ALEX MAYO (Mohawk, Kahnawake) on a column at Second Avenue between 47th and 48th streets, 1971.
For more than 100 years, Mohawk people have taken part in the task of building skyscrapers and bridges throughout the United States, Canada and abroad. Working in New York City since the 1920s, these brave and skilled ironworkers built the city’s most prominent landmarks, including the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the George Washington Bridge and the World Trade Center.
The Mohawk tradition of ironworking began in the mid-1880s when they were hired as unskilled laborers to build a bridge over the St. Lawrence River onto Mohawk land. They quickly earned a reputation for being top-notch workers on high steel, and “booming out” from their Native communities in search of the next big job became a fact of life.
During the 1940s and 1950s, many Mohawk ironworking families moved to the New York City area to aid in the city’s vertical expansion.