Over the past 200 years, Western New York has been witness to the socioeconomic rise and decline of a mighty steel industry. Like other rust belt cities, Buffalo, New York, was once an incredible financial and manufacturing superpower on the Great Lakes. The steel industry of Western New York was a leader of the Gilded Age and the embodiment of the postwar American dream. It employed almost a third of the regional populationmany of whom still live in the area. As time progressed, failure to develop and compete with foreign contenders ultimately led to the collapse of its steel industry. Former steel workers have fought to keep this regional history alive and have contributed to this book. The Steel Plant Museum of Western New York, along with members of the community, have graciously assisted in the selection of images used to describe this once-great and influential industry.

Over the past 200 years, Western New York has been witness to the socioeconomic rise and decline of a mighty steel industry. Like other rust belt cities, Buffalo, New York, was once an incredible financial and manufacturing superpower on the Great Lakes. The steel industry of Western New York was a leader of the Gilded Age and the embodiment of the postwar American dream. It employed almost a third of the regional population--many of whom still live in the area. As time progressed, failure to develop and compete with foreign contenders ultimately led to the collapse of its steel industry. Former steel workers have fought to keep this regional history alive and have contributed to this book. The Steel Plant Museum of Western New York, along with members of the community, have graciously assisted in the selection of images used to describe this once-great and influential industry.

This powerful book documents--in images and words--the unsettling experience of a dozen men and women workers who lost their jobs in the steel mills in Buffalo, New York, and then had to fashion new lives for themselves. It is the fruit of a collaboration between the celebrated documentary photographer Milton Rogovin and Michael Frisch, a leading figure in American oral history.