Bethlehem Steel Art by David B Sullivan

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ALL OF THESE DRAWINGS WERE CREATED WITH INK. IF YOU'D LIKE TO SEE MORE INK DRAWINGS, PLEASE VISIT MY PEN & INK GALLERY				BACK TO ARTWORK HOME
			Stacks from the Past	BACK TO ARTWORK HOME

The A Furnace				Molten Memories

	The Ore Cars

		Forgotten Tracks

If you or someone you know is a former
Bethlehem Steelworker,
please click here!

a note from the artist:

I grew up a mile away from the Bethlehem Steel. Like many things in life, I took it for granted. Personally, I had no ambition to work there but I knew plenty of people who did. The Steel didn't seem at all special to me. It was just "there". And other than getting held up in traffic once in a while when they changed shifts, I never really paid much attention to it.

In 1995, The Bethlehem Steel made their last cast. The furnaces were shut down, the noise stopped, and the giant went to sleep. That's when I paid attention. That's when I missed the sound... the loud hisses and clangs that gently echoed throughout the city. I missed the 3 o:clock shift change when hordes of workers would fill the streets as they left work, with their lunch pails, hard hats, and tired faces. And most of all, I missed the bright red glow that would light up the night sky over South Bethlehem.

Fortunately, our city survived the demise of The Bethlehem Steel. Sure, alot of people were out of work, but that meant that they were down but not out. There were plenty of other opportunities and people eventually got back on their feet. (Billy Joel's song, Allentown, was way over-embelished - we don't care much for that song here anyway.)

The one thing that didn't die along with The Bethlehem Steel was the legacy that remains. The steelworkers of the past were responsible for building most of this place. They built the houses and formed the communities, they built churches and businesses... they even built their own bank. As cliche as all that sounds, there is still a very strong feeling here for the Steel and what it did for this city. And even if you've never been here before, you would feel this, too, when you stand at the base of the towering blast furnaces.

The future of this historical landmark is uncertain and currently lies in the hands of political officials and corporate businessmen. It would be nice to see some of the original structures saved for prosperity, but there's no guarantee. So, I thought I'd do my small part to help preserve it's history by doing this series.

These drawings of the Steel are not meant to "visit the past" as much as they are to capture the current history. I want to show the world what the Steel looks like now... with overgrown weeds, broken windows, and the inevitable essence of "a time gone by".

Bethlehem Steel prints are currently available.
Please contact me for pricing or more information.

Bethlehem Steel sites I recommend:

SaveOurSteel.org

SteelworkersArchives.com