St. Anselm's Church

June 1914

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St. Anselm's Church
  • Title
  • St. Anselm's Church
  • Date
  • June 1914
  • Identifier
  • 913.17C.SW
  • Description
  • While Westinghouse brought in revivalist preacher William Ashley Sunday, more familiarly known as Billy Sunday, to speak during the strike, many Catholic priests in the area were sympathetic to the union's cause. In this shot, an unknown man addresses a crowd in front of St. Anselm's Catholic church. The Swissvale parish was established in 1903 and St. Anselm's was built a year later. In 1925, a new St. Anselm's was completed, which still stands today, while the old building was sold and razed. The 1914 strike at the Union Switch & Signal Plant began on June 12th when between 1,100 and 1,400 employees walked out at lunch time to picket and join some 2000 strikers from other Westinghouse plants marching on Edgewood and Braddock Avenues in Swissvale. Organized by the Allegheny Congenial Industrial Union, the strikers demanded an eight-hour day, reinstatement of discharged union men, permission for workmen to elect grievance committees, and higher overtime and holiday rates. The union claimed victory upon culmination of the walkout on June 27th, saying that the company had agreed to allow committees and consider the other grievances. Company general manager H.G. Prout dismissed these claims however, asserting that no promises were made to the employees.
  • Type
  • still image
  • Genre
  • photographs
  • Subject
  • Political activists
    Men
    Strikes and lockouts
    Church buildings
    Demonstrations
    St. Anselm's Catholic Church (Swissvale, Pa.)
  • Geographic Subjects
  • Swissvale (Pa.)
  • Source
  • Union Switch & Signal Strike Photograph Collection, June 1914
  • Contributor
  • University of Pittsburgh
  • Collection
  • Union Switch & Signal Strike Photographs
  • Rights Information
  • Copyright Not Evaluated. The copyright and related rights status of this Item has not been evaluated. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use.
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