Black Freedom Fighters of Steel

After slavery ended in 1865, most blacks were living in the Southeastern states, but in the 1920s, thousands moved north to escape the racial hatred and poor economic conditions, in hope of a better life. Many blacks arrived in the North only to learn that life was not easier, and racism was very much alive. George Kimbley, Bill Young, John Howard, Curtis Strong and Jonathan Comer encountered significant forms of discrimination while working and living in Northwest Indiana. Through their leadership and endless determination for equality, they helped create safer, decent paying jobs in the steel mills for ALL workers.

All five men were born in the South and went to work in the steel mills of Northwest Indiana. George Kimbley and William Young began working in the mills in the early 1920s, John Howard and Curtis Strong in the 1930s and Jonathan Comer in 1948. All five men spent the rest of their working lives challenging race and class within the steel mills.

Their individual leadership while at the mills resulted in the desegregation of the steel industry and the creation of workers’ rights and union equality in the U.S. The Black Freedom Fighters of Steel used innovative techniques to organize and integrate workers regardless of race and class. These unions were called the United Steelworkers of America and were located at Inland Steel Company and Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company in East Chicago, Ind., and U.S. Steel Corporation’s Gary Works.

Before union equality, an African American could not get promoted, regardless of their skill level or length of employment. Black Freedom Fighters of Steel turned their focus on creating seniority agreements, equal pay for equal work and equal training for all workers. They formed associations within the community, civil rights groups and women’s organizations, to further their cause of equality for the betterment of everyone, not one specific race.

George Kimbley, Bill Young, John Howard, Curtis Strong, and Jonathan Comer had an influential role in the struggle for union democracy and workers’ rights in the mills. The benefit of applying partnership-building strategies within the steel mills and community majorly affected changes in civil rights.