The Baltimore Museum of Industry will mark the ten year anniversary of
the end of steelmaking at Sparrows Point on Sunday, June 5, 2022 with a full day of
programming.
During the 1950s, Sparrows Point was the largest steel-producing plant in the world, having built ships used in the World Wars, and parts of the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. At its height, the mill employed roughly 31,000 steelworkers and associated personnel. The last day of operation at the site was June 4, 2012.
Inside the museum (included with museum admission):
- Tour of “Shuttered” with photographer J. M. Giordano at 12 PM
- Discussion of “Fire & Shadow” exhibition with curator Deb Weiner and BMI
Trustee Quincy Goldsmith at 1 PM
Outside the museum: dedication ceremony of the Bethlehem Steel Legacy Garden at 2 PM.
The BMI’s newest exhibition, Fire & Shadow: The Rise and Fall of Bethlehem Steel, explores
the company’s complicated history and tragic legacy. The exhibition 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.
Bethlehem Steel’s Sparrows Point mill was once the largest employer in Maryland. The
well-paying union jobs—and the hundreds of smaller companies the mill sustained—supported countless Baltimoreans and fostered close-knit communities.
Click here for more information.
