Paschal Green Shook was born into the iron business, and over his lifetime made great contributions to the life and progress of Alabama.
Shook began his career with the Southern Iron Company of Chattanooga, a firm organized by his father. Two years later, the Tennessee company moved its headquarters to Birmingham, and Shook came as a stenographer to the firm’s general manager. Shook’s first major assignment came in 1896 when TCI’s president asked him to investigate the prospect of making steel in Birmingham. Shook’s perceptive report recommended open-hearth furnaces for steel production. TCI organized the Alabama Steel and Shipbuilding Company to handle plant construction and ensuing steel production. As secretary and treasurer of the new subsidiary, Shook assisted his father in the building of the plant, and upon its completion, Shook became assistant general superintendent of the operating facility. Several years later the company was bought and Shook lost his position. Shook and John F. Fletcher decided to form their own business, Shook and Fletcher Supply. In 1903, Shook married, Caroline Belle Sharpe. When Shook’s brother entered the business, the company expanded into mining operations, and this expansion coincided with World War I and increased demand for iron products. Shook was also a major civic benefactor. He served on the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, the Birmingham Community Chest, the Birmingham Chapter of the American Red Cross, and the Jefferson County Tuberculosis Sanitarium. Both Birmingham Southern College and Howard College awarded him honorary degrees in 1946.
