Building a Community Collection

By Beth Maloney and Auni Gelles

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed not only the nature of work for so many across our city but also the ways we are connecting, communicating, and staying close to one another. Even though the BMI is closed, we are working remotely and thinking about how to adapt our existing initiatives to this new reality. 

The BMI’s Bethlehem Steel Legacy Project (more on that here) is at the top of our minds. We are still hard at work on the long-awaited Bethlehem Steel exhibition scheduled to open in fall 2021. We have been developing themes and questions based on what we heard at programs this past year. We’re remembering and reviewing conversations with folks connected to the Bethlehem Steel story–including former steelworkers and their families, neighbors in the Dundalk area, and others working on preserving this history. We have also been talking with museum colleagues, designers, and scholars about how we might share these stories. And we continue to collect artifacts, images, and ideas. 

And now, while we are all stuck at home, we want to continue to connect with you. We’d love to hear from you and stay in touch. Let’s build a community collection of images together. Do you have any Beth Steel or Sparrows Point items at home? Anything special, strange, interesting, or sentimental to share that could help tell a story about Bethlehem Steel? Why is that item important to you? 

Snap a photograph and share it with us in one of three ways:

• This online form
• On social media using the hashtag #BethSteelLegacy 
• Via email to Auni Gelles

What you share will become part of the Baltimore Museum of Industry’s online Bethlehem Steel Legacy Project community collection. We’ll be posting contributions on Instagram and Facebook as they come in. We envision this as a way to continue the conversation, share your memories, and create community virtually. We look forward to seeing your Beth Steel snapshots and building a new way to connect during these strange and uncertain times.

Check out the latest from the @BethSteelLegacy Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Did you know that #SparrowsPoint was the site of the first public Kindergarten in Maryland and the first south of the Mason-Dixon Line? @BMIatwork educator Joel Miller explores the progressive history of the Bethlehem Steel company town’s kindergarten on our blog (link in profile). Pictured: The kindergarten students at Christmas in 1955, from the BMI’s Collections. #BethSteelLegacy #companytown #frompointtopoint #BSLP #BethSteel #fromthearchives #historyofeducation

A post shared by Bethlehem Steel Legacy (@bethsteellegacy) on Jul 8, 2020 at 8:13am PDT

 

 

 

 

 

 

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This photograph of Sparrows Point Shipyard cranes being imploded was taken in 1974. @BMIatWork volunteer Ken J. wondered “if this might have been the fate of the BMI Clyde crane if it had not been donated.” The crane currently on the BMI campus was built in 1942 and was instrumental in Bethlehem Steel’s prolific World War II shipbuilding effort at the Fairfield yard in South Baltimore. It was moved to the company’s Key Highway yard until it closed in 1982 and installed in its current location in 1991. Learn more on our blog, available at thebmi.org. #BethSteelLegacy #whirleycrane #baltimoreindustry #BethlehemSteel #shipbuilding #libertyships #sparrowspoint #fairfield #myBMIcrane #deindustrialization

A post shared by Bethlehem Steel Legacy (@bethsteellegacy) on Jun 8, 2020 at 9:32am PDT

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Today’s #BethSteelLegacy contribution comes from @BMIatWork volunteer Ken Jones. He said, “I spent my career in business-to-business marketing and was involved in the development of many pieces of literature. This is the hardest working piece of collateral material I have ever seen. It details the steel making process from raw materials to finished product, defines industry terms and tells the story of steel making in America. This is all accomplished on a double-sided 22″ x 30″ sheet of paper. Copies of it are in the BMI’s Bethlehem Steel collection.” #BethlehemSteel #hardworkingliterature #fromthecollections

A post shared by Bethlehem Steel Legacy (@bethsteellegacy) on May 11, 2020 at 9:00am PDT

 

 

 

 

 

 

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These 1973 photos, from the museum’s collection, show workers at the #BethSteel #SparrowsPoint Shipyard. Have your own #BethSteelLegacy snapshots to share? Tag us or access the online form in the link in profile.

A post shared by Bethlehem Steel Legacy (@bethsteellegacy) on May 6, 2020 at 11:13am PDT

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Labor leader and historian Bill Barry shared this snapshot and wrote, “Here’s the great-great grand daughter of a steelworker, who started in 1940, with his original hard hat. Taken in November 2019 in Dundalk.” #BethSteelLegacy #sparrowspoint #steelmill

A post shared by Bethlehem Steel Legacy (@bethsteellegacy) on Apr 24, 2020 at 7:25am PDT

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sparrows Point shipyard workers pictured in August 1973, taken by the Mayor’s Office. From the BMI’s #BethlehemSteel collection. #BethSteelLegacy #SparrowsPoint #womenofsteel #shipyards

A post shared by Bethlehem Steel Legacy (@bethsteellegacy) on Apr 21, 2020 at 9:00am PDT

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Marty Mossa’s father worked at Bethlehem Steel from 1950-1982, eventually working in the safety department. “You weren’t allowed to do a lot of fun things when you’re the son of a safety engineer. In fact, my brothers and I, even at our age in our 50s are playing with fire because we never got to as kids.” Marty worked at the mill from 1978-1980, starting in the coke ovens and moving to the electrical shop. #sparrowspoint #bethsteel #bethsteellegacy #communitycollection #BSLP #baltimorehistory #industrialbaltimore #steelmill

A post shared by Bethlehem Steel Legacy (@bethsteellegacy) on Apr 16, 2020 at 11:23am PDT

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Outside the ‘A’ coke oven battery at Sparrows Point, c. 1982, from the BMI’s Bethlehem Steel Collection. #sparrowspoint #bethsteel #bethsteellegacy #communitycollection #BSLP #baltimorehistory #industrialbaltimore #steelmill

A post shared by Bethlehem Steel Legacy (@bethsteellegacy) on Apr 14, 2020 at 12:05pm PDT

About the Authors

Beth Maloney has served as the BMI’s Director of Interpretation since January 2017. Auni Gelles has been the museum’s Community Programs Manager since May 2017.