HARVEY SCHWARTZ A WORKERS’ ORAL HISTORY University of Washington Press Seattle and London © 2015 by the University of Washington Press Printed and bound in the United States of America Design by Thomas Eykemans Composed in Minion, typeface designed by Robert Slimbach Display type set in Futura, designed by Paul Renner 18 17 16 15 5 4 3 2 1 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. University of Washington Press www.washington.edu/uwpress Library of Congress CataLoging-in-PUbLiCation Data Schwartz, Harvey. Building the Golden Gate Bridge : a workers’ oral history / Harvey Schwartz. — First edition. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-295-99506-9 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco, Calif.) 2. Construction workers— California—San Francisco—Interviews. 3. Structural steel workers—California— San Francisco—Interviews. 4. Construction workers—California—San Francisco— Biography. 5. Structural steel workers—California—San Francisco—Biography. 6. San Francisco (Calif.)—Biography. I. Title. tg25.s225s35 2015 624.2'30979461—dc23 2015011452 The paper used in this publication is acid-free and meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi Z39.48–1984. ∞ frontisPieCe: Heaters and riveters at work on the Golden Gate Bridge (detail). Copyright Golden Gate Bridge, Highway, and Transportation District. In memory of the eleven and others now gone, and for M, D, and K CONTENTS Introduction 3 Fred Divita FIELD ENGINEER 15 John Noren ELEVATOR MAN 32 Glenn McIntyre IRONWORKER 44 John Urban CABLE SPINNER 60 Fred Brusati ELECTRICIAN 75 Martin Adams LABORER 90 Evan C. “Slim” Lambert SURVIVOR 105 Al Zampa LEGEND 117 Mary Zita Felciano and Patricia DeWeese NURSES 130 Walter Vestnys and Joyce “Big J” Harris MAINTENANCE IRONWORKERS 137 Epilogue 149 Acknowledgments 151 Notes 155 Further Reading 175 Index 177