Republic Steel
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| Public | |
| Industry | Steel |
| Successor | LTV Steel (later ISG and ArcelorMittal) |
| Founded | Youngstown, Ohio, U.S. (1899) |
| Defunct | 1984 |
| Headquarters | Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
| Products | Steel |
| Website | www |
Republic Steel was once the third largest steel producer in the United States. It was founded as the Republic Iron and Steel Company in Youngstown, Ohio in 1899.
In 1927, Cyrus S. Eaton acquired and combined Republic with several other small steel companies, with the goal of becoming large enough to rival U.S. Steel. The newly named Republic Steel Corporation was headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, and became America's third largest steel company, trailing only U.S. Steel and Bethlehem Steel after acquiring Bourne-Fuller Company and the Central Alloy Steel Company (located in Massillon, Ohio) in the 1930s.
Tom M. Girdler became the first chairman of the board of directors. Eaton hired Girdler from Jones and Laughlin Steel Company, where he had served as president. Girdler modernized Republic Steel with the introduction of better alloys such as "light steel". During World War II, while still chairman of Republic Steel, Girdler relocated to California to serve as chief executive officer of Consolidated Aircraft, a military aircraft manufacturer. Following the war, Girdler left Consolidated to run Republic's aviation department.
Republic Steel was known for its labor problems during the Depression. On Memorial Day, May 26, 1937, a strike escalated into the Memorial Day massacre of 1937, in which Chicago police fired into an unarmed group of protesters, and killed ten, four outright. This was documented by the 1937 short film Republic Steel Strike Riot Newsreel Footage. Girdler never signed the labor contract.
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Wikipedia