In 1891, twenty-two-year-old George Gordon Crawford sat in a classroom at Karl Eberhard University in Germany.
His professors had told him that the South’s industry was in a stage comparable to the Middle Ages. Little did he know that he would take a personal hand in reshaping this image. Ironmaster, civic leader, and humanitarian, George Crawford would be the driving force to make the South a leader in the industry.
Born on August 24, 1869, on a plantation in Morgan County, Georgia, George Gordon Crawford was the son of George and Margarette Crawford. The elder Crawford, a Confederate veteran, was a surgeon and taught medicine in Atlanta.
Young George attended high school in Atlanta and upon graduation enrolled in the Georgia Military and Agricultural College in Milledgeville. He later attended the Georgia School of Technology where in 1890 he received his Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering, a member of the first graduating class. The following year he enrolled in Karl Eberhard University in Tuebingen, Germany, where he studied chemistry.
Upon the completion of his studies in 1892, Crawford returned to the United States where Sloss Iron and Steel Company of Birmingham hired him as a draftsman. But within a few months, the Carnegie Steel Company offered him a position as a chemist with the Edgar Thomson Works and he accepted.
Crawford’s diligence made him a candidate for promotions. He was soon given responsibilities in the engineering department. Later, he was made assistant superintendent of the blast furnaces. In 1897 the National Tube Company hired him as superintendent of its blast furnaces and steelworks. But within two years Carnegie Steel had lured him back as superintendent of the Edgar Thomson blast furnaces.
In 1901, Judge Elbert H. Gary and a group of financiers purchased Carnegie Steel and formed United States Steel, the first billion-dollar corporation. As a result of the reorganization, Crawford was promoted to manager of the National Department of the National Tube Company, one of the largest plants of U.S. Steel. Crawford soon demonstrated his business acumen. Realizing that the four plants that comprised National Tube were outdated, he recommended modernization of the plants. During his administration he totally rebuilt National Tube’s plants for $13,000,000, making them efficient and the largest in the world.
Crawford had served his “apprenticeship” and was well-versed in all phases of iron and steel making. Industry sources acknowledged his ability as an engineer, a metallurgist, and a corporate executive. He was now ready for greater challenges and additional responsibilities. In 1907 U.S. Steel acquired the Tennessee Coal, Iron, and Railroad Company (commonly called the Tennessee Company or TCI). The Tennessee Company was beset by a number of technical and labor problems. A number of previous TCI ironmasters had been unsuccessful in producing steel that could compete with Northern furnaces. Crawford was offered the position of TCI President, but he was reluctant to accept. Only at the insistence of Judge Gary, Chairman of the Board of U.S. Steel, and other corporate officers, did Crawford accept. It was a challenge and he met it head-on. Crawford’s plan to overcome TCI’s problems was two-fold. First, he would solve the technical problems facing the company by rehabilitating the existing plants and then planning for expansion. This way he hoped to improve efficiency and production. Second, Crawford planned to simultaneously solve labor problems. At one time the Tennessee Company had a labor turnover of 400 percent. By improving the medical, living, and social conditions of the workers, he could provide a steady supply of laborers. Both plans would be expensive, but he had the complete backing of Judge Gary and the U.S. Steel finance committee.
Immediately, Crawford launched his rebuilding and expansion program. Within the first three years of his Presidency, a new limestone quarry and two new coal mines were opened. Other rebuilding or expansion plans over the years involved blast furnaces, wire mills, coke plants, forging mills, the electric power plant, and the Fairfield Car Works (later the Pullman Car Manufacturing Company). Particularly significant was the construction of the Bayview Dam which provided over three billion gallons of water for TCI. Throughout Crawford’s presidency, a new construction or rebuilding job was started almost every year. During the two decades he headed TCI, more than 100 million dollars were expended on capital improvements.
In solving the firm’s labor problems, Crawford implemented a multifaceted plan. He remodeled substandard housing and built new homes in planned company towns. Included in these worker villages were churches, schools, playgrounds, and other recreation facilities. The schools were among the best in the South. Crawford hired experienced social workers to organize activities in the villages. Social workers taught courses in housekeeping and nutrition and organized cultural activities for workers and their families. To improve medical services, Crawford hired Dr. Lloyd Noland from the staff of William Crawford Gorgas of the Panama Canal. Noland first improved sanitation by draining swamps and closing polluted water sources. Noland also headed a hospital to provide medical services to the Tennessee Company’s workers and their families. As a result of these improvements, TCI workers had a higher standard of living than other workers in the Birmingham District. Crawford had succeeded. He had cut absenteeism in half and by 1930 the labor turnover rate had dropped to approximately 5 percent.
Between business activities, Crawford met Margaret Richardson of New Orleans. After a brief courtship, they were married in Crescent City on February 1, 1911. They later became the parents of one daughter, Margaret.
Crawford’s interest in Southern economic development extended beyond the industry. He recognized the interdependence of industry and agriculture, and as a corporate executive sought to develop agriculture as well as transportation facilities. As TCI President he established the Farm Products Division to provide agricultural advice and promote the sale of farm products. Under Crawford’s guidance, the Tennessee Company produced fertilizer from high phosphorous slag. He promoted the development of the Alabama State Fair and the Southern forestry industry. Crawford was a member of the Alabama State Harbor Commission and served as the first chairman of the Alabama State Docks Commission, allowing him to work for improved dock facilities at Mobile and Birmingham Port on the Black Warrior River.
Because of his distinguished service to industry and agriculture, George Crawford received a number of honors. In 1925 the Ensley Kiwanis Club presented him with a silver loving cup for his “services to people of the area.” That same year he was chosen as Alabama’s outstanding business leader by the Living Hall of Fame and dubbed “Alabama’s First Citizen.” Five years later, upon his retirement from TCI, he received a loving cup that was totally paid for by only small contributions from hundreds of Alabamians. In 1931, Georgia Tech, his alma mater, conferred upon him a Doctor of Science Degree.
In 1930, after twenty-three years as President of the Tennessee Company, Crawford resigned and accepted a position as President of Jones Laughlin Steel Corporation. He held this position until 1935 when he retired and returned to Birmingham. On March 20, 1936, Crawford died in the Tennessee Company Hospital, the health care facility he had built. His final resting place is in Alabama.
George Crawford had a profound impact on Alabama and the South. When he died in 1936, he was praised by a number of people, but perhaps the highest praise came from another iron master: “The Tennessee Company is a Monument to George Gordon Crawford … “
