The Shadow Of The Mills

Working-Class Families in Pittsburgh, 1870–1907

S. J. Kleinberg

• Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
• Year: 2017
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9780822971474
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

The profound disruption of family relationships caused by industrialization found its most dramatic expression in the steel mills of Pittsburgh in the 1880s. The work day was twelve hours, and the work week was seven days - with every other Sunday for rest.


In this major work, S. J. Kleinberg focuses on the private side of industrialization, on how the mills structured the everyday existence of the women, men, and children who lived in their shadows. What did industrialization and urbanization really mean to the people who lived through the these processes? What solutions did they find to the problems of low wages, poor housing, inadequate sanitation, and high mortality rates?


Through imaginative use of census data, the records of municipal, charitable, and fraternal organizations, and the voices of workers themselves in local newspapers, Kleinberg builds a detailed picture of the working-class life cycle: marital relationships, the interaction between parents and children, the education and employment prospects of the young, and the lives if the elderly.

Table of contents

• Contents
• List of Tables and Figures
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1. Iron and Steel in Pittsburgh's Economy
• 2. Population Growth and Mobility
• 3. Home and Neighborhood
• 4. Childhood and Education
• 5. Women's Work
• 6. Children's Work
• 7. Marriage and Family
• 8. The Final Stages of the Life Cycle: Aging, Widowhood, and Death
• 9. The Response to Urban Industrial Life: Mutual Assistance and Social Services
• 10. Conclusion
• Abbreviations
• Notes
• Selected Bibliography
• Index