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7/25/2019 Building the Golden Gate Bridge: A Workers' Oral History
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A WORKERS
ORAL HISTORY
HARVEY SCHWARTZ
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A WORKERS
ORAL HISTORY
Seattle and London
HARVEY SCHWARTZ
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by the University o Washington PressPrinted and bound in the United States o AmericaDesign by Tomas Eykemans
Composed in Minion, typeace designed by Robert SlimbachDisplay type set in Futura, designed by Paul Renner
All rights reserved. No part o this publication may be reproduced or transmitted inany orm or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording,or any inormation storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing rom thepublisher.
www.washington.edu/uwpress
--
Schwartz, Harvey. Building the Golden Gate Bridge : a workers oral history / Harvey Schwartz. First edition. p. cm. Includes bibliographical reerences and index. ---- (hardcover : alk. paper). Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco, Cali.) . Construction workers
CaliorniaSan FranciscoInterviews. . Structural steel workersCaliorniaSan FranciscoInterviews. . Construction workersCaliorniaSan FranciscoBiography. . Structural steel workersCaliorniaSan FranciscoBiography.. San Francisco (Cali.)Biography. I. itle. 25.22535 .'dc
Te paper used in this publication is acid-ree and meets the minimum requirementso American National Standard or Inormation SciencesPermanence o Paper orPrinted Library Materials, ..
: Heaters and riveters at work on the Golden Gate Bridge (detail).Copyright Golden Gate Bridge, Highway, and ransportation District.
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In memory o the eleven and others now gone,
and or M, D, and K
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CONTENTS
Introduction
Fred Divita FIELD ENGINEER
John Noren ELEVATOR MAN
Glenn McIntyre IRONWORKER
John Urban CABLE SPINNER
Fred Brusati ELECTRICIAN
Martin Adams LABORER
Evan C. Slim Lambert SURVIVOR
Al Zampa LEGEND
Mary Zita Felciano and Patricia DeWeese NURSES
Walter Vestnys and Joyce Big J Harris
MAINTENANCE IRONWORKERS
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Notes
Further Reading Index
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INTRODUCTION 5
book presents the speakers ull stories to the public, many or the first
time, more than seventy-five years afer the completion o construction.
O the ourteen individuals represented, nine were bridge workers in
the s, a handul o survivors rom an army originally numbering in
the hundreds yet representing a variety o trades and exempliying what
historians generally know about the world o the American worker in
the Depression. Rounding out their narratives are the testimonies o our
women and one man whose lie stories intersect with the bridges history.
Te Further Reading section describes the best books about the con-
struction o the Gate, or the Gate Bridge, as many s bridge workers
called it. Most sources ocus on the celebrity engineers, architects, and
designers; the technological innovations and achievements; the pre-construction politics; and the exceptional beauty o what the Caliornia
historian Kevin Starr pronounced Americas greatest bridge. A ew
mention the workers and their hardships. At least three volumes, pub-
lished around the fifieth anniversary o the bridge, give serious attention
to the spans construction personnel.But none o the major narratives
consistently trains the spotlight on the workers and their lives beyond
their daily labor.Tis book lets the ones doing the work tell their lie
stories in depth and in their own words.
Who were these people? Where did they come rom? What were their
backgrounds? Not surprisingly, several bridge workers profiled in this
book were children o the countrys new immigrants, the many recently
minted Americans who swelled the ranks o the U.S. labor orce between
and . Tis flood o immigrants peaked between and ,
when more than a million people arrived in each o six major waves.
Tousands came rom Russia, Poland, Austria-Hungary, the Balkans,and Italy. Afer , the last o those peak years, World War I and sub-
sequent changes in American immigration policy reduced the numbers
coming to the United States or many decades. In , however, nearly
a million and a quarter people immigrated to the United States, a scant
percent rom northern and western Europe and approximately
percent rom southern and eastern European countries.Tousands
o these immigrants and their children became workers in Americas
manuacturing plants and heavy construction industries. Teir immi-
grant origins significantly defined who they were and how they viewed
their world.
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6 INTRODUCTION
Beyond their status as the children o new Americans, what did bridge
builders say about their working conditions and the mid-s revital-
ization o unionism in the construction trades? What was work actually
like on the bridge, in a climate that was ofen cold, wet, and windy? How
did builders adapt their gear to survive the day saely and with as little
discomort as possible? How did they cope with the tragic accidents they
describe here in harrowing detail? As members o the working class, did
they view their tasks and the Golden Gate Bridge project differently rom
the way politicians, regional boosters, and the general public did? How,
too, did they evaluate the wider politics and economics o their time?
What did they think o the worker-riendly New Deal and the watershed
union events o their day, such as the West Coast maritime and SanFrancisco general strikes o ?Finally, what happened to them afer
the Golden Gate Bridge was finished? How did they reflect on their roles
in the building o that world-amous landmark?
Oral history answers such questions with a vividness and drama
rarely matched in traditional historical accounts, as exemplified by
Evan Slim Lamberts tale o surviving a near-death ordeal. Tese first-
person accounts offer us rare insights into the experience o workers
who persevered through danger and hardship to build a bridge that
became the internationally recognized symbol o San Francisco and all
o Northern Caliornia.
Te idea or this book grew out o a project undertaken in by
Lynn A. Bonfield, ounding director o the Labor Archives and Research
Center (LARC) at San Francisco State University. Bonfield was at the
time planning a celebration o the bridges fifieth birthday. She secured
a grant rom the Caliornia Council or the Humanities and hired me tointerview veteran bridge workers while she and her staff collected his-
torical photographs and other graphics. When the anniversary came in
spring , Bonfield staged a highly successul public event that eatured
speeches by union leaders, politicians, academics, and bridge workers;
excerpts rom my interviews; pictures; and a display o s worker
equipment.I recognized even then the raw materials or a ascinating
volume o oral history, even though I was unable to turn to the project
until many years later.
Proessional oral historians customarily deine the interviews I
intended to conduct as ull lie histories, long the standard in the field.
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INTRODUCTION 7
Full lie histories probe a persons recollections rom early lie through
retirement. Most o the individuals quoted in this book sat or ull lie
narratives. When I started the project in , I had just finished a six-
year research job that included interviews with members o the
International Longshore and Warehouse Union or a National Endow-
ment or the Humanitiesunded oral history project cosponsored by the
ILWU and the Institute or the Study o Social Change at the University
o Caliornia, Berkeley. Although I was originally trained in traditional
document- and archive-based research at the University o Caliornia,
Davis, by the labor historian David Brody, I had thus acquired substantial
interview experience and had pored over the scholarly literature on oral
history. Bonfield, hersel an accomplished oral historian, also providedinvaluable advice about interviewing priorities and questions on the
bridge project.
Te construction workers who sat or recordings, listed here with
their Golden Gate Bridge jobs, included Fred Divita, a paint scraper
and field engineer; John Noren, an elevator builder; Glenn McIntyre,
Al Zampa, Walter Vestnys, and Joyce Big J Harris, ironworkers; John
Urban, a cable spinner, which was a type o ironworker; Fred Brusati, an
electrician; Martin Adams, a laborer; Evan C. Slim Lambert, a labor
oreman; and Bert Vestnys, a truck driver. I also interviewed Alvina
McIntyre, Glenn McIntyres wie, as well as Sister Mary Zita Felciano
and Patricia DeWeese, two nurses who had cared or seriously injured
bridge men in the s.
Te roles o women have been largely omitted rom histories o the
bridge.I have tried to add to the record. Te reminiscences o the our
women quoted in this volume include those o the two nurses; GlennMcIntyres wie, Alvina; and Joyce Harris, an Arican American iron-
worker who perormed maintenance on the bridge in the late s
and early s.Although no women builders and almost no Arican
American men worked on the bridges original construction, the crews
required or ongoing maintenance have achieved a measure o diversity.
Tus Harriss recollections help to update the story.
Except or two individuals, I interviewed all the people quoted in this
book or the LARC project. Te late Isabelle Maynard recorded the
interview with Al Zampa in . I interviewed Joyce Harris in or
Jo Kreiter, ounder and choreographer o Flyaway Productions, who was
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8 INTRODUCTION
preparing a dance program in celebration o post-s women bridge
workers. All interviews represented here were originally recorded on ana-
log tape cassettes (now digitized by LARC) and are on permanent deposit
at LARC in San Francisco, along with transcriptions o the recording
sessions, which range rom thirty to a hundred pages each. Several ses-
sions were significantly longer than others because some interviewees
spoke in great depth. welve o the interviews were ull lie; two were
more limited in scope, owing to circumstances surrounding the tape
sessions, but still added unique and valuable inormation.
Preparing recorded material or a book o oral histories always
requires decisions about the extent o permissible editorial changes.
Verbatim transcriptions o interviews are invariably too rambling androughshod or unedited publication. I have thus made some adjustments
in the transcripts, but always within strict guidelines. o emphasize the
orce and drama o the words o the quoted workers, I have eliminated
my own questions and comments. I have also excised redundant and
extraneous material, such as hesitations and irrelevant pleasantries. At
times I have rearranged material or combined repeated accounts by the
same person to improve continuity and clarity. o assess the accuracy o
interviewees memories beore using material in this book, I compared
several oral descriptions o the same events and consulted the existing
written record. Only when absolutely necessary to avoid conusion have
I added or corrected a name or date or inserted a small transitional
detail. At all times, I have retained my subjects style o speech, tone, and
meaning in the knowledge that these give oral history its authenticity
and credibility.
My goal has been to ollow the advice o oral history authorities suchas Sherna Berger Gluck and Donald A. Ritchie. In editing, Gluck wrote
about her own pathbreaking work in , care was taken to preserve
each individuals speaking style and syntax. False starts and repetitions
were removedunless they revealed something about the interviewee or
represented her speech pattern. Words or phrases were added only when
necessary or clarity. Later Gluck added, Although I tried to preserve
the narrators thought process, passages relating to the same topic were
ofen drawn together rom different places in the interview.Writing
seven years afer Gluck, Ritchielong held to be one o the leading
arbiters o oral history methodologyobserved, Editing and rearrang-
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INTRODUCTION 9
ing interviews or clarification and cutting away tangential material are
appropriate so long as the original meaning is retained.Tese are the
standards I have adhered to.
Te idea o bridging the Bay to connect San Francisco and the counties to
the north dates back to the nineteenth century. Joshua Norton, an eccentric
San Franciscan and sel-proclaimed Emperor o the United States and
Protector o Mexico, proposed such a project in . Emperor Nor-
tons suggestion did not stimulate serious action, but fify years later San
Francisco City Engineer Michael M. OShaughnessy initiated what wouldbecome the successul effort to build a bridge. About OShaughnessy,
regionally known or championing construction o the dam in the Hetch
Hetchy valley o Yosemite National Park to supply water to San Francisco,
entered into conversations with Joseph B. Strauss, already a bridge engineer
o national standing, about the easibility o spanning the Golden Gate.
In the early s, OShaughnessy and Strauss publicly cosponsored
the idea o building a bridge afer a design by Strauss that would have
combined cantilever and suspension styles.Many viewed this hybrid
concept as unprepossessing, even ugly, but Strauss promoted the bridge
idea vigorously. As San Francisco Bay erryboat traffic became increas-
ingly congested in the s, owing to growing reliance on automobile
transportation, Strauss attracted a ollowing despite the militarys doubts
about the project and the opposition o the erry companies.
Te War Department, as it was then known, had the authority to
block a bridge project that might interere with military priorities. Butafer much hesitation, lengthy debate, and hearings, the military finally
issued a building permit in . Te erry companies, under the lead-
ership o Southern Pacific Railroad (which owned a subsidiary erry
company), continued to fight the project in an effort to retain control
o all transportation revenues. Local anti-bridge litigation also delayed
progress until late , when the Caliornia State Legislature finally cre-
ated a Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District to oversee the spans
design and construction.
Te new Bridge District comprised the six counties that supported
its ounding, including San Francisco and, to the north, Marin, Sonoma,
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10 INTRODUCTION
Del Norte, and parts o Mendocino and Napa counties. In Strauss
became the projects chie engineer. Te ollowing year, district residents
voted to approve the financing o the bridges construction through a
million bond measure. Unortunately, the Depression had seriously
undermined the bond market, and the Bridge District ound ew buy-
ers or its bonds until A. P. Giannini o the Bank o America saved the
threatened project by having his institution purchase a huge allotment.
Te nearby mid-s Bay Bridge building project connecting San
Francisco to Oakland benefited rom much ederal support. In contrast,
the Golden Gate Bridge was completed without state or ederal unding.
Te only ederal money spent in connection with the Golden Gate project
was or a New Deal Works Progress Administration (WPA) approachroad at Sausalito in Marin County on the north side o the strait.
Many construction people who labored on the Golden Gate also
helped build the Bay Bridge because work on the two structures was
nearly concurrent. Te Bay Bridge went up between May and
November . (Te eastern segment o the Bay Bridge was replaced
in by a new span designed to be more earthquake-resistant than the
original crossing, but when workers in these interviews reer to the Bay
Bridge, they are talking about the one finished in .) An assortment
o local and national contracting firms built the Golden Gate Bridge in
stages between January , , and May , .
Sometime beore construction o the Golden Gate Bridge began, the
graceul all-suspension concept that made the structure world amous
replaced Strausss ungainly design or a hybrid cantilever-suspension
bridge. Te exact moment o this decision is unclear. Nonetheless,
Leon Moisseiff, a suspension-bridge expert engaged with others on aconsulting panel set up by the new Bridge District, advocated strongly
or the change.
Te district panel consultant Charles A. Ellis, a ormer proessor o
engineering at the University o Illinois and a master o mathematical
bridge design, was responsible or the complex calculations that made
possible the .-mile structure, which reigned or twenty-seven years as
the longest single-span suspension bridge in the world. As an employee
o Strausss Chicago-based firm, Ellis also artully designed the bridges
classical arch above Fort Point, installed to preserve that historically
important preCivil War ortification, which today still stands on the
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INTRODUCTION 11
San Francisco shoreline underneath the spans southern end. Ellis never
received the public credit he deserved or his role in the bridges design
and engineering success, largely because o disagreements he had with
Strauss, who fired him rom his firm in December . Shortly beore
construction began, Strauss hired Russell Cone, a ormer student o
Elliss and himsel an accomplished suspension-bridge engineer, as the
project supervisor in charge o all work crews. For years Strauss got the
credit or Elliss calculations, although that honor sometimes gravitated
to Clifford Paine, Strausss second in command, who requently assumed
control in the chie engineers absence.
When completed, the great bridge would rise eet above the
water at midspan. wo soaring -oot steel towers with art deco linesdesigned by Irving F. Morrow, a Northern Caliornia architect and illus-
trator, would support its suspension system. Morrow also contributed
to the choice o the bridges ultimate color, an orange-vermilion called
international orange, which added to the structures beauty and har-
monized with the earthy tones o the surrounding hills, opening dra-
matically to the sea. Fortunately, international orange won out over
the urging o military leaders that the bridge should be painted with
horizontal stripes or visibilitythe navy wanted black and yellow
stripes, while the army Air Corps avored orange and white. Curiously,
the striking visual appeal o the bridges red lead-based primer paint
inspired the final color.
Te building o the two massive towers progressed at quite different
paces. Te Marin tower to the north rose rather smoothly and quickly
because it was set near the lands edge. Workers utilized a large cofferdam
filled with tons o concrete to make a pier or the north tower, completedby mid-.A little more than a year later, ironworkers finished erect-
ing the Marin tower itsel.
Te San Francisco tower to the south, though, was situated more than
a thousand eet offshore in dangerous tidal water, and work progressed
more slowly there than on the north side. Te south-side tower was to
be constructed on a oundation anchored in the ocean by a huge caisson
floated into place, sunk, and then filled with concrete to become part
o the towers pier.Deep-sea divers entering the water rom a barge
searched the sea floor or places where wells could be dynamited to secure
the oundation pier in bedrock. Tey worked between powerul tides
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INTRODUCTION 13
injuries or died. On the Golden Gate Bridge job, where a all along most
o the span would be more than two hundred eet, death seemed all but
certain without the net.
Fred Divita, whose testimony orms chapter , oversaw the saety nets
installation. By late , the net was up. At that point in the bridges
construction, only one worker had died: on October , just as the last
wire suspender ropes were going in and the steel roadway was near-
ing completion, a moving derrick had allen and killed Kermit Moore.
Unortunately, even the new net did not guarantee complete saety. On
February , , a huge timber scaffolding holding a work crew gave way
and tore through the net, plunging the whole apparatus and twelve men
into the sea below. Only two survived the all. One was Slim Lambert,who recalls his harrowing experience here in chapter .
Te ten workers who died that February were Fred Dummatzen (a
man Lambert tried mightily to rescue), O. A. Anderson, Chris Ander-
son, Bill Bass, Orrill Desper, erence Hallinan, Eldridge Hillen, Charles
Lindros, Jack Norman, and Louis Russell. Balanced against this traumatic
event, Strausss net saved the lives o nineteen men who ell into it dur-
ing the spans construction. Given an early twentieth-century business
ormulaone workers death or every million dollars spent on bridge
constructionthe eleven lives lost on the million Golden Gate project
would have been judged a good saety record, especially compared with
that o the concurrent Bay Bridge job, with no saety net and twenty-
our deaths.
Despite the tragedy o February , , and some investigations that
ollowed, construction o the Golden Gate Bridge went ahead essentially
as planned. Tat April the men finished paving the bridges roadway. OnMay , the Golden Gate Bridge officially opened to the public with great
regional anare and a celebratory walk across the span by thousands o
people. Te next day the new bridge received automobile traffic. Almost
immediately the structure was acclaimed as one o the industrial and
engineering wonders o the world.Te workers, though, still had stories
o their own to tell. You will hear some o them in the testimonies that
enliven the pages to come.