The Hope of Ormet
“Hold fast to dreams, For if dreams die, Life is a broken-winged bird, That cannot fly.”
― Langston Hughes
The magnitude of Ormet’s arrival cannot be overstated. Certainly coal and oil had produced wealth in the area, leading to surges in population as well as relative prosperity, but no single company had ever established a significant footprint as Ormet did. I’ve previously described how this aluminum smelter along with its partner company Consolidated Aluminum weren’t just workplaces, but a unique social bond. Thousands of people would converge onto the companies’ several hundred acres everyday, nonstop, for more than fifty years. Many workers have told me they would see their co-workers more than their own families. The only time these behemoth companies would come close to ceasing operations would be during strikes, but even then workers — regardless of their union or non-union affiliation— would form distinct bonds. “Hourlies” (as union laborers were called) would protest while having cookouts outside the company’s fences, while “salaries” (those who worked for the company and weren’t with the union) would commiserate with each other over the challenges of maintaining operations with a reduced workforce. The bonds and can-do attitude extended beyond Ormet’s perimeters; the whole county was shaped by its existence. But at the beginning, there was only a sense of optimism of what it could bring to Monroe County. By examining newspaper articles and company documents from Ormet’s early years, this is a brief description of that hope.
The first announcements made about the new aluminum plant was on February 2nd, 1956. Originally, it was said that Olin Mathieson (the previous owner of Consolidated Aluminum) was to make a $90 million investment in the plant with an additional $30 million to support the power facilities it needed for operation (it wasn’t until August when Ormet’s intentions were made public). Upon this announcement, the county exploded with activity. Nearly 4,000 workers alone would be needed to construct the plant. Plans were made to build a new dam to expedite river traffic for the new plant and future industries. Since the plant bordered West Virginia, West Virginians lobbied for a new bridge to be built which would make access to the plant more feasible, while Monroe County urged the state to improve a highway that led to the river and new plant. The population, as elaborated in the previous post, also boomed. The influx of people was so big that a new town near Beallsville was incorporated in 1957. The reaction to the announcement, however, was ecstatic. One headline read, “Monroe County Has Happy Birthday”, while another article familiarized the production of aluminum to its readers. In order to explain to its readers how significant the announcement was, an article boasted about Olin Mathieson’s reach “in every part of the world” while the area’s local Congressman said the “‘investment will be the foundation of great additional industrial development through Southeastern Ohio’”. With all of the excitement, the newspaper’s editorial board stressed the need for cooperation. It pleaded with its readership to put aside “the many petty jealousies and littlenesses that the past has, regrettably, recorded…We must remember that what helps any part of Monroe County helps every part of Monroe County. Sections and towns are not to be pitted against each other in rivalry”. It also implored the population to help promote the county with the plant’s new arrival: “Now is the time for our people to organize and to ‘sell’ Monroe County far and wide…We must buy space in out-of-town newspapers showing our schools, our churches…We must make plans for better things, road improvements, new homes, etc. and tell the world of these plans, too”. The editorial ended with the rallying cry: “Let CO-OPERATION be the key word in our planned drive to sell Monroe County far and wide!”
As construction started, the most visible effects were felt in the river communities where the plants would be located. Families with land going back generations were forced to relocate to make way for both the factories and new highway that came with it. A local newspaper quoted a life long resident from the river town of Clarington saying, “‘We’ll have to move when the new highway comes. They never pay you enough to buy another house as good as the one you leave’”. Other people were more excited about the potential benefits the aluminum plants could bring. The construction of a new high school along the river was about to flourish not just because of an influx of new students, but also because of new revenue for the school district. One teenager in the same article expressed hope that “‘we may get a new football team’”. The owner of a local convenience store was quoted saying, “‘Young people are coming back home to work now. For years they have been leaving here because they couldn’t find any work here’”; the opposite would be felt by some decades later.
When Ormet and Olin Mathieson first opened in 1958, the companies made sure the surrounding community knew what went on at both factories. This was on full display at an open house both companies jointly held about a year after they started. More than 15,000 people were able to walk freely throughout the factories, observing some of the operations. As someone wrote in a West Virginia newspaper, “The story of aluminum from ore to finished product unfolded as you walked from station to station reading the informative pamphlet given to each person at the beginning of the tour”. A press release from Olin Mathieson estimated that 26,000 hot dogs were served as well as 24,000 ice cream bars and 20,000 cokes. While the open house was managed by the two companies, community organizations helped out. A $100 check was given to the New Martinsville, West Virginia Civil Air Patrol Squadron for “providing radio communications” while the local American Legion group in Hannibal, Ohio helped out with traffic control. Local businesses provided flowers to be displayed, while others put ads in the region’s various newspapers congratulating the companies on their early success. Some of those who went to the open house sent letters to the companies thanking them for the opportunity to tour the facilities. As the principal of a high school in West Virginia wrote, “We were especially interested in the potrooms because our son Robert M. Hill works on line 2B. The open house was certainly a very gracious and considerate gesture”. Woodsfield’s Kiwanis Club wrote a resolution of appreciation which, in part, read, “That since the friendly gesture of the Open House for us could be only one of good will…we offer in return our continued attitude of good-will and appreciation of this industrial operation”. There can be no doubt that both companies were strongly supported by the community for the first several years.
The communal atmosphere at Ormet was especially noticeable when important milestones were reached. In 1968, Ormet announced that it had reached 2 million man hours without a disabling injury which, as its press release stated, was “seldom achieved in aluminum reduction plants”. The plant manager sent a letter to all employees congratulating them for their work while also challenging them to not be complacent. He ended the letter by saying, “A record in itself is unimportant, but it is the best indication that you are returning to your families at the end of your work-day without suffering an injury which would affect not only you but all of your loved ones”. Regardless of the manager’s genuineness, it shows just how important Ormet’s leadership felt in treating its employees not just as laborers, but as family. This sentiment can be reinforced by a token of appreciation the company also offered. Workers were able to choose from one of three gift options: a night light, steak knives, or a combined clothes brush and shoe horn. According to many longtime laborers, it was common for both Ormet and Olin Mathieson to provide gifts and awards to employees for exemplary work or employment milestones. One worker from Olin Mathieson showed me a lighter he received after reaching his first 10 years of work there. For at least the first 25 years, this was considered the norm. Emmet Boyle’s arrival, however, marked the departure of these customs.
Almost immediately after the announcement was made about the aluminum plants development, Monroe County rightfully felt optimistic. While the coal industry had employed large numbers of people from the area, no single company had ever made such an impact. Lives were quite literally changed overnight. Whether it be the people who lived on the land Ormet intended to use or the families that moved hundreds of miles away for employment, many knew Ormet’s arrival was going to be a significant milestone in the county’s history. For the first several years hope permeated every aspect of society. In some ways, this promise of a better Monroe County came to be with infrastructure being revamped and an influx of revenue for the county. But as the seventies pushed into the eighties, signs of trouble started to show. It wasn’t simply Emmet Boyle’s arrival, but larger forces like foreign competition that affected the aluminum industry nationwide. The last 30 years of Ormet were marked by a continuous friction between management and the union, especially during the early 2000s when it declared bankruptcy. But at the beginning, there was only hope.
