Angela Watkins
2026
Angela Watkins has always believed that every story needs to be heard, especially the difficult ones.
After a long career in journalism and marketing, she turned her attention to the place closest to her heart: The communities of Northeast Ohio and the history that shaped them. Her current series of books explores the 1937 Little Steel Strike, a moment when ordinary workers found themselves caught in an extraordinary conflict.
Angela and her husband David enjoy spending time with their two grown children, Alison and Zachary, their grandchildren Emilio and Elizabeth, their dog Dutch (the Golden Retriever) and Stripes (a stray cat that wandered into their lives).
Canton Steel: Corporate's 1937 Blueprint for Union Busting.
Canton Steel exposes how a powerful steel company engineered one of the most aggressive anti-union campaigns of the Great Depression. Drawing from archives, internal memos, and long-buried correspondence, this book reveals how corporate leaders, private police, and local officials worked together to crush union organizing at any cost.
Massillon Steel: The 1937 Columbia Heights Massacre
The mills may be silent, but their story still burns brightly. Join the author as she takes a journalistic view of the pivotal moments of one community before, during, and after the massacre that claimed two lives, injured dozens of people, and resulted in hundreds of false arrests. Drawing from archival records and oral histories, this deeply researched narrative places Massillon within the context of labor history, offering local insights into politics, shop-floor culture, and the legacy of working class activism.
Mahoning Valley Steel: The 1937 Battle to Control Steel Valley
Mahoning Valley Steel uncovers the battles of the 1937 "Little Steel Strike in Ohio's Steel Valley. Through eyewitness accounts, corporate records, and community memory, it reveals how workers fought for dignity against powerful steel companies determined to silence them. A gripping, essential chapter of Ohio's labor history.