A.O. Smith and the Ingram Family, 1950-2005
Earl Ingram Sr. and his son, Earl Jr. both worked for decades in a factory called the "A. O. Smith Milwaukee Works." The plant was owned and operated for most of those years by the A.O. Smith Corporation, a family business (albeit a huge one) that was locally owned until it was sold to Tower Automotive in 1997.
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For folks like Earl Sr. and his son, factory work was a springboard into a middle-class lifestyle. Earl Sr. raised twelve kids on his A.O. Smith paycheck. Earl Jr. raised three. Both men are retired now with a decent pension.
But the Milwaukee Works is gone. The jobs that were available for Earl Jr. and Sr., and thousands like them for generations have been outsourced to non-union factories in the U.S., Mexico and overseas. Earl Jr. worries about his three sons, all of whom are struggling to find the same opportunities he enjoyed.
But the Milwaukee Works is gone. The jobs that were available for Earl Jr. and Sr., and thousands like them for generations have been outsourced to non-union factories in the U.S., Mexico and overseas. Earl Jr. worries about his three sons, all of whom are struggling to find the same opportunities he enjoyed.
Earl Jr.'s sister Pat, and all the Ingram kids, grew up close to the MIlwaukee Works and was sustained, like her brothers and sisters, by her dad 's factory income. She went on to college and a professional career but she never forgot her roots. Throughout her adult life, she returned often to her childhood home for family gatherings. Now that the house is sold and the neighborhood is in decline, she mourns the death of the vibrant community that once stood in the shadow of the A.O. Smith Milwaukee Works.
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