From Great Wilderness to Seaway Towns: A Comparative History of Cornwall, Ontario, and Massena, New York, 1784-2001

CHAPTER THREE The Era of Large Corporations in Cornwall and Massena,1900–1954

CHAPTER THREE The Era of Large Corporations in Cornwall and Massena, 1900–1954 In the first half of the twentieth century, Cornwall and Massena became regional manufacturing centers. From 1900 to 1954 the political leaders of both towns convinced the owners of several companies to locate plants in the area, and many farmers left their land to take better paying and more stable jobs at these new facilities. In 1924 the British owners of Courtaulds, a large rayon producer, built a facility in Cornwall to manufacture material for the Canadian market. The Courtaulds, Toronto Paper Mill, and Canadian Cotton personnel officers recruited French-Canadian operatives to man their machinery and employed numerous local residents. The managers of all three companies also expanded their product lines in the first half of the twentieth century to meet changing consumer needs. Also prior to 1954 the textile workers employed at Courtaulds, Canadian Cotton, and the Cornwall Pants Company formed a labor union. The leaders of this new organization achieved union recognition, better working conditions, and united all Cornwall clothing workers into one local. Similarly, in 1902 Pittsburgh Reduction Company investors (better known as the Aluminum Company of America or Alcoa) constructed an aluminum processing plant in Massena and purchased power from the owners of the St. Lawrence Power Company. Alcoa employed former canal workers and local residents to operate its facility’s potlines. Over the next five decades , the company increased its production levels, hired an increasing number of immigrant laborers, and earned the distinction as the largest employer north of Syracuse. Subsequently, other industrialists established a silk mill and an intimate apparel factory in the area, and hired the wives of Alcoa workers. Massena’s economy made the final transition from an agriculturally based one to one whose financial security depended on industrialists’ tax 59 60 From Great Wilderness to Seaway Towns payments and employment levels. Alcoa employees, like their Cornwall counterparts , also joined labor unions to improve their working conditions and wages. The collective activity of American industrial workers in the 1930s represented a weakening of management’s control over their employees’ behavior because of the declining impact of welfare capitalism programs. Therefore, from 1900 to 1954, the economic and social growth of Cornwall and Massena was tied to the production and employment levels set by local plant owners.1 From a religious standpoint Cornwall and Massena residents still regarded their congregations as the areas’ central social and moral institutions. With the influx of factory workers, the Catholic parishes on both sides of the border increased their membership. Congregants of all area faiths developed voluntary associations to raise money for church expansion projects and to foster new social bonds among worshipers. Cornwall and Massena men and women also established fraternal and social welfare organizations to meet the social and healthcare needs of old and new residents. In terms of population, both areas gained new citizens from diverse ethnic backgrounds, with Cornwall receiving more French-Canadian and British residents, and Massena gaining predominantly Italians, Eastern Europeans, and Jews. The longtime citizens of both towns displayed their dislike of foreigners by constructing separate housing and churches in working-class neighborhoods. The economic and social lives of Cornwall and Massena residents, therefore, remained comparable. In the first half of the twentieth century, the geographic location of Cornwall and Massena resulted in unique economic and ethnic characteristics . From 1900 to 1954 both towns became major manufacturing centers because of their cheap hydropower. This contrasted with the agricultural lifestyle of residents in adjacent towns. Factory workers from a variety of European countries also made the populations increasingly diverse. Cornwall and Massena residents also retained different social, political, and economic values from their compatriots in the heartland based on their isolated borderland location. They remained community-oriented, ambitious, driven by success, and morally guided by their spirituality. Cornwall Cornwall, Ontario had grown up with and around the textile industry. The commitment to this industry did not change in the first half of the twentieth century. While prior to 1920, local industrialists opened seven new factories in the area to manufacture furniture and brew beer, only one, a pants shop, endured and prospered. National and local governmental officials had tried to diversify the country’s production facilities by offering industrialists financial assistance. This made no impact on Cornwall based on its isolated location. 61 The Era of Large Corporations With its extensive shipping...