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Blasts (Furnaces) From the Past
Who was Opechancanough, and what did he have to do with blast furnaces in Donora?
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Founder of Donora Biked ‘High’
Who was Prince Wells, and how did he get the great William Donner so blinkin’ high? William Henry Donner, founder of Donora, was an astute, no-nonsense businessman. He became business partners with some of the wealthiest men in history, including Henry Clay Frick and the Mellon brothers, Andrew and Thomas, owners of US Steel. He…
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The Carnegie-Donora Connection, Part 2: Donner Vertically Integrates Donora Mills
The second part of two posts linking Donora’s founder with the industrial titan Andrew Carnegie.
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The Carnegie-Donora Connection, Part 1: Frick Shows Carnegie Value of Vertical Integration
William Henry Donner, founder of Donora, was never a titan in the mold of Rockefeller, Carnegie, or the Mellon brothers were, but he learned a great deal from them all. Including how to build his mills in Donora.
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The Pain of Dying Alone
One of the saddest days of my nursing career happened when I made shift rounds and found that an elderly patient was in the throes of death, alone. I didn’t know him, but I stayed with him until his final breath. No one should have to die alone. But with COVID-19, they are and will…
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Was There a 21st Victim of the Donora Death Fog?
I thought I had determined the final count of victims from the Donora Death Fog. I was wrong.
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How Were Lawsuits Settled After the Donora Death Fog?
After Susan Gnora died in the smog, a settlement with US Steel allowed each of her eight children, all of whom were age 20 or older, to receive a bit over half the cost of a new TV.
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Full List of Donora Smog Victims
So, who *really* died in the Donora Death Fog?
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Donora, London, and the Politics of Smog
After the smog cleared out of the Mon valley that deadly October 1948, after Dr. William Rongaus’s pleas for people to leave town went unheeded, after nearly 6,000 area residents had been sickened and 20 people had perished during the smog or in the immediate aftermath, a 25-person team from the nation’s Public Health Service…
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Air Pollution Hotspots Around the World
Air pollution continues to kill people around the world.
