Frank Reilly

So Long Sparta Frank Reilly

The clash between dominant steel mills and helpless nature combined with the collapse of the steel industry to create the age of skepticism in Youngstown in the 1930s. The elemental conflict within the valley would be undetected by new arrivals driving in from the north or south. Travelers motoring by serene McKelvey Lake saw no hint of the Mahoning Valley's monstrous industry nor did drivers passing through bucolic Canfield from the opposite direction. Twenty miles of steel mill smokestacks built along the river bottom created the valley's scenic ugliness. These thick vertical throats streamed red flames and cast a pall of black vapors into the heavens. This view also silhouetted a rusting industry that suppressed in area youths creative expression. The red glow of open-hearth furnaces and Bessemer converters inflamed each night's sky like a sunrise that begins at dark. The spectacle promoted awe in kids but their lesson from the Great Depression taught doubt. The faulty judgments of adult minds infected the young with fears about the ability of their family to cope with uncertainty. The more aware children felt critical of grown-ups and voiced wariness about the future. They saw wrecked households everywhere. The Depression generation struggled to survive, create change and gain respect. This is one story of how they did it.