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USW District 1 Annual Leadership Training Program
Delegates were selected by local unions to participate in the USW District 1 Annual Leadership Training Program at Linden Hall located in Dawson, Pennsylvania from July 22-July 27 2007. There were local union brothers and sisters participating from Global Suspension Systems, Ohio Art, and Chase Brass.
The week began Sunday with check-in and registration, followed by dinner, orientation and a hospitality hour.
Monday started off bright and early with a 7:00 breakfast buffet. At 9:00 District 1 Director, Dave McCall opened the meeting by welcoming everyone in attendance to Linden Hall and explained the importance of getting our Local leaders involved and trained. He went on to give an excellent review of the recent Steelworkers Presidential Forum held in Cleveland, Ohio on July 5 and 6, 2007. "ACTIVATE, MOTIVATE, COMMUNICATE," we need to focus together to build power. Use the resources available to you. Focus on the big picture when negotiating. Most company’s think in terms of quarters, we have to look at the big picture forecasting what will affect our lives 4-5 years down the road. He also said that the Steelworkers plan on doing another Presidential Forum when the field narrows.
Following Dave McCall, Sub District 4 Sub-Director Pat Gallagher talked with us. Topics for discussion were; Understanding the Role of the Steward, Grievance Procedure, Arbitration, Using Grievance Fact Sheets, Distinction Between Discharge & Discipline Cases and Contract Interpretation Cases. It was very educational and informative. One of the last things he told us was, "The Wagner Act of 1935 was a pro worker, pro union act. All Acts after this one have lessened union rights. Politics effect every day of your life."
After classes were dispersed for the day a tour of the Mansion was offered.
 
The History of Linden Hall
Mansion Listed on the National Register of Historical Sites
Listed on the National Register of Historic Sites and a AAA Attraction, Linden Hall’s elegant English Tudor Mansion was the creation of Mrs. Sarah B. Cochran widow of coke and coal pioneer Philip Cochran, at a cost of two million dollars. Linden Hall derives it name from the Linden trees brought from Berlin by Mrs. Cochran and planted throughout the grounds.
The Cochran family emigrated from Northern Ireland. "Little Jim" Cochran was the pioneer and prototype of all the local coal and coke barons. Along with his brother and uncle, he made the first commercial sale of coke outside this area by floating two boatloads of coke, 12000 bushels, down the river to Cincinnati in 1843 and selling it for seven cents a bushel. He developed mines and coke yards in his native Dawson area and became the largest operator of the early boom times when he built the Washington Run (Star Junction) mine with 999 coke ovens.
Philip Cochran was the eldest son of James and continued in the footsteps of his father. During the winter the Cochran’s would mine coal and manufacture coke. In the spring, when the Youghiogheny River would rise with the spring rains, they would float coke down the river in flat bottom boats to Cincinnati; coke was then used in the production of iron. (Coke is used as a fuel and as a reducing agent in smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Coke from coal is gray, hard, and porous.)
The Cochran’s lived in the Dawson Vanderbilt area where descendants of the family still reside. On September 25, 1879 Philip Cochran married Sarah B. Moore, a plain farmer’s daughter from Lower Tyrne Township. They had one son, James, born September 21, 1880, named after his paternal grandfather. Philip died in 1899 at the age of 50, leaving Sarah and their only son a huge fortune. In 1900, in Dawson, Mrs. Cochran built a beautiful brick, church in memory of her husband, named the ‘Philip G. Cochran Memorial United Methodist Church.’
Unfortunately, tragedy struck Sarah again in 1901 when her only son, James died of pneumonia while attending the University of Pennsylvania. James was being trained to take over the many enterprises of the Cochran family. In fact, the University had set-up a special course of study for James, training him for this purpose
For the next few years Sarah traveled extensively through out Europe and the Orient. It was while she was visiting St James Palace in London that the idea of the English Tudor Mansion was born. Construction of the Mansion was started on June 3, 1911, and was dedicated on December 25, 1913. When the house was built, the stone was quarried on the property. Mrs. Cochran brought approximately 60 stone cutters from Italy and they hand-cut the stone for the house. Craftsman was brought from Europe to help with the Baroque woodwork and interior designing. Many local craftsmen also worked on the Mansion, which is profuse with marble, crystal, gold leaf, and sterling silver.
A hand-carved Aeolian Pipe Organ, one of only 3 in the world, occupies a corner of the Great Hall and can be heard throughout the Mansion via pipes on the first and third floors, which crates a stereo sound effect. The mansion cost over two million dollars when it was built, and much of the original furnishings were imported for Mrs. Cochran by Joseph Hornes of Pittsburgh. There are 35 room, 27 fireplaces, 13 bath and powder rooms, a finished white tiled basement with a game room complete with billiard tables and bowling alleys. The Mansion has 8,720 sq. ft. to each of its four floors and it 188 ft. long by 40 ft. wide.
In 1936 Sarah Cochran died and the magnificent Tudor Mansion which occupied the high point of her 785-acre estate fell into bad days. Its successive owners included an order of Ukranian Bzyantine Rite who conducted a seminary, a casino which operated at a time when the Common wealth allowed gambling, and several individual owners who were never able to restore the glory of the Cochran years. A Golf Course, Swimming Pool, and Picnic Grounds had been added to create a Country Club setting shortly before it was acquired by the Steelworkers.
Linden Hall estate was purchased by the United Steelworkers of America in May 1976. It was restored to its original beauty and elegance by the Steelworkers during construction of their Walter J. Burke Labor Education Center. The Mansion and Education Center opened for the first visitors in June 1977. |
