Bethlehem Steel
By
Clare Novak
Posted: 2020-03-26T17:39:00Z
Raw power and surprising beauty shroud the now silent steel mill. This mill, now a museum, was once the industrial heart of a city. In its day, it was one of the world's largest steel producers and shipbuilding companies. The company's roots trace to 1857 with the establishment of the Bethlehem Iron Company. Bethlehem Steel was formed in 1904 through the merger of two earlier companies, and existed through the decline of American steel manufacturing during the 1970s until its bankruptcy in 2001.
The silence is the experience now, as once the mill roared with furnaces. Now located on the Steelstacks campus on the former Bethlehem Steel site is The National Museum of Industrial History. http://www.nmih.org/.
To experience some small part of the workers’ lives, visit in July or August on the hottest afternoon you can find. Stand in the direct sun and be grateful for your discomfort, recognizing that it is less heat than the workers’ daily experience. Being soaked in sweat will let you know how it felt to be soaked in sweat and in water-drenched work gear that kept the workers a little safer.
Walk the second story cat walk; read each station. Pay attention to the women’s war effort and their pride in a job well-done. Take in the fight between management and labor and wonder if perhaps owner Charles Schwab could have been just a bit more compassionate, or at least understanding of his workers’ lives.
Bethlehem Steel and the museum it has become is the stuff of humanity that tells the real story of glory and its passing.
Clare Novak travels far and near (though not at this time). She started her travel website and blogs in 2018, seeking to share the world’s beauty and delightful experiences. Ms. Novak is an international consultant in Human Resources, Gender Equality and Leadership. She has published business books and articles and speaks on those topics for international Conferences. When at home in Pennsylvania, she travels locally to discover interesting places.