Category: In the Community

Bettye Ridgley at an SEIU protest in the 1990s.

By Clair Volkening Getting her start Bettye Ridgley began her journey at Sparrows Point in 1978 as a mechanical helper in the hot strip mill. “We were what you called ‘go-fors’. You know, we’d go for the tools, go for the coffee.” Four or five months later, Bettye was laid off from the mechanical unit. […]

Blast furnace “L”, or “Big L”, in 1978 after it was finished and ready for work.

By Clair Volkening The Explosion In a previous post, I recounted the story of an explosion at Sparrows Point in 1891 which killed four steelworkers. That explosion was one of countless accidents over the mill’s history that injured or killed steelworkers. Now, we move one-hundred years into the future, to 1990, to tell the story […]

“A child cannot learn if they’re hungry.” -Shelia Alston Baltimore City Public Schools’ Food and Nutrition Services employees prepare and distribute more than 88,000 meals to students every day. Even when school buildings closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, these essential workers continued to feed city students and their families. Food For Thought is a collaboration […]

  From Point to Point From Point to Point highlights the BMI’s efforts to document the 125-year history of the steelmaking giant and preserve stories of the Sparrows Point community. The BMI recognizes the need to tell the story of Baltimore steelworkers and help carry their legacy forward. The Bethlehem Steel Legacy Project, in partnership […]