Woman of Steel: Bettye Ridgley
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. […]
Read moreAccidents at The Point: 1990 Explosion
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 […]
Read moreFamily of Steel: The Strasbaughs
Editor’s Note: Three generations of the Strasbaugh family worked in the steel mill at Sparrows Point. Gloria Strasbaugh, the wife of the third John Strasbaugh, answered some questions about her family in an email interview. In the edited excerpts* below, she recalls her family’s history and their involvement with the steel mill. Who were the […]
Read moreA Day in the Life: Working the Ovens
by Joseph Abel “You had to dance with the fire a little bit.” In our last post, Deb Weiner recalled highlights from her interview with Roy Hoover, a longtime crane operator in the Bethlehem Steel shipyards. This week, we get a view from the ground with the reminiscences of Gordon Davis, a jack-of-all-trades who worked […]
Read moreStory Sharing at Sollers Point
Mistrust. Pride. Cancer. Prosperity. Shock. Community. A series of striking contrasts emerged as themes throughout the BMI’s “A Mill on the Patapsco” story sharing program at the Sollers Point branch of the Baltimore County Public Library on June 5, 2019. As part of the museum’s commitment to community participation, we partnered with the library to […]
Read moreFixing the Problem with Iron
An overview of industrial steelmaking – by Jack Burkert Editor’s note: For another look at the steelmaking process, check out “Steel in the Making,” a brochure published by Bethlehem Steel and now housed in the BMI’s archives. The railroads had a problem. From their earliest days in the 19th century, the rails their trains […]
Read more