Location:
Station Square
Date:
1990
The statue was called, Hunky Steelworker." It was a feature of the Three Rivers Arts Festival in 1990. There was public outcry that the ethnic slur "hunky" was used in the title. The term was a derogatory term to eastern European migrants who settled in the Pittsburgh region and worked in the steel mills. After much criticism, the artist had the controversial word sandblasted from the title on the statue. I remember my mother-in-law asking me not to use that word when referring to me or my son. My father was Slovak. I am holding my one year-old son, Michael, in front of the Hunky Steelworker statue after it was moved to Station Square.