National Museum of Industrial History

Bethlehem Steel Locomotive Engineer Experience
2023-09-03 11:00 - 15:15 (America/New_York)

How Water Works: A Multi-Site Day of Tours & Demonstrations
2023-09-10 | Various, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 18015
On Sunday, September 10, 2023, see three centuries of progress in water pumping technology in action across the Lehigh Valley. Visit one, two, or all three sites that will be open and sharing the theme of water history.
National Museum of Industrial History: 11:30 AM and 2:30 PM
602 E 2nd Street, Bethlehem, PA, 18015
The most powerful operating steam powered water pumping engine in North America, the 115 ton Snow Corliss engine, will come alive, running on compressed air. It features a 14 foot diameter flywheel and once pumped 8 million gallons a day for the York Water Company. Included in NMIH admission.
National Museum of Industrial History: 10:30 AM to 3:30 PM
602 E 2nd Street, Bethlehem, PA, 18015
Where did the terms hard and soft water come from? Learn stories like these, ask questions, and watch live demonstrations of water testing and treatment with John Baum, a nationally recognized water quality expert. Much in the same way water cleanliness extends the life of household plumbing, so does it affect the smooth operation and lifespan of essential industrial machinery. Included in NMIH admission.
Historic Bethlehem Museums and Sites, Bethlehem, PA: 1 PM and 3 PM
Tours Leave from the Historic Bethlehem Visitor Center, 505 Main Street, Bethlehem, PA 18018
The 1762 Waterworks, recognized as a National Historic Landmark, Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, and an American Water Landmark, was the first pumped municipal water system in America. The original building and a demonstration of the working replica 18 foot undershot water wheel powered water pump will be the highlight of colonial industrial quarter tours this day. Tickets and more information HERE.
Friends of the New Jersey Transportation Heritage Center – People’s Water Company Pump House, Phillipsburg, NJ: 4:30 PM
No street address: From the intersection of JT Baker Way and N Main Street in Phillipsburg, NJ, go north on N Main Street (becomes River Road) for 3,773 feet. Turn left through the cattle gates and proceed 600 feet to the concrete pump house. If you see the railroad tracks along River Road, you went too far.
Tour the pump house home to Big Allis, the 1913 steam powered water pump, still in its original location. Rated for 6 million gallons of water a day, this three cylinder, two flywheel, vertical engine stands 51 feet tall and is surrounded by a complete steam plant with the original boilers, condenser, and backup turbine. The steam pump will not be running today, but an early 20th century open frame electric motor that once powered another pump will be demonstrated. This is a free tour, but donations are suggested. It will include stairs and irregular surfaces.

The Corliss Comes Alive
2023-09-10
The Corliss engine will run at 11:30am and 2:30pm.
For more than a decade the museum’s staff, volunteers, and community partners worked to restore our massive 115-ton Corliss steam engine to working order, 105 years after being built by the Snow Steam Pump Works in Buffalo, N.Y. The engine was used by the York Water Company and pumped eight million gallons of water per day. Today the engine, the most powerful operating water works steam engine in North America, is a focal point of the museum’s 13,000 square foot exhibit space, where it has painstakingly been mechanically restored to its former glory and repainted its original color. Join us as we operate the engine and learn more about this fascinating piece of industrial history from the museum’s historian.

S.T.E.A.M. Adventures
2023-09-17 11:00 - 15:00
Join us on the third Sunday of each month for a drop-in style family program to engage in S.T.E.A.M. concepts like building, engineering, and strategic thinking. As part of our Free Family Sundays program, all youth 12 and under receive free admission when accompanied by an adult.
This month’s activity will be a Silk Moth Lifecycle craft.

Bethlehem Steel Locomotive Engineer Experience
2023-09-17 11:00 - 15:15, 2023-10-15 11:00 - 15:15, 2024-04-07 11:00 - 15:15 | National Museum of Industrial History, 602 East Second Street, Bethlehem, 18015, United States

POSTPONED: Lehigh Valley Passport to History: Teacher's Night Out
2023-09-21 16:30 - 19:00 | National Museum of Industrial History, 602 East Second Street, Bethlehem, 18015, United States
It is with great regret that we must announce the cancellation of Teachers’ Night Out, initially scheduled for Thursday, September 21. Unfortunately, due to the rise in COVID cases, we are unable to proceed as planned. We understand the disappointment this news may bring and we apologize for any inconvenience.
We would like to assure you that we plan to reschedule! We will keep you informed of any developments. If you have any questions or concerns, please email us at education@nmih.org
As a new school year begins, Passport to History partners invite educators to Teachers’ Night Out, hosted by the National Museum of Industrial History. PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED.
View presentations and hands-on demonstrations, and browse resources from partner sites.
Whether you are looking for future field trip sites, standards-based curriculum and lesson plans, or classroom programming, you will find a wealth of information and connections.
Enjoy an evening of light refreshments and history with some of your favorite local cultural organizations!
Act 48 Eligible Professional Development Eligible
Location: 602 E. 2nd Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015
Meet educators and staff from these historic sites:
Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor – National Canal Museum
Governor Wolf Historical Society
Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites
Historic Catasauqua Preservation Association
Horner’s Cemetery
Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania
Lower Macungie Township Historical Society – Fries Rebellion Film Project
Moravian Historical Society
National Museum of Industrial History
Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society – Sigal Museum
PAZA, Tree of Life
Quiet Valley Living Historical Farm
Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center

MUSEUM CLOSED FOR A PRIVATE EVENT
2023-09-23 10:00 - 17:00 | National Museum of Industrial History, 602 East Second Street, Bethlehem, 18015, United States
Please note that NMIH is closed to the public on September 23rd as we prepare for our 2023 Annual Gala. Tickets still available for purchase here.

Steel Weekend & Steelworkers Reunion 2023
2023-09-30 10:00 - 2023-10-01 17:00 | National Museum of Industrial History, 602 East Second Street, Bethlehem, 18015, United States
Thank you for joining us for Steel Weekend 2023. We are so grateful to our partners, sponsors, volunteers, and attendees for their support and participation.

RECORDED PROGRAMS

Click on the following links to view recordings from some of our Steel Weekend 2023 & 2022 programs:
Where Steelmaking Began – A Conversation with Coke Oven Employees
Excavating Bethlehem Steel’s History in Brazil with Dr. Cory Fischer Hoffman
59″Mill Modernization Project Lecture with Larry Guzzo and Mike Zaia
Something Old…Something New: Bethlehem Steel Corporation informational video about the 59″ Mill Modernization Project in the Bethlehem Plant
Bethlehem Steel Corporation Shipbuilding Lecture with Bob Bilheimer
Mill Stories with Sparrows Point Steelworker Andrew Morton

Steel Weekend is supported in part with funding received through the County of Northampton Hotel Tax Program.

Veterans Day at NMIH
2023-11-11 10:00 - 17:00 | National Museum of Industrial History, 602 East Second Street, Bethlehem, 18015, United States
The National Museum of Industrial History (NMIH) will honor those who served on Saturday, November 11. The day will begin at 10am with a commemoration ceremony hosted by the Steelworkers Veterans Memorial Committee on the Museum’s plaza. The commemoration ceremony will include a performance by the Broughal Middle School Band as well as remarks from various distinguished guests and a Keynote Speech by Staff Sergeant Tim Chambers, known as “The Saluting Marine”.
Veterans and their families receive free admission to the museum from 10am to 5pm. Visitors will have a chance to see military related archival footage screening in the Barnette Education Center throughout the day.

About the Keynote Speaker
Tim Chambers grew up working on his grandparents’ farm in Silverton, Oregon. He enlisted in the Marine Corps and served from 1994 to 2010. Over his career, he received numerous awards for his volunteerism and a Navy Commendation Medal for his actions on 9/11 at the Pentagon and days after. Since 2002, he has become known as the “Saluting Marine” for a yearly salute he held at the annual POW/MIA event in Washington, D.C. known as “Rolling Thunder”. A published author and motivational speaker, he is currently enrolled at Millersville University working on obtaining a dual masters degree in Social Work and Emergency Management. Chambers is also working with his wife’s real estate and loan business. He lives by his Grandpa (Coast Guard WWII Veteran) motto on the farm: “There is always something to do.” His outreach focuses on young and old, no one will leave our ranks without being appreciated whether they served in the military or showed patriotism. For more information visit www.thesalutingmarine.com

S.T.E.A.M. Adventures: Turkey in the MERF
2023-11-19 11:00 - 15:00 | National Museum of Industrial History, 602 East Second Street, Bethlehem, 18015, United States
Join us on the third Sunday of each month for a drop-in style family program to engage in S.T.E.A.M. concepts like building, engineering, and strategic thinking. As part of our Free Family Sundays program, all youth 12 and under receive free admission when accompanied by an adult.
This month’s theme will focus on Turkey in the MERF, the newest children’s book in the Museum’s TUG Tales series. Participants can enjoy a Thanksgiving craft activity and an opportunity to meet TUG, our restored Bethlehem Steel Tow Tractor.
To read more about Turkey in the MERF, check out the press release here.

Holiday Tin Melting Workshops
2023-11-19 12:00 - 14:00 | National Museum of Industrial History, 602 East Second Street, Bethlehem, 18015, United States
Join us for a fascinating, hands-on experience that guests of all ages enjoy. We offer a demonstration that mimics steel making on a tabletop level. Guests are invited to watch or participate and take home their own holiday-themed ornament creation.
November 19 & December 17
Sessions at 12pm | 1pm | 2pm
Price $10/person
(Includes one takeaway ornament; does not include museum admission. On Sundays, youth 12 and under receive free museum admission when accompanied by paid adult)
Register HERE or inquire at the admissions desk. Pre-registration is encouraged as space is limited. Private workshops for groups are available by contacting smorris@nmih.org, 610-694-6644.

75 Years of Cable: A Panel Discussion
2023-11-30 18:00 - 19:00 | National Museum of Industrial History, 602 East Second Street, Bethlehem, 18015, United States
Join us for a panel discussion moderated by Donna Acerra, Northampton Community College Professor of Communications with long-time Service Electric Cable TV and Communications employees as we dive into the history of cable television! This program is in conjunction with our latest exhibit, New and Improved! The Age of Convenience in the Home, presented in partnership with Service Electric.
Non-members: $5
Members: FREE
SECTV employees & their families: FREE
Please register HERE.
Service Electric, a trailblazing cable television and communications company, is commemorating its 75th anniversary this year. Originally established as a modest appliance store, Service Electric experienced a transformative journey under the leadership of its founder, John Walson, ultimately revolutionizing the world of communications.
Seventy-five years ago, in 1948, John Walson ascended to the summit of New Boston Mountain in Mahanoy City, PA, where he erected an antenna. This was no ordinary antenna; it marked the dawning of a new television era, reshaping the world as we know it and giving birth to cable TV.
John Walson’s visionary quest was to bring television to the residents of Mahanoy City, a town nestled in a valley that rendered over-the-air signals inaccessible. He brought the signal down the mountain to his appliance store, eventually connecting homes in the town. This marked the inception of cable television, which rapidly captivated audiences far and wide.
The growth of Service Electric was swift, extending its services to neighboring communities. Throughout the subsequent decades, the company maintained a commitment to innovation, introducing new services that left an indelible mark.
In 1969, Service Electric introduced TV2, a channel delivering local sports, news, and events to subscribers. The nightly evening newscasts were the first live color news shows produced by a cable television company in the country. Just three years later, in 1972, Service Electric became the first cable TV company to offer Home Box Office (HBO) pay TV channel, forever changing the television landscape.
Following the passing of Mr. Walson in 1993, his eldest son, John E. Walson Jr., assumed the helm of the company, further expanding Service Electric’s reach into broadband and fiber optic technologies. In 1994, Service Electric spearheaded the creation of PenTeleData, a partnership between five regional companies, which has since created a fully redundant fiber optic network with more than 10,000 miles of fiber optics.
A year later, Service Electric introduced the Internet to the Lehigh Valley with ProLog dial-up service. In 1998 they began offering telephone service and in 1999 introduced two-way cable modems for Internet service.
Simultaneously, Walson Jr. fostered a culture of philanthropy within the community. Today, under the guidance of John M. Walson III, Service Electric proudly celebrates its 75th anniversary, flourishing as the largest privately held internet provider to homes and businesses in the Lehigh Valley, Wilkes-Barre, PA, and Hunterdon County, NJ.
The company’s enduring legacy is firmly entrenched in the Greater Lehigh Valley and Wilkes-Barre, where it thrives as both a business leader and a community partner.

Christmas Train Storytime & Photo-Op
2023-12-03 13:30 - 14:30 | National Museum of Industrial History, 602 East Second Street, Bethlehem, 18015, United States
Join us at the National Museum of Industrial History for an immersive reading of the Polar Express and other holiday-themed stories with Conductor Ken followed by a chance to learn more about and take pictures with our restored Bethlehem Steel locomotive. This event is part of our Free Family Sundays program. Each Sunday of the month, youth 12 and under receive free admission when accompanied by a paying adult.

Corliss Comes Alive!
2023-12-10

S.T.E.A.M. Adventures - Symmetrical Snowflakes
2023-12-17 11:00 - 15:00 | National Museum of Industrial History, 602 East Second Street, Bethlehem, 18015, United States
Join us on the third Sunday of each month for a drop-in style family program to engage in S.T.E.A.M. concepts like building, engineering, and strategic thinking. As part of our Free Family Sundays program, all youth 12 and under receive free admission when accompanied by an adult.
This month’s theme will be Symmetrical Snowflakes. Happy Winter!

Holiday Tin Melting Workshop
2023-12-17 12:00 - 14:00 | National Museum of Industrial History, 602 East Second Street, Bethlehem, 18015, United States

NMIH @ PA Farm Show 2024
2024-01-06 - 2024-01-13 | National Museum of Industrial History, 602 East Second Street, Bethlehem, 18015, United States
The National Museum of Industrial History will be hosting a booth at the 108th Farm Show will be held from Saturday, January 6, through Saturday, January 13, 2024. Please be sure to stop by and say hello!
About the Farm Show
This year’s theme is “Connecting Our Communities.”
“Visiting the PA Farm Show is like taking a journey through the heart of agriculture, where you’ll connect with the roots of our food, the spirit of our farming communities, and the boundless possibilities for finding your own path in this industry. Whether it is your first visit or you come every year, the PA Farm Show is the best place to cultivate connections with agriculture,” Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center Executive Director Sharon Myers says.
The 2024 Farm Show will feature fan favorites like the 1,000-pound butter sculpture, the famous Farm Show Food Court, youth showmanship, and sheep shearing competitions (among hundreds of other competitive agricultural events), cooking demonstrations at the PA Preferred® Culinary Connection, and more than one million square feet of hands-on agriculture education opportunities and chances to engage with the people who power Pennsylvania’s $132.5 billion agriculture industry.
We’re excited to celebrate all that the agricultural industry offers Pennsylvania. Please check the official Farm Show website (www.farmshow.pa.gov/pafarmshow) for more information about the 2024 Farm Show as it becomes available. Click here to access the schedule of events.

S.T.E.A.M. Adventures: Styrofoam Printmaking
2024-01-21 11:00 - 15:00 | National Museum of Industrial History, 602 East Second Street, Bethlehem, 18015, United States
Visit the museum on January 21st during Family Sunday and join us for a drop-in style family program to engage in S.T.E.A.M. concepts like building, engineering, and strategic thinking. During Family Sundays, all youth 12 and under receive free admission when accompanied by a paying adult. Adult admission is $15.
This month’s theme is Styrofoam Printmaking!

ARTIST TALK: Dark Matter: The Art of Anthracite Coal with Andrea Krupp
2024-01-28 14:00 - 15:00 | National Museum of Industrial History, 602 East Second Street, Bethlehem, 18015, United States
Join us to talk with artist Andrea Krupp about her pop-up exhibit “Dark Matter: The Art of Anthracite Coal” at NMIH.
Anthracite coal is a fascinating, sub-subterranean, deep-time material; a bridge between the geological past, where coal is more than a fuel. Displaced from the vein, its presence above ground is an opportunity to explore anthracite’s complex cultural and environmental significance, raise awareness of the invisible energy systems that connect us, and to see coal in a new way. The artist’s aim is to create a poetic and aesthetic encounter between the viewer and Pennsylvania anthracite coal.
Included with Museum Admission

AUTHOR TALK - As Goes Bethlehem with Jill Schennum
2024-02-17 13:00 - 14:00 | National Museum of Industrial History, 602 East Second Street, Bethlehem, 18015, United States
Join Jill A. Schennum, a professor of sociology and anthropology at County College of Morris in Randolph, New Jersey to learn about her new book As Goes Bethlehem.
The steel industry played a central role in building post–World War II economic success in the US and in defining the parameters of the post–World War II social contract. As these long-term processes both preceded and contributed to the Great Recession, a new capitalism—one in which banks and the credit system took precedence over industrial production—changed the lives of many American workers, including steelworkers. As Goes Bethlehem raises important questions about why workers and their unions were not able to successfully contest this attack on industrial labor, instead settling for best navigating a long downward trajectory.
Through the experiences and reflections of steelworkers, Jill A. Schennum demonstrates the significance of work, and particularly of industrial work, in giving meaning to people’s lives, identities, and sense of worth. She uses workers’ narratives and voices to show the importance of work space, time, and social relations, rejecting dominant interpretations of blue-collar workers as alienated from their work but well-paid and co-opted by a middle-class standard of living. Schennum covers thirty-five years of investment and disinvestment, managerial initiatives, transfer decisions, layoffs and downsizings, external transfers, the eventual bankruptcy of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, and movement into retirement, unemployment, and new postindustrial jobs.
The very solidarities, rights of citizenship, and rule of law forged in the mill and built on by the union were constructed, in part, through exclusions based on race, ethnicity, gender, and region. These lines of fracture were mobilized to undermine working-class strength in the postindustrial period. Through the experiences of African American, Puerto Rican, coal country, and women workers in the steel mills, this book explores these issues of fracture and solidarity.

Included with Museum Admission.

S.T.E.A.M. Adventures
2024-02-18 11:00 - 15:00 | National Museum of Industrial History, 602 East Second Street, Bethlehem, 18015, United States
Visit the museum on February 18 during Family Sunday and join us for a drop-in style family program to engage in S.T.E.A.M. concepts like building, engineering, and strategic thinking. During Family Sundays, all youth 12 and under receive free admission when accompanied by a paying adult. Adult admission is $15.
This month’s theme is Mining & Steam! Learn what steam engines have to do with mining and participate in mining related hands-on activities like rock painting and gemstone mining.

Corliss Comes Alive!
2024-02-18 11:30 - 14:30, 2024-03-17 11:30 - 15:30 | National Museum of Industrial History, 602 East Second Street, Bethlehem, 18015, United States
The Corliss engine will run at 11:30am and 2:30pm.
For more than a decade the museum’s staff, volunteers, and community partners worked to restore our massive 115-ton Corliss steam engine to working order, 105 years after being built by the Snow Steam Pump Works in Buffalo, N.Y. The engine was used by the York Water Company and pumped eight million gallons of water per day. Today the engine, the most powerful operating water works steam engine in North America, is a focal point of the museum’s 13,000 square foot exhibit space, where it has painstakingly been mechanically restored to its former glory and repainted its original color. Join us as we operate the engine and learn more about this fascinating piece of industrial history from the museum’s historian.
Included with museum admission.

LECTURE: Industry & the Ascendance of Style & Design in Post-War America
2024-03-07 18:00 - 19:00 | National Museum of Industrial History, 602 East Second Street, Bethlehem, 18015, United States
Join us for a conversation with Jay Haon, a design professional and professor at Drexel University’s Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design. Haon, who has owned a design business in Philadelphia for 20 years holds a BA in History from the University of Oregon and an MFA in Furniture Design/Industrial Design from Rhode Island School of Design. This program is presented as a companion to our signature exhibit “New & Improved! The Age of Convenience in the Home” on view through September 2024.
Free for NMIH members, $5 for non-members.

Pre-registration encouraged. Register here.

S.T.E.A.M. Adventures
2024-03-17 11:00 - 15:00 | National Museum of Industrial History, 602 East Second Street, Bethlehem, 18015, United States
Visit the museum on March 17th during Family Sunday and join us for a drop-in style family program to engage in S.T.E.A.M. concepts like building, engineering, and strategic thinking. During Family Sundays, all youth 12 and under receive free admission when accompanied by a paying adult. Adult admission is $15.
This month’s theme is “Catch That Leprechaun”! Join us for a hands-on activity with some strategic thinking!

Stitching the Steel: What Mildred Johnstone's bold needlepoint scenes of steelmaking can tell us about the worlds of art and industry
2024-03-23 13:00 - 14:00 | National Museum of Industrial History, 602 East Second Street, Bethlehem, 18015, United States
Join Carol Shiner Wilson, Ph.D., scholar and academic dean emerita, Muhlenberg College, to examine the life and art of Mildred Thomas Johnstone (1900-1988), fibre artist, wife of Bethlehem Steel VP William H. Johnstone, and member of multiple artistic and intellectual circles. Wilson is using a variety of primary and secondary sources, including private letters, interviews, designs for Johnstone’s stitched work, and more. Milly Johnstone was part of sometimes intersecting but more often disparate worlds: corporate wife and community leader, member of artistic circles in Europe and the US, student and practitioner of the Japanese Tea Ceremony, and so much more. Her stitched work of the fifties and sixties was eclectic, manifesting a unique combination of modernism, surrealism, medieval concepts, and indigenous South American inspirations. Many of her works are imaginative pieces based on her visits to and meticulous research into operating steel mills and bear titles like “Buddha in a Blast Furnace” and “Alice in a Wonderland of Steel.” Like Milly, Wilson was struck by her visit, thanks to photographer Joe Elliott, to a blast furnace the night before the last cast. Her early Johnstone research, including interviews with a niece, a god-daughter, and the artist who drew the cartoons for her later work, resulted in an essay published in the 2003 Allentown Art Museum catalogue Poetry in a Steel Mill: The Tapestries of Mildred T. Johnstone.
Included with museum admission. Free for members.

The Heroic Age of Industry & Engineering - As Documented in Popular 3D Photography (1870-1920)
2024-04-13 13:00 - 14:00 | National Museum of Industrial History, 602 East Second Street, Bethlehem, 18015, United States
At the turn of the 20th century, 3D stereo photographs documented everything everywhere and millions were sold annually! No middle-class parlor was complete without a stereoviewer. Among the myriad of topics explored were industry and engineering works. Many of these images were aesthetically appealing and historically illuminating. Dr. John Smith, Lehigh University History Professor Emeritus, will walk us through the past as we marvel at the masterpieces of an earlier age!
Included with regular museum admission.

SouthSide Community Day
2024-04-20 10:00 - 17:00 | National Museum of Industrial History, 602 East Second Street, Bethlehem, 18015, United States
Join us at the Museum and enjoy free admission all day. Be sure to stop by the Cops n Kids Celebration of Reading, Arts & Sciences just next door at the NCC Fowler Center.

Generously sponsored by Lehigh Valley Press.
Funding for our youth education initiatives and community programs has been provided in part by
Keystone Savings Foundation
Dexter F. and Dorothy H. Baker Foundation
City of Bethlehem Community Recovery Grant program
