Issues. People. Events.

During the 1960s and ‘70s, newspapers frequently leaned towards blaming striking workers for the closings of factories, although this has since been shown to be a false bias. Pictured above is Sid Monti getting arrested during a 1952 strike at Scovill. Photograph from Brass Valley, The Brass Workers History Project.

                                          Story By Raechel Guest

   On August 24, 1980, The New York Times summed up the post-World War II story of the brass industry as follows: “At its peak after World War II, the Connecticut brass manufacturing industry employed 25,000 workers to cast molten metal, press it into rods, wires and strips, and fabricate finished parts.. By 1960, the industry employed 10,000 fewer people.. and payrolls in June, before the recent closings and relocation decisions, included only 5,600 workers.”