Alabama Blast Furnaces

Introduction

INTRODUCTI ON Alabatna Blast Furnaces,Joseph H. Woodward II Woodward Iron Cotnpany, 1940 James R. Bennett IN the thirty-year period following Ethel Armes's classic history of the Alabama iron and steel industry in 1910, very little was written of a substantive nature about more recent developments in the iron trade. That was untilJoseph H. Woodward II, an executive with Woodward Iron Company in Birmingham, spent the better part of 1940 filling in missing parts of the epic story that set Alabama apart from all its sister states. Armes and Woodward were both keenly aware that Alabama possessed vast mineral wealth, especially those resources needed to make iron. At no place else in the world could all of the ingredients for its manufacture-iron ore, limestone and coal-be found in such close proximity. The various ores and fossil fuels hidden by primordial upheavals within the valleys and ridges of Alabama's Appalachian Plateau invited investment in great centers of manufacturing. Due to lower manufacturing costs and reduced transportation needs that these mineral resources provided, new industrial cities like Birmingham, Bessemer, and Sheffield sprang to life. Woodward, the grandson of J. H. Woodward, one of the founders of the Woodward Iron Company in 1881, lived in the most promising of these placesBirmingham -a city yet forty years old at his birth. He was the son of A. H. (Rick) Woodward, former Woodward Iron Company president and board chairman and owner of the Birmingham Barons. His mother, Annie Jemison, was the daughter of RobertJemison Sr., the first president of Birmingham Railway, Light and Power Company and a former Confederate senator. As a teenager, Joseph H. Woodward II (1912-65) attended Phillips Academy in )VLW^MZ5I[[IKP][M\\[IVLTI\MZAITM0MRWQVMLPQ[NI\PMZ¼[KWUXIVaQV!_WZSQVO QV\PM8]ZKPI[QVO,MXIZ\UMV\,]ZQVO?WZTL?IZ11PM[MZ^MLI[IKIX\IQVQV\PM=; )ZUa)QZ+WZX[_PMV_PQTM[\I\QWVMLI\;IV\I)VI+ITQNWZVQIPMUIZZQML4\5IZa -TTMV5I[[MJMIVIUMUJMZWN\PM)ZUa6]Z[M+WZX[WV5Ia!  )N\MZ\PM_IZ\PMaZM\]ZVML\W*QZUQVOPIU_PMZMPMZMRWQVML?WWL_IZL 1ZWVI[\PMKWUXIVa¼[NWZM[\ZaMVOQVMMZ0M_W]TLOWWV\W[MZ^MI[¹I\\WZVMaQV NIK\ºI\\PMQZWVXTIV\I[I[[Q[\IV\\W\PMXZM[QLMV\IVL[MKZM\IZaWN\PMKWUXIVa )N\MZPQ[NI\PMZ¼[LMI\PQV!PM_I[VIUML\WQ\[JWIZLWNLQZMK\WZ[IVLI[LQZMK \WZWNX]JTQKZMTI\QWV[QV!  )K\Q^M QV \PM *QZUQVOPIU KQ^QK KWUU]VQ\a ?WWL_IZL IT[W [MZ^ML WV \PM JWIZLWNLQZMK\WZ[NWZ\PM.QZ[\6I\QWVIT*IVS)TTQML4QNM1V[]ZIVKM+WUXIVa IVL\PM2MNNMZ[WV+W]V\a+WUU]VQ\a+PM[\0MZMUIQVML_Q\P\PMQZWVKWUXIVa \PI\JWZMPQ[VIUM\PZW]OPW]\PQ[J][QVM[[KIZMMZ  ?WWL_IZL_PW\ZQMLPQ[PIVLI\ÅK\QWVIT[W_ZW\M[M^MZITPQ[\WZQKITIZ\QKTM[ QVKT]LQVO)TIJIUI1ZWV5IV]NIK\]ZQVO · X]JTQ[PMLQV\PM2]Ta!Q[[]M WN\PM)TIJIUI:M^QM_]TKIV[\I\]MJ]QT\NWZ\PM!;\4W]Q[?WZTL¼[.IQZKIUM\W*QZ UQVOPIUQV I[[]XMZQV\MVLMV\WN\PM*QZUQVOPIU:WTTQVO5QTT+WUXIVa  ¹1KWVOZI\]TI\MaW]WV\PMZM[]T\WNaW]Z_WZSQVOI\PMZQVO\PMZMQV[WU]KP ZMITLI\I\PI\PI[JMMVTW[\WZPQLLMVNZWU\PMXMWXTMWN)TIJIUINWZ[WTWVOº  ?WWL_IZLJMOIV_WZSQVOWV\PMJWWSMIZTaQV!IVLJa.MJZ]IZa_I[[MMSQVO QVNWZUI\QWVNZWUVM_[XIXMZMLQ\WZ[IVLPQ[\WZQIV[QVNIZÆ]VOKWZVMZ[WN\PM[\I\M *a)]O][\PM_I[X]TTQVO\WOM\PMZ\PMTI[\WN\PMXPW\WOZIXP[IVLQTT][\ZI\QWV[  7]\WNXZQV\NWZUWZM\PIV[Q`\aÅ^MaMIZ[KWXQM[WN?WWL_IZL¼[JWWSPI^M JMKWUMXZQbMLXW[[M[[QWV[QVUIVaX]JTQKIVLXZQ^I\MTQJZIZQM[WTVW2IV]IZa RLRBRMR BLRST FURNRCES ...