Mike Dillard, ironworker, today would be somewhat misnamed, in that he would work with mostly steel, glass and concrete. Ironworkers were named during the Industrial Revolution because they worked with wrought iron. Ironically, Mike might have been safer in his occupation back then. “I’ve worked on towers probably 1,000 feet high,” he tells the audience. Back when ironworkers actually worked with iron, buildings were of a much more modest height, with none of the skyscrapers so common in cities today.
In closing, it must be remembered that despite all the difficulties and suffering caused by the Industrial Revolution, this period of history also gave birth to entrepreneurship and the rise of the middle class, both so essential in creating the American workforce we know today.
