Today my friend J(of Pittsburgh, not Omaha) and I went to the Tin Front Cafe for lunch. We heard about the St. Joseph the Worker statue having been removed from the nearby church. Judith Tener told us where to find him in a parking lot and so after lunch we wound around one- way streets and asked a few people for directions but eventually we climbed up hills and back and found this beautiful statue waiting for us. He was striking. There were the huge stone barrels pouring molten steel out onto the world. Flames carved in stone. See detail below on image three.
A big crane erected this statue (which was blessed in Italy by Pope VI) on St. Michael the Archangel Church in 1966 in Homestead. Many Slovaks helped build this church.
When the church closed, the diocese took the statue down in 2010.
People missed looking at St. Joseph high above the buildings, overlooking Homestead and the Monongahela River.
A memorial to the hard workers of the mills in this town. He was loaded on a flatbed and taken to St Anne’s now 3 combined parishes to form St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish. Read the names of the people etched in bricks- Vehec, Tarasevich, Godleski, Milchalk, Straka, Pavlik, Sklencar, Sayko to name a few.
The statue was designed by sculptor Frank Vittor (b. 1888 in Italy) who also made the Honus Wagner Statue now at PNC Park. His story on the link if you click on his name tells how he came to work with Stanford White and then a week later White was murdered…but that is not the main idea of today’s post and I am getting off track. It was just incredibly interesting. Vittor taught at Cooper Union in NYC and also at Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University)
Here are two views of the giant St Joseph the Worker statue. And a detail shot, too.
There are plans in the works to get him relocated in a place of honor but will keep you posted when this happens.
There is an historical marker honoring sculptor Frank Vittor by the Columbus Statue in Schenley Park, Pittsburgh
very detailed statue.
A true Pittsburgher!
This is great. I know all about the statue.My father-in-law told me the story long ago.I’m glad they are saving it. It means a lot to the people in the area.
Such an interesting post!! Love the statue of St Joseph, standing over the world! I guess that is fire from the mills coming out of those urns, not water …..although … 3 RIVERS! ??? Yes, Stanford White IS another story, with a Pittsburgh connection in his murder! Killed by son of a prominent local family, THAW, who had married one of White’s discarded dalliances (spell check!). SHE had gone to NYC from Tarentum, yes, N on Rt 28, and became dubbed, at some point, “The Girl on the Red Swing.” Eleanor Nesbitt?? Out of what hat did I pull that name? Stanford White was fortunate there was no Facebook / Twitter ie Social Media in his day!!! Finally: how was lunch at the Tin Front Cafe?????? What do you recommend???
AWESOME! Love that Pittsburgh history lesson!
Reblogged this on Ruth E Hendricks Photography and commented:
A reblog- in honor of St. Joseph Day. I hear this statue of St Joseph is still in the parking lot, waiting for a new home. My father, son and grandson all share Joseph as a middle name.
That is a majestic statue! Beautiful shots.
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I hope they’ve found him a suitable home. A parking lot is certainly not good enough.
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My Father donated the tractor-trailer which brought St. Joseph from Port Newark to Munhall. Bishop Wright blessed not only the Statue but also the truck, the driver, and my father – a lifelong Presbyterian. My Father was very proud and humbled at the same time…not to mention, very blessed.