As legend tells it, Joe Magarac, a Slavic immigrant from Braddock, Pennsylvania, stood over seven feet tall and was literally a man of steel. This untiring goliath worker gave his life to the mills, turning out 2,000 tons of steel per day. Using William Gropper’s 1947 painting of Joe Magarac as the central focus, this exhibition explores the cultural and social dimensions of Pittsburgh’s most famous folklore hero and his resonances in the local imagination, then and now. 

This exhibition is presented by the University Art Gallery with generous support from Humanities Engage, the Mellon Foundation, and the  Marstine Family Foundation. Special thanks to our partners at Rivers of Steel Heritage Foundation and the University Library System (ULS) at the University of Pittsburgh.

For associated events and programming click here.