Traveling Exhibition

For nearly its entire existence – from its incorporation in December 1904 until its sale in May 2003 – Bethlehem Steel Corporation was the second-largest steel company in the United States of America. The early and tremendous successes of Bethlehem, nicknamed Bessie, earned the company a position on the Dow Jones Industrial Index in 1918, and it became the darling of Wall Street for many years. During its life, it also was a large, worldwide company engaged in the extraction of raw materials and, during the years of World War II, the world’s largest shipbuilder.

This book has captured the images of steel production at the once great company as well as the history and emotions of its employees during the long, but futile, effort to survive.

During 24 years from 1977 through 2000, Peter Treiber photographed operations at Bethlehem Steel and its clients’ projects across America as a staff photographer and later as a contract photographer. All of the photographs were made when the mills were in full operation and clearly show the beauty, scale, and danger of steel making.

For nearly 27 years, from 1976 until the sale of assets in May 2003, Elizabeth “Bette” Kovach worked in the Public Affairs Department of Bethlehem Steel, lastly as the Director of Corporate Communications. In this position, she had her hand on the pulse of the company and was the voice delivering the blow-by-blow bad news as the company struggled to survive.

© 2007 Peter B. Treiber