Editing Youngstown, Ohio (section)

===Growth and industrialization===
The discovery of coal by the community in the early 19th century paved the way for the Youngstown area's inclusion on the network of the famed [[Erie Canal]]. The [[Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal]] Company was organized in 1835, and the canal was completed in 1840.<ref>Blue ''et al.'' (1995), pp. 33–35.</ref> Local industrialist [[David Tod]], who became Ohio governor during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], persuaded [[Lake Erie]] steamboat owners that coal mined in the Mahoning Valley could fuel their vessels if canal transportation were available between Youngstown and Cleveland. The railroad's arrival in 1856 smoothed the path for further economic growth.<ref>Blue ''et al.'' (1995), pp. 35–36.</ref>

Youngstown's industrial development changed the face of the Mahoning Valley. The community's burgeoning coal industry drew hundreds of immigrants from [[Welsh Americans|Wales]], [[German Americans|Germany]], and [[Irish Americans|Ireland]]. With the establishment of steel mills in the late 19th century, Youngstown became a popular destination for immigrants from [[Eastern Europe]], [[Italian Americans|Italy]], and [[Greek Americans|Greece]].<ref>Blue ''et al.'' (1995), p. 69.</ref>

[[File:RepublicIron&SteelWorks YoungstownOH 1900s.jpg|thumb|left|[[Republic Steel|Republic Iron and Steel Works]], early 1900s]]
In the early 20th century, the community saw an influx of immigrants from non-European countries including what is modern day [[Lebanon]], [[Israel]], [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], and [[Syria]].<ref>Blue ''et al.'' (1995), pp. 80–82.</ref> By the 1920s, this dramatic demographic shift produced a nativist backlash, and the Mahoning Valley became a center of [[Ku Klux Klan]] activity.<ref>Jenkins (1990), p. 19.</ref> The situation reached a climax in 1924, when street clashes between Klan members and [[Italian American|Italian]] and [[Irish American|Irish]] Americans in neighboring [[Niles, Ohio|Niles]] led Ohio Governor [[A. Victor Donahey]] to declare martial law.<ref>Jenkins (1990), p. 137.</ref> By 1928 the Klan was in steep decline; and three years later, the organization sold its Canfield, Ohio, meeting area, Kountry Klub Field.<ref>Aley (1975), p. 259.</ref> Despite the prevalence of Irish Americans in Youngstown, their presence wasn't always evident. When radio personality Pete Gabriel (who was Greek) came to Youngstown, he found out that there was no [[St. Patrick's Day]] parade there at the time, so he started one.<ref>{{cite web |title=Christmas is a time of celebration, joy and inclusion |url=http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2014/christmas-is-a-time-of-celebration-joy-and-inclusion.cfm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180731032015/http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2014/christmas-is-a-time-of-celebration-joy-and-inclusion.cfm |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 31, 2018 |website= catholicnews.com |access-date=July 30, 2018}}</ref>

The growth of industry attracted people from within the United States and from [[Latin America]]. By the late 19th century, [[African Americans]] were well represented in Youngstown, and the first local congregation of the [[African Methodist Episcopal Church]] was established in 1871.<ref name= "Aley46">Aley (1975), p. 46.</ref> In the 1880s, local attorney [[William R. Stewart]] was the second African American elected to the [[Ohio House of Representatives]].<ref>Aley (1975), p. 47.</ref> A large influx of African Americans in the early 20th century owed much to developments in the industrial sector. During the national [[Steel Strike of 1919]], local industrialists recruited thousands of workers from the [[Southern United States]], many of whom were Black.<ref>Brody (1960), pp. 254–255.</ref> This move inflamed racist sentiment among local Whites, and for decades, African-American steelworkers experienced discrimination in the workplace.<ref>Bruno (1999), pp. 155–156.</ref><ref>Linkon and Russo (2002), p. 42.</ref> Migration from the South rose dramatically in the 1940s, when the mechanization of southern agriculture brought an end to the [[sharecropping]] system, leading onetime farm laborers to seek industrial jobs.<ref>Lemann (1991), pp. 3–58.</ref>

[[File:YoungstownOhio1910s.jpg|thumb|Youngstown, 1910s: Central Square and Viaduct (view looking south)]]
Youngstown's local [[iron ore]] deposits were exhausted by the early 20th century. Since the city is landlocked (the [[Mahoning River]] is not navigable), ore from [[Michigan]] and [[Minnesota]] had to arrive by rail from [[Cleveland]] and other Great Lakes port cities where large bulk carriers were unloaded. This put Youngstown at a competitive disadvantage to the iron and steel producers in Cleveland, [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], [[Chicago]] and [[Detroit]]—all on Great Lake shores. Compared to these four cities, Youngstown had a higher cost of transporting raw materials to the mills, according to a ''[[Harvard Business Review]]'' report published in January 1933. Higher transportation costs are one reason why Youngstown mills began their decline slightly earlier than manufacturing in other cities.<ref name="Transport costs">{{cite magazine |date=December 1, 1935 |title=Republic II: Corrigan, McKinney |magazine=Fortune |volume=XII |page=142}}</ref>

The city had a healthy position within the [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]] in terms of transportation connections. An airport built in 1930 hosted [[Capital Airlines (United States)|Capital]] and [[United Airlines]] flights through the region and to New York prior to the jet age of the latter 1950s. It was on the [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]] [[mainline (railway)|mainline]] to Chicago with the ''[[Capitol Limited (B&O train)|Capital Limited]]''. Likewise, Youngstown was on the [[Erie Railroad]] mainline, on its Chicago-Jersey City circuit, with trains such as the ''[[Atlantic Express and Pacific Express|Atlantic Express/Pacific Express]]'' and the ''[[Lake Cities (Erie Railroad train)|Lake Cities]].'' The city was on the New York Central's Pittsburgh-Buffalo circuit and the Pennsylvania Railroad's Pittsburgh-Cleveland circuit.<ref>{{cite book | title = Official Guide of the Railways| date = September 1955| publisher = }} sections: Capital Airlines; United Airlines; Baltimore and Ohio Railroad; Erie Railroad</ref><ref>{{cite book| url= http://streamlinermemories.info/NYC/NYC51-6TT.pdf | title= New York Central Railroad timetable| date= June 17, 1951| series= Tables 57, 58, 59| publisher = | via= streamlinermemories.info| accessdate= }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title = Pennsylvania Railroad timetable| date= January 18, 1954| series= Tables 5, 23 | url= http://streamlinermemories.info/PRR/PRR54-1TT.pdf| publisher = | via= streamlinermemories.info| accessdate= }}</ref>