George Kracha
George Kracha left behind in Hungary a young wife and widowed mother to come to Pennsylvania where a waiting job had been promised him by his brother-in-law working on the railroad. On the trip across the ocean, he loses all his savings in an attempt to woo a woman who will become first his mistress and later his second wife. George is a typical first-generation European immigrant whose lack of speaking English contributes to his continuing employment in jobs requiring little skill, but a high tolerance for danger. In addition, he is stubbornly resistant to all attempts to assimilate into American society and winds up in a state of pervasive economic deprivation due to a series of financial setbacks. Part One is titled after his name.
Mike Dobrejcak
Part Two is named after Mike, another Hungarian immigrant from a village in Slovakia. Upon arriving in America, he is immediately paid the princely sum of ten dollars and a job, but he has bigger dreams than George. These dreams lead him to school where, also unlike George, he studies English well enough to speak and write the language as part of his desire to assimilate as much as possible. The stories of the two men reach a permanent state of interaction when Mike marrieds Mary, George’s eldest daughter. His assimilation carries him into active politics, supporting worker-friendly candidates like Eugene Debs which places him in direct opposition with the Republican machine that dominates his adopted hometown.
Mary Kracha Dobrejcak
Mary is George’s daughter by his first wife, Elena. She represents the second-generation of immigrants who are actually born in America. As a teenager, she lands a job taking care of a wealthy family and eventually grows up to marry Mike and produce several kids. Mike’s dream is to ride the workers’ union efforts to gain better wages and benefits into a middle-class existence, but the corrupt relationship between the owners and the Republican political machine deny this opportunity long enough for Mike to die in an accident that directly results from the greed of the owners. Mary valiantly strives to raise her children on her own, but eventually succumbs to tuberculosis. Part Three is titled after her character.
John Joseph (Dobie) Dobrejcak
Dobie is the son of Mike and Mary. He represents not just third generation immigrants, but the first to be born in the 20th century. He is forced into work early to help support the family after the death of his father and eventually goes to work in the steel mill. The series of jobs which he took on before the mill work range from delivering wallpaper to working in an electric shop and the experiences serve to inform his understanding of working conditions in a way that eventually lead to his becoming a labor organizer. Taking up where his father left off, he continues to push hard to unionize the steel workers. Where his father failed in the fight against the corruption the Republican machine, Dobie is assisted by the rise of the Democrats to power during the Great Depression and eventually becomes a national figure in the successful unionizing of steel workers. His nickname gives Part Four its title.
