, and Fred Hosmer. Miller was a strong-hitting and superb center fielder. Fred Hosmer split his time between the outfield and third base. In three games for which box scores exist, Hosmer handled 15 chances at third base without an error—an exceptional defensive performance!

Gloves were common in baseball for over a decade by 1908, but most games were played on poorly kept fields and often extended into near darkness. Those factors, combined with the discoloration of the single ball used throughout the game, reflect the challenges in the game that one might not consider as factors today.

The Pittsburgh Press, October 11, 1908 page 22

At least two in Carrie’s club played college-level baseball before working at the iron mill and were the strength of the club. Hosmer played while studying chemistry in Maine. In the above photo, Philip Marks is mentioned as “formerly with Washington-Jefferson College team.” To be a truly competitive team in this time period, the most important positions were the pitcher and catcher. A pitcher who could throw quality curve balls and off-speed pitches (variously called in/out shoots and drops) gave a team a leg up. If one of those pitchers was on the team, however, you needed a catcher who could handle the speed and movement of the pitches. With Hosmer and Marks, Carrie had both. In Joseph Watters, they even had an extra catcher as good as Hosmer.

The next season, however, Marks left to take a job at National Tube in McKeesport, where he managed a team in the West Penn Amateur League. Watters also did not play for Carrie the next year, and the Carrie team disbanded in late August after having difficulty scheduling games.

The career of Philip Marks did not end at National Tube, however. He decided to go into medicine and spent nearly 30 years as the director of Pittsburgh’s Bureau of Infectious Diseases.

Pittsburgh Press, Feb 20, 1955 Page 10

A Return to the Amateur Scene with the Tri-Borough League

Carrie team baseball returned for a third time to the amateur scene in 1919. That year, teams from Braddock, Rankin, and Homestead formed the Tri-borough League. “Tri-borough” was a commonly used name for any amateur league in the Pittsburgh district—and the 1919 edition was at least the fourth since 1900. Pittsburgh, like much of the United States, saw an explosion of amateur and semipro teams in the years following World War I. By 1925, according to Rob Ruck in Sandlot Seasons, Pittsburgh featured more than 200 semipro and amateur teams in dozens of leagues.

The 1919 team was one of the strongest teams in the Tri-borough League. Ross Calihan, a chemist, played for both the 1908 Carrie team and the 1919 edition. He was about 35 years old in 1919 and appeared in only five games. The leader on the field for the team was Eddie Brannagan. Eddie and his brother Joe played for Carrie, while one of their other brothers, Tom, played for North Braddock. Eddie was a fast runner and good fielder, and led the Tri-borough League in stolen bases in 1919.

Pittsburgh Daily Post, July 27, 1919 page 21.

The Brannagans also performed in musicals and plays at the Carnegie Theatre in Braddock, while Joe was also a member of the Braddock Men’s Chorus. Their father played baseball in the 1880s and served as an umpire in the Oil and Iron League, where he likely saw the rise of Hall-of-Famer Rube Waddell. (George Edward “Rube” Waddell was from Butler County and played for several teams, including the Homestead Athletic Club and the Pittsburgh Pirates, in a peripatetic career. While an outstanding pitcher for six years for the Philadelphia A’s and St. Louis Browns, he is better known for chasing fire engines and appearing in vaudeville acts, according to legendary tales shared by his manager, Connie Mack.)

Besides Eddie Brannagan, Ernest Morgan was the best hitter on the team and is recorded as one of the fastest men in the league. Levi “Larry” Kilbury was called the team’s “Iron Man” by The Pittsburgh Press. On days that he was not pitching, Larry played catcher and corner outfield. Jess Cook, a machinist at Carrie, was the other main pitcher for the team. Their manager was Jim Lose, a mechanical engineer at the Furnaces who was originally from Kansas. Lose worked at Carrie for nearly 15 years and later served as executive vice president at U.S. Steel before his retirement in 1956. Larry Kilbury and Braddock’s Jess Scott were talented enough pitchers to get invitations to try out for minor league teams in Western Pennsylvania.

The Carrie Furnace club finished third in the Tri-borough League in 1919 and was invited back to play in 1920. However, Carrie lost its best pitcher in Jess Cook In their first game, Eddie Brannagan took the mound against McClintic Marshall and was torched for 11 runs. (McClintic Marshall was a large independent steel company involved in the construction of the Gulf Tower in Pittsburgh and the Panama Canal locks, among other projects. Located on land adjacent to the Carrie Furnaces, it was founded in 1900 by H.H. McClintic and Charles D. Marshall with funding from Andrew Mellon.)

The 1920 Tri-borough season was short for the Carrie Furnace club. On June 18, 1920, the league cut four teams to improve the quality of play; Carrie Furnace, St. Josephs, the Swissvale Windsors, and the Korch Crescents were dropped from the league. Between them, the teams had a record of 4 wins and 15 losses. The Carrie Furnace club lost its first five games. Only one of their players, Eddie Brannigan, was snapped up by another club—the same McClintic Marshall team that hit him hard in the opening game of the season. During the next five years, the Carrie Furnace team still played games against amateur clubs on the weekends but never got back into an established amateur league. Larry Kilbury was the captain of the club in 1922 and 1923 and scheduled games for the team.

The population of Pittsburgh more than doubled between 1890 and 1920 to 588,000. Baseball was, for immigrant workers in the mills and rural migrants coming into the cities, a common touch point—an introduction of the “American Pastime” and industrialized society. The Carrie Furnace teams between 1895 and 1925 featured immigrants, men from Pittsburgh: doctors, scientists, machinists, and railway engineers. While the “golden age” of Carrie Baseball was short, it is a great reminder that each individual who worked on the site has a story all their own.

Barney Terrell is a tour guide, historian, and researcher for Rivers of Steel and is a tour facilitator at The Frick Pittsburgh. He is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research, a true crime author, and a trivia host.

A Conversation with Curator Ron Baraff

The exhibition Safety First is on view at the Bost Building through November 15. Recently, Carly McCoy, Rivers of Steel’s communications director, sat down with Ron Baraff, the exhibition’s curator and the director of historic resources and facilities, to learn more about the culture and influence of the “safety first” mantra.

Safety First Q&A

Carly McCoy: Thanks, Ron, for sitting down with us today to chat about the new Safety First exhibition at the Bost Building in Homestead. I understand this installation is a new look at a topic visited by Rivers of Steel about 15 years ago for an exhibition. How is this display different, and why was it important to you to revisit this theme?

Ron Baraff: We went into the wayback machine for this one! The original installation was a great success and an exhibition that we hated to take down, so this seemed like an opportune time to revisit it. Working under the belief that repetition is the best way to enforce a message, “safety first” was and still is the mantra at all iron and steel facilities. Workers must always be on their guard, for their lives and livelihood depend upon their safety. Reminders are found at every turn—from the locker room to the work floor, and from the meeting hall to the boardroom. Safety is paramount. Safety means success for all.

CM: As you alluded to in your response, “safety first” is a phrase that is ubiquitous in this region—and I imagine other places with steel heritage. It’s embedded in our region’s culture. Would you say it crossed over into America’s collective consciousness?

RB: The term “safety first” is truly ubiquitous—not just in this region but worldwide. It is part of the common vernacular not just in industry, but for everyone. It has been used in marketing campaigns for anything from baby strollers to driving schools and video games. Hollywood has embraced the slogan, using it as a title for movies and television series. Why, Harold Lloyd, the great silent-film comedian, based arguably his most well-known film Safety Last as a play on the slogan. It is everywhere and eminently identifiable.

CM: What types of artifacts can people expect to encounter, and how did they come to be part of Rivers of Steel’s archival collections?

RB: The Safety First exhibition incorporates manuals, posters, signs, personal protection devices, and artifacts from our collections that allow visitors to see and experience what workers were exposed to on a daily basis to ensure their safety and promote an accident-free environment in the workplace.

CM: When you consider this exhibition, how are individual workers represented as compared to the collective “worker”?

RB: Throughout the twentieth century, measures were instituted by management, workers, and unions alike to lessen the dangers of the industrial workplace and maintain steady production rates. The culture of safety was ingrained into the everyday work practices of the mill through training classes, films, manuals, posters, signs, personal protection devices, and tools. Many of these daily reminders of Safety First made their way into the personal belongings of the workers. Rivers of Steel has been fortunate to be the repository of the keepsakes from the closets and attics of area steelworkers and their families. These artifacts didn’t come from the corporations, but rather from the workers themselves. They were an integral part of their everyday lives, ensured their survival and success and, thereafter, their memories of the workplace.

CM: You could argue that signage is at the heart of this exhibit, as it is the medium through which the safety messaging was communicated. What’s intriguing to me about signs is how the typography and images are so very reflective of the time and place in which they were created. What do the signs in the show say to you about the context in which they were created?

RB: One of the most effective means of delivery for the message of “safety first” was through posters and banners. Many of the posters used vivid and often humorous graphics and catch phrases to convey their message. Among the best of these posters are from the Jack Boot collection, which are dominant within the exhibition. They are so strikingly of their era—the 1960s and early 1970s. They are relatable, bright, and kitschy. Their message stays with you through their appeal and imagery.

CM: Tell us more about the Jack Boot series.

RB: Jack Boot was a graphic designer and printer from Munhall who made many of the most memorable posters in our collections. They use humor, vivid colors, striking imagery, and catchy phrasing to make their point. Jack’s widow donated the collection to Rivers of Steel several years ago, and they still stand as one of my personal favorites. They are memorable and creative but stay on point to ensure that the workplace culture always puts the emphasis on safety first!

CM: When’s a good time for people to view the Safety First exhibition?

RB:  The exhibition is on view Mondays through Fridays, from 10:00 a.m. through 3:00 p.m. through November 15, 2024 at the Bost Building in Homestead. Visitors are welcome to stop by, but it is helpful if tickets are purchased in advance—just so we know you will be visiting us!

If folks are not familiar with the Bost Building, it is a National Historic Landmark owned and managed by Rivers of Steel, designated so for its role in the Homestead Lockout and Strike in 1982. Today it serves as the visitors center for the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area, in addition to offering permanent and temporary exhibitions in its galleries. It is also the headquarters for Rivers of Steel and the home to our archival collections.

Carly V. McCoy is the director of marketing and communications for Rivers of Steel.

With a passion for lifelong learning, Carly’s role as director of marketing & communications for Rivers of Steel allows her to draw from her experiences, both professional and personal, to amplify the many assets of the Pittsburgh region—celebrating its history, heritage, artistry, and innovation of its residents to encourage heritage tourism, community engagement, and economic revitalization.

Her previous articles include 2023 Collaborations and Beyond, The Historic Preservation of the Carrie Blast Furnaces, and A Decade-Long Journey for a 120-Year-Old Building.

2023’s summer intern, Enrico DePetris, gives a thumbs-up after his first blacksmithing workshop.

The William Miller Summer Internship at the W.A. Young & Sons Foundry and Machine Shop

By Lynne Squilla, Contributing Writer

The future of our region’s industrial history will be in the hands of the next generation.

That is a reality Rivers of Steel understands. Between its workforce development initiatives, public tours, demonstrations, and educational programs, Rivers of Steel is actively engaged in making sure that coming generations will be both interested and prepared for the challenges of preservation and interpretation at all of its historic sites. One of the most recent efforts is a unique internship at the W.A. Young & Sons Foundry and Machine Shop in Greene County, a site Rivers of Steel has overseen since 2008.

T.J. Porfeli and George “Bly” Blystone, who help run and care for the W.A. Young & Sons Foundry and Machine Shop.

“I am currently the youngest worker here,” says 42-year-old T.J. Porfeli, historic site coordinator for Young & Sons, which received National Historic Landmark status in 2017. “It was always my goal to bring younger generations in here to learn the historical aspects of this shop. If that means a 22-year-old takes my place who knows everything about it—that’s what I’d like to see!”

Porfeli’s vision got a boost in 2022 through a chance encounter with a local businessman, William Miller, who visited the machine shop for a tour.

“I was just telling him at one point that we’d like to keep the place alive by teaching younger people about it,” explains Porfeli. “This really struck a chord with him, and he said he also wants the place to continue to be here. So he asked what we hoped to accomplish and how he could help.”

The exterior of the W.A. Young & Sons Foundry and Machine Shop, Rices Landing, PA. Photo by Richard Kelly Photography.

Soon after, Miller reached out to Rivers of Steel to brainstorm, and the result was a $50,000 endowment for an ongoing internship program to train Greene County youths in the machines, operations, history, and programs surrounding the foundry and machine shop.

Ron Baraff, Rivers of Steel’s director of historic resources and facilities recalled, “When Mr. Miller approached us about setting up a scholarship at the machine shop, we were ecstatic. He saw this as an opportunity to give back to the community in which he grew up and a fantastic opportunity to bring a new generation into the story—and we are so thankful for his generous donation.”

2023 saw the first student awarded the aptly named William Miller Summer Internship at the W.A. Young & Sons Foundry and Machine Shop. Enrico DePetris, who goes by Ricky, was a 16-year-old student learning welding at Greene County Career & Technology Center, and he took the opportunity with energy and enthusiasm. Porfeli recalled a remarkable coincidence that occurred toward the end of the summer internship: “In August, Ricky was shadowing the tour guide and keeping an eye on the site. A guy shows up wanting a tour, so Ricky started explaining the machines and the history. And it was Bill Miller himself that wanted the tour! He got to see right there the fruits of his contribution.”

Ricky DePetris at the forge on a recent Sunday afternoon.

Porfeli continued, “I always said, if an intern walks in with the same feeling I have for this place, then that’s really what we’re looking for.”

Ricky remains involved at the site, returning to help with tours and special events.

The W.A. Young & Sons shop is located in the historic district of Rices Landing on the Monongahela River. It is a nearly 124-year-old facility where time stood still and its vintage machines remained intact. Its original owners, the Young family, and their workers kept the twenty-five belt-driven machines, such as lathes, drill presses, milling machines, and pipe and bolt threaders, running smoothly for decades, with few updates except replacing the power source, from steam to Bessemer gas to electricity. Currently, it’s powered by a tractor engine. The building also houses a small foundry with a blacksmithing forge.

The interior of the front shop, featuring the machines and the line shaft system. Image by Richard Kelly Photography.

Over the years, the shop’s talented machinists and pattern makers crafted parts to repair local factory and mine equipment as well as pieces for the paddleboats and steamboats that once docked along the banks of the nearby Monongahela River. When the doors were closed in 1965, local residents and volunteers watched over the site. For a while, it was stewarded by the Greene County Historical Society—that is, until Rivers of Steel took charge of it in 2008 and began securing funding for improvements. Restorations to the building and refurbishments to the machinery have since occurred. Regular tours and public events, like the annual Hammer-In Festival that features area blacksmiths, are becoming increasingly popular.

The site is a true industrial heritage gem and the only one of its kind in the nation, so it also provides an unmatched training ground for students who want to learn more about traditional machining, metal casting, and blacksmithing.

Kiera, the 2024 summer intern, works on a machine with Steve, a dedicated volunteer at W.A. Young & Sons.

This year’s summer intern, fifteen-year-old Kiera, is learning to become a machinist in trade school. Porfeli was impressed by her intense interest in everything: “Her very first day, she watched a volunteer oiling one of the machines and said, ‘Can I do that?’ Then she jumped in to learn how to cut and help install a damaged machine belt.”

Among the variety of machines these interns become familiar with are three different lathes, a milling machine, a shaper, a planer, a radial-arm drill press, belt-driven hacksaws, and a keyway cutter. The internship program teaches what each of these machines was used for and the kinds of parts they made. Interns also assist during the blacksmithing and small aluminum-casting demonstrations. Kiera will suit up and help pour molten aluminum, as well as learn how to hammer an iron hook, or hairpin.

Equally important to learning the nuts and bolts of the time-honored equipment and metalworking skills is the ability to tell the stories—to interact with the public and make history come alive.

Rivers of Steel’s director of education, Suzi Bloom, helped refine the application process and got the word out about the scholarship to high schools, trade-training centers, and youth groups, such as the Boy / Girl Scouts and 4-H clubs, across Greene County.

She described the additional benefits of this internship: “There’s a big focus now on career readiness, and this is a great opportunity for students to get those kinds of hands-on skills. That’s something not always thought of when you hear ‘preservation internship.’ They also get to do the tours, learning those ‘soft skills,’ like how to greet people, face them when you’re talking, projecting your voice in a room, and how to break down and explain the complex machines to anyone who walks in. Those are hard-to-get skills. Public speaking can be nerve wracking, so this is a nice small environment to learn those things.”

To apply for the internship, students are asked to share their personal interest in machinery and historic preservation, to describe why local history is important to them, and to relate how what they learn in this internship could benefit their education.

“It’s a good resume-builder,” said Bloom. “I have my position because someone gave me an opportunity to work and learn. It is important for us to reach into this rural community, which may not have as many experiences available for young people. It’s also important for them to learn about the ingenuity at W.A. Young & Sons. Some of what was done there was genius. There were no hardware stores to run to, so they had to make parts for whatever needed to be repaired.”

Rivers of Steel’s CEO August Carlino recognized Ricky DePetris at the 2024 Hammer-In Festival.

Porfeli is involved on a daily basis with the interns, and he believes that by the end of their internship, they will understand even more strongly how important it is to save these sites and traditional skills. “I want the legacy to be for future generations to come experience this site—there is not another like it without any modern-day machines at all. It was an art form what people did here. It will be lost—it’s going to be gone if new generations are not engaged to learn about it, care about it, and share the passion of it.”

Ron Baraff added, “We are always looking for ways to get people excited about our region and its rich history, especially at such a gem as the W.A. Young & Sons Foundry and Machine Shop. Through projects such as the Miller internship, I feel confident that we can move the site into the future in capable and motivated hands!”

Lynne Squilla is a skilled and creative storyteller. She honed her craft as a writer and producer / director of original scripts, documentaries, articles, web content, stage, and other live presentations. While her work has taken her across the globe, she’s rooted in the Mt. Washington neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and has a passion for sharing stories about our region’s past.

Check out Lynne’s previous article on Rivers of Steel’s new workforce development program.

Norma Ryan, a Remembrance—1931 – 2024

By Julie Silverman, Contributing Writer

Augie Carlino’s first encounter with Norma Marcolini Ryan was through food, which is not surprising if you’re of Italian heritage.

“Norma found out I was Italian,” said Augie, president and CEO of Rivers of Steel, “which isn’t hard to discover with my last name. So she invited me down to Brownsville for lunch. She made polenta for me in the old-school—the traditional—way, the way my grandmother used to make it. I hadn’t had it for years, since my grandmother passed away, and Norma wasn’t sure if I would like her version. It was just like my grandmother had made the polenta! That’s how spot on it was. I was just blown away. And that’s how I met Norma.”

In the early 1990s, the Mon Valley Initiative (MVI) was housing the Steel Industry Heritage Task Force, as Rivers of Steel had yet to become its own nonprofit. At that time, many of the MVI communities were working together to create a heritage area in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Brownsville, a former industrial town, was legendary. In the 1700s and 1800s, it was a booming and bustling hub of transportation and industry. Starting as a trading post along a well-worn Native American trail, its location on the Monongahela River made it advantageous to steamboat and barge building. When George Washington and Thomas Jefferson planned for the National Road to go through ninety miles of western Pennsylvania, Brownsville’s status as a hub for western expansion was sealed. Anyone heading into the western frontier of early America headed through Brownsville.

For those who knew her, Norma Ryan was the modern-day heart and soul of Brownsville. When she was growing up, Brownsville was lively and energetic. The town was still the intersection of railroad traffic, coal and coke transportation, barge making, and the National Road. Later in life, Norma would tell stories of the downtown sidewalks being so crowded that you had to step into the street to get around people.

Then things changed. As the steel mills and coal mines in the region put people out of work, stores began to close, and as it is in so many industrial towns, properties became neglected. Norma stepped slightly away from her long career as a beautician at Norma’s Beauty Salon to become a founding member of Brownsville Area Revitalization Corp (BARC), whose mission it is to achieve economic development through historic preservation, heritage tourism, outdoor recreation, community stewardship, education, youth advancement, and the arts.

Joe Barantovich, a community advocate for Brownsville and a collaborator with Norma, said, “She wanted to save every building. She thought they all could be saved, and she wanted the town to be the town she remembered.”

It wasn’t only the industry downturn that blighted Brownsville. In the early 1990s, Pennsylvania was considering riverboat gambling. A developer who wanted to capitalize on the idea bought more than 100 properties—some for only a dollar that were still in good condition. Riverboat gambling gave way to land-based casinos, and the developer’s plans for the buildings were scuttled.

Barantovich said, “The train station, which is called Union Station, was purchased. One day people were working there, and the next day the doors were locked. That’s how quick it was. Family photographs are still on the desks. The developer bought basically the whole downtown and then just let it sit. Norma was adamant about saving the unique architecture of every building.”

Barantovich leads Brownsville’s Perennial Project, a successful effort of planting flowers around the downtown area and creating an annual community project of beautification events and art installation (a project that has been supported by Rivers of Steel’s Mini-Grant program). But it was the Perennial Project’s Portals collaboration with local students that captured Norma’s memories of traveling to Kennywood via Union Station, combining that recollection with virtual reality.

“We kind of butted heads sometimes,” Barantovich laughed. “You can’t save all of the buildings, and we did lose a couple of really nice ones. But Norma was bound and determined to get things done. She had her vision.”

Carlino said, “Sure, she and Joe often disagreed, but they worked together for the betterment of the town. Norma wasn’t the type of person to hold a grudge. She always wanted to find a way to work with you.”

When the MVI and BARC were working on the renovations of the Flatiron Building, Rivers of Steel helped with interpretive planning and exhibits. It was more than a ten-year process to restore the building. Currently, the Flatiron Building also houses a museum for Frank Melega, a local artist and good friend of Norma’s. Melega was a coal miner’s son, and Norma was a coal miner’s daughter. His portrayals of life in southwestern Pennsylvania in the height of the coal and coke era became nationally famous.

Norma once said, “I’ve always been civic minded, always interested in people.” Add to that her drive and determination to revitalize Brownsville, and it might have seemed a natural progression for someone to suggest that Norma run for mayor. She was serving on the borough council and overseeing restoration of the Flatiron Building when the advice propelled her into history. In 2002, Norma Jean Ryan became Brownsville’s first and only (to this day) female mayor.

After her years as mayor, she again worked with BARC, giving tours in the historic St. Peter’s Church. It was the church of her childhood and where, as a devout Catholic, she attended mass as an adult. Her nephew Keith Ryan said, “She was a tour guide in our church. She studied the stained-glass history and the Irish coal-mine towns. ‘Patch town’ history was a big interest of hers. Any research she could do for the old history of the town she would try to preserve.”

Norma’s nephew Timmy Ryan shared: “Nobody’s ever been more positive than her. One of her sayings was, if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all. She lived by that, and her faith in God and her family and friends and keeping everybody together in a positive manner.”

Norma Ryan taking pleasure in serving her food to others. Photo courtesy of Augie Carlino.

Her house was the place to gather, and the place to eat. Along with restoring Brownsville, cooking was one of her great passions. “She baked every day. Her life was in the kitchen. You never left her house hungry. She always had cinnamon rolls, pies, cookies, chicken, homemade pasta. If she wasn’t cutting hair, she was cooking,” Barantovich said.

Carlino said, “The last time I saw her, I was taking a group of people from Carnegie Mellon University through a tour of the Valley, and one of the stops was Brownsville. We were touring the Flatiron Building, and she showed up with all these cookies—I mean, a big, big tray of cookies! Then she came over to me and gave me a big hug and said, ‘I’m sorry it’s only cookies.’ And I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ And she said, ‘I wanted to make a gnocchi or polenta for you, but I didn’t have the time nor the energy to do it.’ She was really, really regretful about that. There’s not enough words in my vocabulary to describe her. She was just an amazing person.”

When Carlino went to Brownsville for his first lunch with Norma, he returned to his coworkers complaining. In the staff meeting, they lamented that in all the years of working in Brownsville, Norma never invited them to lunch.

“I come in,” Carlino said, “and I’m on the job literally a month or two, and not only do I get invited down there by her, but she’s serving me polenta. Polenta! Homemade sausage. Homemade bread. And I realized my coworkers were joking with me . . . I’m so thankful that she shared a number of years in my life with me. We just had a great time together!”

During the past year, in her role as Coordinator of Rivers of Steel’s Creative Leadership Program, Ashley Kyber had weekly—sometimes daily—conversations with Norma. She spoke fondly of her: “Benevolent in her love of Brownsville, Norma Ryan was a wealth of cultural history and a visionary optimist for the future of her community.”

Norma embraced a joie de vivre. Even with her boundless energy and countless hours of research, Barantovich said, “She always made the time. Her saying was, ’Stop and smell the roses’ and enjoy life. That was how she answered her phone on her message—it’s still on there. If she didn’t answer the phone, she would say, ‘I’ll call you back, and take time to smell the roses.’ She was a good people person. Great smile. She was a lot like a rose—beautiful, but she could be prickly if she wasn’t getting her way. She was bound and determined to see the way she wanted to get things done.”

Keith said, “One funny story: She was always looking for volunteers for any work everywhere. She finally got a volunteer one time to do some job like pulling weeds or pulling up poison ivy—things like that, and she called me wanting me to give him some advice on how to go a little bit faster. And I said, ‘Aunt Norma, he’s a volunteer! He’s working for nothing! If it takes him all week or all month, what’s the hurry?’ She figured that if he was going to volunteer, he should be up to her speed. We talked her out of that.”

There was Norma time, and there was everyone else’s time. But even Norma slowed down. Eventually, she spent winters in Florida, from late fall to late spring; however, no distance could keep her from calling to make sure things got done in Brownsville. Her heart, her smile, her determination—and perhaps a wafting aroma of homemade sauce—continue to weave their way through the town Norma loved so much.

“Brownsville has lost its greatest spokesperson,” said Dick Wallace, Rivers of Steel’s Board Chair.

Born in a time when Brownsville was the place to be, Norma passed away on April 30, 2024. Brownsville has reclaimed much of its former glory because of Norma and the people she brought together. Her life was celebrated on Saturday, June 1, at her beloved St. Peter’s Church by the people she loved and who loved her.

Read more about Norma Ryan in this article from the Observer-Reporter.

Julie Silverman is a museum educator, tour facilitator, and storyteller of astronomy and history for various Pittsburgh area organizations, including Rivers of Steel.  A Chatham University 2020 MFA graduate, her writing is most often found under the by-line of JL Silverman. Occasionally, under the name of Julia, she has been seen on TV.