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Jul 25, 2018 · Since 1916, when Mohawk men made their way to New York to work on the Hell Gate Bridge, ironworkers from Akwesasne and Kahnawake have been “walking iron” across the city.
- Origins of The Mohawk Skywalkers
- Quebec Bridge Disaster
- Little Caughnawaga: Brooklyn’s Mohawk Community
- Riveting Gangs
- Heyday of Skyscraper Building
- Skywalkers at The World Trade Center
The Mohawk Skywalker tradition began in 1886 when some daring Mohawk men from Kahnawake took jobs helping build the Victoria Bridge across the St. Lawrence River, which borders their reserve near Montreal. Just as early European settlers had observed Mohawks walking fearlessly across rivers on narrow logs, early ironworkers showed an unusual aptitu...
The Skywalker tradition nearly came to an end in 1907 when 33 Mohawk men from Kahnawake died during a collapse of the Quebec Bridge near Quebec City. More than two-thirds of these men were married, leaving behind dozens of children and 24 widows. The resilient Skywalkers rebounded, but only after Mohawk women demanded that they not work together in...
By 1960 Atlantic Avenue and the Boerum Hill area of Brooklyn was home to about 800 Mohawk ironworkers and their relatives. Many frequented the Wigwam Bar and attended a church run by Rev. David Munroe Cory, who even learned the Mohawk language to give sermons in their native tongue. Storekeepers supplied ingredients for favorite Mohawk recipes like...
Skyscrapers of the ’20s and ’30s were framed with steel columns, beams and girders fitted together by four-man riveting gangs. One man called a “heater” fired the rivets in a portable forge until they were red-hot, tossing them to the “sticker-in” who caught it in a metal can or glove. The “bucker-up” braced the rivet with a dolly bar while the “ri...
Advances in metallurgy during the early 1900s had made it possible for architects to design much taller buildings using a skeleton of hardened steel, fastened by riveting gangs. During the 1920s, this led to a “race to the sky” as some of the most notable skyscrapers in Gotham began to take shape. Mohawks worked on the 1,046-foot Chrysler Building,...
Hundreds of Mohawk ironworkers went to work on the World Trade Centertowers in the late 1960s. Beauvais watched the towers rise from her mother’s kitchen window in Brooklyn. Her grandmother said not to visit the job site to see what the men do. “‘It’ll make you nervous,’ she said—and it does. I went to lower Manhattan later to see my brother Kyle B...
124 pages : 24 cm. Narrative text and photographs examines Native American history and the development of structural engineering and architecture, focusing on Mohawk ironworkers. Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, 2011. Includes bibliographical references (pages 116-119) and index.
Apr 26, 2002 · This photographic exhibition portrays the history, contemporary lives, and achievements of Mohawk ironworkers from two Native communities: Akwesasne (which straddles Ontario, Quebec, and New York State) and Kahnawake (near Montreal).
Sep 11, 2012 · For more than a century, Mohawk ironworkers have helped shape New York City's iconic skyline, guiding ribbons of metal into the steel skeletons that form the backbone of the city.
- Vaughn Wallace
Mohawk ironworkers have shaped the skylines of North American cities for more than 100 years. Using a trade honed across generations, members of the Mohawk nation have traveled great lengths and scaled astonishing heights to build iconic bridges and buildings, earning the nickname “skywalkers.”
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Nov 2, 2009 · A signed copy of David M. Cory's book, Within Two Worlds (New York: Friendship Press, 1955) can be found in the Brooklyn Collection.
