RON: Where we are right now are the Carrie Blast Furnaces National Historic Landmark.

What this was was the iron-producing facility for the Homestead Works.

What's behind me here are the last extant, pre-World War II, blast furnaces left in this country.

These furnaces were built in 1907, and they operated until 1978, at which point they were shut down.

And that's really the beginning of the end of heavy industry in this region.

They are the place where all the technology that built the American 20th century in the iron and steel industry was put in place.

That's why they're historic landmarks.

But it's also what happened here, changed not just this region, but changed the world.

KIRSTEN: I'm gonna give you a little bit of a background of what this place is.

Take a look at every roof that you see around you, and in your imagination, multiply it out three times.

LAURITA: Oh, my gosh.

LAUREN: Okay.

KIRSTEN: Okay, so you're really only seeing about one-third of what actually used to be here.

LAUREN: Wow.

About how many people would be working here at one time?

KIRSTEN: At its height... LAUREN: Mm-hmm.

KIRSTEN: Um, Carrie employed about 5,000 people.

LAURITA: Because I imagine that this had to stay open continuously.

LAUREN: Yeah.

LAURITA: If the water had to flow if the air had to flow... LAUREN: The gas had to flow all that, yeah.

LAURITA: So couldn't shut it down.

KIRSTEN: You can't stop.

It's 24-7, 365.

BOTH: Wow.

KIRSTEN: But it's made, just like all of the others are made.

Inside, a layer of brick.

LAUREN: Mm-hmm.

KIRSTEN: Outside, a layer of steel.

LAUREN: Okay.

KIRSTEN: At the bottom, hot air goes in at the top, all of your raw materials go in.

So essentially, what you're looking at is kind of like a giant lava lamp.

So why don't we head on this way, and I can show you some more, okay?

LAURITA: Let's do it.

Sounds good.

RON: This is a site where everybody can take part, everybody can see a bit of themselves here.

Then we do the Black Experience Tour, where it's looking very specifically at the experience of the workers who came here in the 1930s as part of the Great Migration, escaping the South looking for a better life.

And though this is a rough place to work, it was opportunity.

LAURITA: This is huge.

LAUREN: Oh my goodness.

KIRSTEN: It is.

So, the hot air is going around the bottom of the furnace.

LAUREN: Mm-hmm.

KIRSTEN: You've got the raw materials going into the top of the furnace.

This is basically the same process as what's been going on since the Iron Ages.

LAURITA: Wow.

KIRSTEN: It's just industrialized.

LAUREN: Wow.

LAURITA: So with all that heat, I'm sure that took a toll on the workers.

KIRSTEN: Horrible toll.

Imagine being in here when that is running, and they have opened up the bottom of that furnace to get the iron out.

That iron is 3,000 degrees.

LAURITA: Oh my gosh.

KIRSTEN: It's lava.

But you can't move, you can't escape it.

You're working.

So, if you can imagine, by 1950, about 90% of all of the workers here were Black.

LAURITA: Wow.

KIRSTEN: Because this was the highest they could go.

They couldn't get into management.

BOTH: Right.

KIRSTEN: Couldn't get into trade.

And so this is where they wanted to be.

And we often tell the story of a man named John Hughey.

He started working here in 1947.

So he works for years, and he realizes that there's a lot of people here that look like me.

LAUREN: Yeah.

KIRSTEN: There's a lot of people here who maybe want a shot, but his goal it's, “I want a fair wage and a fair contract for everybody here.” LAURITA: Okay.

KIRSTEN: He's consequential in making Carrie what is considered the “Black Mill” in the Monongahela River Valley.

LAUREN: What Mark did John Hughey leave on the steel mill industry?

KIRSTEN: He made it possible for any person, man, woman, Black, White, that if you wanted a job here, you could get a fair contract, that everybody has an equal chance.

LAUREN: Oh, I love that.

KIRSTEN: And later on when asked about how he felt about the work that he did, he said, you know, "I never thought that what I was doing was civil rights work."

And that's one of the things that continues to overwhelm me is that despite knowing that, and despite knowing how dangerous it was, people came here by the hundreds of thousands... LAURITA: They needed a job.

KIRSTEN: And this was not just a job, it was a chance.

BOTH: Yeah.

LAURITA: So that's a really big piece of Black history.

KIRSTEN: Huge.

LAURITA: So I know there's more Black history here... KIRSTEN: It's all over... LAURITA: At the furnaces.

So, let's see what else we can find.

KIRSTEN: Absolutely.

Let's head out this way.

LAURITA: Okay.

Thanks.

RON: By 1988, US Steel sold this site to a scrapper who their intention was to tear it all down.

But a number of folks in this region came together and said, "If you tear this all down and you take it all away, you're taking away our ability as a region to use our history to help, you know, revitalize the region."

People want to know about this.

They wanna see this.

KIRSTEN: So this place, after it closes down in 1982, this place has never truly abandoned.

It becomes very quickly a haven for graffiti artists.

So now what we've got behind us is an example.

LAURITA: Wow.

KIRSTEN: Of probably one of the most complex pieces of art we have on this site.

This particular piece is called "Black Excellence."

It was made by a collection of artists, and their mission is to elevate Black art.

LAURITA: So I would imagine they came to create the art, but they left with the stories of probably some of their ancestors... KIRSTEN: Yes.

LAURITA: ...who worked here at the steel mill.

KIRSTEN: I think some of them did, actually.

LAURITA: Yes, so thank you for bringing us here.

LAUREN: And thank you so much for showing us around this space.

I always say Black history is American history, so it's so special that you guys are highlighting it in this way because this really is important history that might be lost at times.

So, thank you.

KIRSTEN: Thank you so much for coming today.

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