Trenton Still Makes

After picking up a copy of Vulcan's Forge, photographer Janine Wiedel's photobook documenting the industrial workers of England's West Midlands region in the late 1970s, I was struck by the similarities between that region, home to iron works, coal mines, potteries and jewelers, and Trenton, New Jersey, which, at one time, was an industrial powerhouse responsible for the production of a variety of products like rubber, iron, ceramics, textiles and wire rope. The industries of the West Midlands were already in decline by the time Wiedel began her project. Trenton's economic decline began with the Great Depression of 1929 and was then capped off by the post-World War 2 years. In 1910, S. Roy Heath, the secretary of the Trenton Chamber of Commerce, coined the term "Trenton Makes, the World Takes," recognizing the impact of Trenton's industries around the world. The Lower Trenton Bridge, connecting Morrisville, Pennsylvania, and Trenton, was first adorned with these words in 1935 and, to this day, locals refer to it as the Trenton Makes Bridge. (Notably, in working on another project that focuses on the skateboarding community in Trenton, I've learned that Trenton's two skateparks are both located at former industrial sites.) My goal for this project is to survey Trenton's industrial landscape and document the workers of its present-day industries.