James J. Davis came to America from Wales as a child and went to work in the iron mills of Pennsylvania, learning the brutal trade of the puddler. He recalls his mother, his family’s struggles, hard labour, a trap set by swindlers, union work and the slow climb that ended with his appointment as Secretary of Labor in 1921.
A vivid industrial memoir of immigrant life and steel-making; Davis’s own views on immigration are those of his day. Download the free EPUB.