David P. Demarest
Encyclopedia
David P. Demarest was an American
academic and writer
best known for his work on organized labor, social geography
, and US working-class literature.
He was born in New Jersey
and graduated with a BA from Princeton University
, a MA from the University of Connecticut
, and a PhD in English literature from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. In 1964 he began a long and influential teaching career at Carnegie Mellon University
.
In the 1970s Demarest's research on the social novel
of Western Pennsylvania
led to the publication of a pioneering anthology, From These Hills, From These Valleys, and the re-publication in 1976 of Out of This Furnace
by Thomas Bell
, an overlooked 1941 proletarian novel of the American steel industry that became a bestseller for the University of Pittsburgh Press
. Demarest's play "Gift To America" brought attention in the 1980s to the Croatia
n-American
artist Maxo Vanka and his Millvale Murals at St. Nicholas Croatian Church
. In the 1990s Demarest's work to document and preserve industrial landscapes resulted in a book and film commemorating the centennial of the Homestead Strike of 1892
and the historic restoration of the Pump House of the Homestead Steel Works
, where agents of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency
attempted to land their barges and re-take control of the mill for Andrew Carnegie
and Henry Clay Frick
from the locked-out workers. Demarest was also a founder of the nonprofit Battle of Homestead Foundation that promotes awareness of labor history. For years, too, he championed the restoration and preservation of the Carnegie Free Library of Braddock
, the first Carnegie library
in the US built in Braddock, Pennsylvania
in 1888.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
academic and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
best known for his work on organized labor, social geography
Social geography
Social geography is the branch of human geography that is most closely related to social theory in general and sociology in particular, dealing with the relation of social phenomena and its spatial components. Though the term itself has a tradition of more than 100 years, there is no consensus on...
, and US working-class literature.
He was born in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and graduated with a BA from Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, a MA from the University of Connecticut
University of Connecticut
The admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...
, and a PhD in English literature from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. In 1964 he began a long and influential teaching career at Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
.
In the 1970s Demarest's research on the social novel
Social novel
Social novels, also known as social problem novels or realist fiction, originated in the 18th century but gained a popular following in the 19th century with the rise of the Victorian Era and in many ways was a reaction to industrialization, social, political and economic issues and movements...
of Western Pennsylvania
Western Pennsylvania
Western Pennsylvania consists of the western third of the state of Pennsylvania in the United States. Pittsburgh is the largest city in the region, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic and cultural center. Erie, Altoona, and Johnstown are its...
led to the publication of a pioneering anthology, From These Hills, From These Valleys, and the re-publication in 1976 of Out of This Furnace
Out of This Furnace
Out of This Furnace is a historical novel and the best-known work of the American writer Thomas Bell .The novel is set in Braddock, Pennsylvania, a steel town just east of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania along the Monongahela River. It was first published in 1941 by Little, Brown and Company...
by Thomas Bell
Thomas Bell (novelist)
Thomas Bell was an American novelist.Bell was born Adalbert Thomas Belejcak on March 7, 1903 in Braddock, Pennsylvania, USA of immigrant Lemko Rusyn parents from the village of Nižný Tvarožec, Slovak republic. He worked in the steel mills there, beginning at the age of fifteen as an apprentice...
, an overlooked 1941 proletarian novel of the American steel industry that became a bestseller for the University of Pittsburgh Press
University of Pittsburgh Press
The University of Pittsburgh Press is a scholarly publishing house and a major American university press, part of the University of Pittsburgh. The university and the press are located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States....
. Demarest's play "Gift To America" brought attention in the 1980s to the Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
artist Maxo Vanka and his Millvale Murals at St. Nicholas Croatian Church
St. Nicholas Croatian Church
St. Nicholas Croatian Church is a Roman Catholic church in Millvale, Pennsylvania. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is noted for its murals by Maxo Vanka, painted in 1937 and 1941, such as "Labor Sacrificed on the Altar of Greed" and "The Capitalist".-External links:*...
. In the 1990s Demarest's work to document and preserve industrial landscapes resulted in a book and film commemorating the centennial of the Homestead Strike of 1892
Homestead Strike
The Homestead Strike was an industrial lockout and strike which began on June 30, 1892, culminating in a battle between strikers and private security agents on July 6, 1892. It was one of the most serious disputes in U.S. labor history...
and the historic restoration of the Pump House of the Homestead Steel Works
Homestead Steel Works
Homestead Steel Works was a large steel works located on the Monongahela River at Homestead, Pennsylvania in the United States. It developed in the nineteenth century as an extensive plant served by tributary coal and iron fields, a railway long, and a line of lake steamships...
, where agents of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency
Pinkerton National Detective Agency
The Pinkerton National Detective Agency, usually shortened to the Pinkertons, is a private U.S. security guard and detective agency established by Allan Pinkerton in 1850. Pinkerton became famous when he claimed to have foiled a plot to assassinate president-elect Abraham Lincoln, who later hired...
attempted to land their barges and re-take control of the mill for Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...
and Henry Clay Frick
Henry Clay Frick
Henry Clay Frick was an American industrialist, financier, and art patron. He founded the H. C. Frick & Company coke manufacturing company, was chairman of the Carnegie Steel Company, and played a major role in the formation of the giant U.S. Steel steel manufacturing concern...
from the locked-out workers. Demarest was also a founder of the nonprofit Battle of Homestead Foundation that promotes awareness of labor history. For years, too, he championed the restoration and preservation of the Carnegie Free Library of Braddock
Carnegie Free Library of Braddock
The Carnegie Free Library of Braddock in Braddock, Pennsylvania, is a Richardsonian Romanesque building from 1888. It was the first Carnegie library in the United States, and it was designed by William Halsey Wood. An addition was added in 1893, architects Longfellow, Alden & Harlow...
, the first Carnegie library
Carnegie library
A Carnegie library is a library built with money donated by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. 2,509 Carnegie libraries were built between 1883 and 1929, including some belonging to public and university library systems...
in the US built in Braddock, Pennsylvania
Braddock, Pennsylvania
Braddock is a borough located in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, 10 miles upstream from the mouth of the Monongahela River. The population was 2,159 at the 2010 census...
in 1888.
Books
- Legal Language and Situation in the Eighteenth Century Novel: Readings in Defoe, Richardson, Fielding, and Austen, dissertation (Madison: University of Wisconsin, 1963).
- The Ghetto Reader, co-editor with Lois Lamdin (New York: Random House, 1970).
- From These Hills, From These Valleys: Selected Fiction about Western Pennsylvania, (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1976).
- Out of This Furnace, Thomas Bell, Afterword by David Demarest (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1976).
- The Homestead Strike of 1892, Arthur Burgoyne, Afterword by David Demarest (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1979).
- The River Ran Red: Homestead, 1892, co-editor with Fannia Weingartner (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1992).
Film
- Out of This Furnace: A Walking Tour of Thomas Bell's Novel, with Steffi Domike, video, 1990, distributed by the University of Pittsburgh Press.