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When a local television station did a program about the closing of the major steel mills in the Pittsburgh region, Ray Henderson, a former mill worker who had dedicated 18 years to the mills, couldn’t help but notice that not one Black worker was shown, despite the fact that African-American workers have made up a critical part of the labor force in western Pennsylvania for 125 years.

With his friend and independent filmmaker Tony Buba, Henderson set out to collaborate on a history of the Black contribution not just to the steel industry, but to the labor movement itself. Together they interviewed more than 70 retired Black steelworkers who tell heart-rending tales of struggles with the company, the union, and white co-workers. With Henderson as guide, they retrace a century of black industrial history. Through these eloquent living witnesses and revelatory archival footage, STRUGGLES IN STEEL presents a striking counterpoint to stereotypes that still pervade our culture today.

Although the film premiered at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival, the history and conflicts presented remain relevant to the current battles for racial justice and equal opportunity in the United States.

After your ticket purchase, you have THREE day to enjoy.

A scene from “Struggles in Steel: A Story of African-American Steelworkers”, a documentary film by Tony Buba and Ray Henderson, 1996.
© UW-Madison University Communications 608/262-0067
Photo by: courtesy UW Arts Institute
Date: 08/01 File#: scan provided