Steeltown U.S.A.: Work and Memory in Youngstown by Sherry Lee Linkon, John Russo (review)

BOOK REVIEWS modus viveridi,in Fro) itie)Amiril '( t:A STGry of tbe Nestuy? rd Mof,ement ( New York: Charles Scribner' s Sons, 1959), Clark characterized Indians as " petulant,"" sullen" red devils"who had to be " subnierged"in the interests of order and American prosperity ( 9, 24, 77, 106, 144). Fr· ancis Parkman would have been pleased. lhe shortcomings in Clark's scholarship are, however, directly related to his great professional strengths. Clark was an energetic, optimistic man who preferred an · active life to a contemplative one. Had he been more inclined to reflect on philosophical questions, he might have written better books, but he would not have had the time to preserve tons of historical documents, give hundreds of-leccures , chair a growing history department, preside over two large professional asso ciations, found archives and libraries, and enrich, in lasting ways, the lives of hun dreds of thousands of people. David Nichols Indiana State University Sherry Lee Linkon andJohn Russo. Steeltoquon USA.: Work and Memory in Youngstown. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas,2003. 288 pp. ISBN 0700612920 ( paper), $ 16.95. Ihe last quarter of the twentieth century was not kind to Ohio. It was perhaps most unkind to the Youngstown area. Sherry Lee Linkon and John Russo have written an excellent study of Youngstown' s experience as the quintessential steel town und symbol of Rust Belt America. Not stricttv a work of history, this book fits more comfortably wit:hin the rubric of American Studies. As such, it has the strengths and faults that arise from the American Studics milieu. While Stee/ to€ vii U S. A. has a tendency toward presentism, it balances that with exceptional use of tlie toc) 15 of cultural analysis, patticularly of the literary and visual varien: Linkon and Russo make a c„ mpelling case that to understand Youngstown' s latenventieth century experience, one must make sense of-the stories Youngstowners tell about their city's past. Drawing on the work of Robert X. Bellah in Habits of tbe Heart, Linkon and Russo argue that scholars and residents need to " explore the origin of'the constitutive narrative of Youngstown, and . A how that Ii,irrative fell apart during the years after deindustrialization" ( 4). ilic authors seek to start the process ver the response of steelivork ers aiid the local coiiinouiiit\· t suirs 1 . inkon : ind Russo consider the city'' S pllysical landscape t() be another source ofidentitv and ccinflict that is connected ti) tlic 1,: ittle (, vei· Youtitstoivit: inemorv {)# its past. I) rawing on the work of Dolores I 1, 1yden, the authw suburbanizaticin had tlie effect of transtlirming a classsegregated city into : 2 tracially segreg·, tted region. While the bo, k 11) 11(, ws manv Youngstowners out into the suhurbs, it \ 4„ zild be interesting to follow former residents bevo,id the Youngstown area , is tlicr * pread tlicnisclres act-( ss t|le country. Ht), v did the experience of being fri, ni this unique place shape their relationship ti)their new communities across Ohio and, even nic)re so,acniss the Suri Belt? One of the centr·, 11 characters iii the hook is the ". lenny." a blast furnace : it Younprown Sheet Tube, : ifid the sub. ice· t i, f-linice Spritigstecii's st) 11g," Y, itingstown." Ilic recent demcilitic, n of the Jcnnv serves WINTER 2006 as a ]} c)\ verful synibol t111* Oughout tlie book br tlic disappear,ince of tlic city: s (, ld n: u-rative and the lack of a c,impelling new narrative. 111c final secti 11, 1994), tind 73,· Gif ' i'/ Wr iii Kenturkr ( Westview Press, 2005).Kentucky /* a/ ber is u worthy addition m such : i collection. The first of the fi, urteen chapters opens with the factors that make up Kenrucky ' s weather. wIii ch possesses great variability and. at times, ral,id rates <, f-chance. 111] 18 .7 87 ...