“Stories of the men and women of steel” |
| Stories of the men and women of steel Posted: 11 Jan 2011 08:27 PM PST In the 145 years of Bethlehem Steel's existence, the company not only produced steel but shaped the lives of the thousands who worked and lived in the shadow of its massive blast furnaces. More often than not it was a tough, grueling and often dangerous life. And in his new book, "30 Years Under the Beam: Bethlehem Steel Exposed; As told by those who worked there," Frank Behum tells us just what it was like to toil in the belly of the steel giant. Behum conducted more than 100 interviews with former Bethehem Steel employees — from laborers to superintendants — over the last four years. Parts of 47 of those interviews are presented verbatim in the self-published 496-page book, which he says tells the "real story about Bethlehem Steel at the Bethlehem Plant." What is immediately apparent is that Behum, who worked at The Steel for 29 years, and others feel anger towards the company, especially those in upper management. "The workers at Bethlehem Steel," he writes, "carried the plant for its last 30 years — hence the title — and kept the plant going in spite of the ineptitude of Martin Tower. "Contrary to what the media reported the plant would have closed many years earlier if not for the extraordinary effort of the workforce." Behum says he began thinking about doing the book in about 2000, "but people were still too bitter to talk about it. "About 2007 I started running into people and talking to them about working there. In 2008 I started doing the interviews. I asked the questions and let the people give their answers." Born in 1946 on Bethlehem's south side Behum is a fourth generation Steel man, who can say exactly how long he worked there — "29 years, 11 months and 16 days." "My father, my grandfather and two great-grandfathers, all worked at the Steel," he says proudly. "Steel is in my blood." Both of his great-grandfathers were blast furnace men, his grandfather worked in central tool treatment and his father in the alloy division as a scarfer, a position Behum himself held when he returned to Bethlehem in 1972 after serving in the Navy. "A scarfer wears protective clothing from head to toe and takes a torch burning at 4,000 degrees farenheit and melts the top layer of newly produced steel to remove the blemishes," he xplains. "It wasn't so much a dangerous job as it was a hot job." Behum eventually became a union advocate and an officer and grievance committeeman in two locals of the United Steelworkers of America. Among those telling stories are Thomas Cooper, a 30-year veteran of the plant who recounts his first day on the job. "Somebody told me you crossed the Minsi Trail Bridge, and in the middle of the bridge there was a gate. You go down a bunch of steps, go past the guard, show'em your pass badge or tag, whatever they call'em, then you come to the railroad tracks. There's a coke train going into the Blast Furnace. I had to wait for that. Go another twenty feet and you almost got run over by the ore transfer cars that are going into the Blast Furnace." "I promised these people their story would be heard," says Behum. "About 60 percent of those interviewed still live in Bethlehem, but I traveled all over to talk to people." "I want people to know that the steel workers were real people. Most people don't realize that between 1965 and 1998 31 people were killed working at Bethlehem Steel." "That's why I wrote the book. To get the story straight." The book contains no photographs, just interviews. Behum plans another book that would include photographs and be in story format. Tim Higgins is a freelance writer. Jodi Duckett, editor 610-820-6704 '30 YEARS UNDER THE BEAM' •What: 496-page book of inteviews with former Bethlehem steel workers by Frank Behum •How much: $23.95 •Where available: Borders, Whitehall: Dugans News, Jim Thorpe; I Said Read Me, Tamaqua; Lehigh University Bookstore, Bethlehem; Moravian Bookstore, Bethlehem; News Street Book Shop, Bethlehem; Sands Casino, Bethlehem; United Steelworkers Union Hall, Bethlehem; Valley Farm Market, Bethlehem •Book signing: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, I Said 'Read Me' book store, 14 W. Broad St., Tamaqua This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Content Keyword RSS To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 comments:
Post a Comment