[PRCo] Signs on Fifth Ave.

[Bob Rathke]

Bear with me on this post - there are a couple of PAT connections here that keep it on topic. 

I took the attached photo on Fifth Ave. at Smithfield St. during lunch hour on 8/7/73. If you worked downtown in the 1970's you'll remember seeing this man carrying large signs on Fifth Ave. and around the U.S. Steel Bldg. which at that time was located at 525 Wm. Penn Place. He sometimes wore a bandage around his head, always walked continuously and never spoke to anyone. It was only after I took this photo and made a print that I was able to read all the words on the signs. It seems that he had a grievance with U.S. Steel and the United Steelworkers Union, but I never heard that the grievance was settled, and the man was no longer seen downtown after around 1980. 

The PAT connection? One morning in 1974 I was riding the PATrain from McKeesport when this man boarded the train. It took him a while to store his signs and wooden poles behind the coach seats and then he was off to Pittsburgh for a day of silent protest. 

The other PAT connection? PAT bus 2455 is on Smithfield St. in front of Kaufmann's. 

Bob 







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