MSS 793 Ecumenical Association of the Mahoning Valley Records

              MSS 793
Ecumenical Coalition of
the Mahoning Valley, Inc
Records
5- 1/ 4 cubic f e e t
Standard inventory
Collection Synopsis
Provenance: The Ohio H i s t o r i c a l Society acquired the records of
the Ecumenical Coalition of the Mahoning Valley, Inc. as a g i f t
of t h e C o a l i t i o n , through the auspices o f l e g a l agent Father
Edward Stanton, in September 1 9 8 2 . Richard W. Arpi processed the
c o l l e c t i o n in February 1983.
Property r i g h t s : The Ohio H i s t o r i c a l Society owns the property
r i g h t s t o t h i s c o l l e c t r o n .
Copyrights: The Coalition has dedicated such copyrights as i t
possesses i n t h i s c o l l e c t i o n to the public. Consideration of a l l
other copyrights is t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y o f t h e author and publisher
Access: This c o l l e c t i o n is open under the r u l e s and regulations
of the Ohio H i s t o r i c a l Society.
C i t a t i o n : Researchers are requested to c i t e c o l l e c t i o n name,
c o l l e c t i o n number, and the Ohio H i s t o r i c a l Society in a l l foot-note
and bibliographic references.
Transfer: Thirteen seven- inch r e e l t o r e e l tapes of the Save
Youngstown- Save America Conference of September 1 9 7 8 , photographs,
and a video c a s s e t t e of the ASC News program " The Fight Against
Black Monday," were t r a n s f e r r e d t o the audiovisual c o l l e c t i o n s in
January 1983. Several miscellaneous labor pamphlets were trans-f
e r r e d to the Library in February 1983.
H i s t o r i c a l sketch: On September 19, 1 9 7 7 , a c? ay known as Black
Nonday, the Lykes Corporation announced the closing of its
Youngstown Sheet and Tube operations a t its Campbell, Ohio, works
and s e v e r a l departments of the nearby B r i e r H i l l p l a n t . A week
l a t e r , Bishops James W. Malone of the Catholic Diocese of Younqstown
and John H . Burt of the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio convened a
meeting of l o c a l r e l i s i o u s leaders to explore the causes o f t h e
l a y o f f s and to find ways t o a l l e v i a t e t h e i r e f f e c t s . This and a
s e r i e s of subsequent meetings led to the formation of the Ecumenical
Coalition of the Mahoning Valley, I n c . , which t r i e d t o reopen the
s t e e l m i l l s as a community- worker owned e n t e r p r i s e .
The f i r s t action of the Coalition was the publication of a p a s t o r a l
l e t t e r on November 2 9 , 19.77, declaring corporations have s o c i a l
and moral r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s t o t h e i r employees and t o the coromunities
where they are located. Through t h i s letter, radio and t e l e v i s i o n
s p o t s , and conferences such as the Save Youngstown- Save . Uerica
Conterence of September 1978, the Coalition brought n a t i o n a l a t t e n -
t i o n t o the Youngstown layoffs and i l l u s t r a t e d how community action
could combat unemploym~? t..,, .. .,,. , t~
ON10 WISTORKCAL SOCIETY
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