A new exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Industry (BMI) will explore the history of Bethlehem Steel and “the devastation left in the wake of its loss,” museum officials said.
“Fire & Shadow: The Rise and Fall of Bethlehem Steel” will open Sept. 24.
Bethlehem Steel’s Sparrows Point mill was at one time the world’s largest producer of steel and an employer of thousands of well-paid union workers, BMI officials said. But the company’s bankruptcy in 2002 caused thousands of retirees to have their pensions cut and lose healthcare benefits, and thousands more lost their jobs when the mill closed down in 2012.
The exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Industry serves as capstone of the Bethlehem Steel Legacy Project, “a multi-year initiative to document and preserve the history of the company and its workers via projects including an award-winning podcast, an outdoor exhibition, a blog series, a legacy garden, and more,” museum officials said.
The legacy project is being sponsored by the Davis Family Foundation; Balti Virtual; Direct Dimensions; Residential Title and Escrow Company; Titan Steel; Venable, LLP; and Tradepoint Atlantic, a global logistics center based where the steel mill used to operate.
The exhibition will include historic and contemporary photographs; artifacts such as workplace identifications and flame-resistant clothing worn by those who worked at the mill’s furnaces; and first-person narratives from the former mill workers.
Fire & Shadow features both historic and contemporary photographs, artifacts ranging from workplace IDs to flame-resistant clothing worn in the mill’s furnaces, and first-person narratives of workers themselves. The exhibition provides a look at the history of the steel giant and the devastation left in the wake of its loss.
“This exhibition was made possible by Baltimore’s steel community, whose members graciously donated artifacts, shared stories, and helped fill in the human aspect to this story of industrial might,” Anita Kassof, the museum’s executive director, said in a statement.
The museum is open Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online or in person at the museum on a first-come, first-served basis.
