Bethlehem Steel digitization project reveals personal stories of Sparrows Point

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Under the clear October skies of 1980, thousands flocked to Sparrows Point in Baltimore County to enjoy souvenirs, shop tours and refreshments. Throngs of people, young and old, carried hot dogs in hand as they strolled from shop to shop.

The crowd had streamed in during the early morning to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Bethlehem Steel.

The moment is just one of many that can be found in the 476 issues of Bethlehem Steel newsletters from the Sparrows Point plant and elsewhere that the Industrial Archives and Library digitized Tuesday. The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was a major industrial force in the U.S. that played a role in both world wars.

The Sparrows Point Yard, located just outside Baltimore Harbor, became Maryland’s signature location of the steel company in the late 1800s. Sparrows Point, which held a steel mill and shipyards, had been a major employer in Baltimore with as many as 30,000 workers, according to the archives.

At one point, the Sparrows Point Plant became the largest steel plant in the world, the archives reported. The Bethlehem Steel company had also played a key role in building warships, cargo ships and tankers during World War II, said Bob Bilheimer, the archive’s general manager.

The newsletters, dated from 1978 to 1985, tell the tales of a variety of steel plants. The letters — black and white papers scattered with photos — featured news on hirings, company updates and even personal stories of workers. They took about 15 months to digitize, Bilheimer said.

“These newsletters had a very local feel, and there was a lot of rich history with regard to employees or families or activities,” he said.

The importance of digitization was not only to paint a picture of the steel companies of the past, but also the experiences of its employees, Bilheimer explained. He had worked at Bethlehem Steel for 22 years, and would have worked there longer had the corporation not gone out of business in 2003.

Steve Donches, who worked for Bethlehem Steel just shy of 35 years, said it was not unusual to see employees work at the corporation for decades.

It can be interesting to read about the workers’ stories and how their families were involved with the company, Donches, the archives president and CEO said. The company also became a significant contributor to the economy of the local area, he added.

Deborah Weiner, a curator for the Bethlehem Steel exhibit at the Baltimore Museum of Industry, said Bethlehem Steel was a major factor in Baltimore being considered a working-class town. The company had a large economic, cultural and social impact, she said.

Bethlehem Steel dissolved in 2003 after filing for bankruptcy in 2001. The company had gone down after its peak in World War II because of a range of factors, including the modernization of manufacturing capabilities elsewhere, Weiner said.

The site is now home to Tradepoint Atlantic, a 3,300-acre industrial site that has become a major intermodal global logistics hub.

Though the newly digitized newsletters still remain important for the public to have a direct look into history, she said.

“Materials like newsletters are really like the raw material of history,” Weiner said. “You can’t do history without going back to those sources from the time.”