BETHLEHEM, Pa. — When Bette Kovach was a Moravian College senior in 1976, she was among six students to secure an unpaid, month-long internship at Bethlehem Steel.
When she first entered the steel plant, she immediately was fascinated by the cranes capable of transporting 450 tons of molten steel and the size of the basic oxygen furnace.
“My jaw was literally on the floor,” Kovach said. “I thought that was the coolest thing. What impressed me most was the scale of it all, the size.”
Graduating that year, Kovach became a full-time employee and remained a part of Bethlehem Steel until it closed in 2003. In those 27 years, she worked her way up from an intern to the company’s spokeswoman.
“I had an adventure… I never knew what would be on the other side of a ringing phone."Bette Kovach, career Bethlehem Steel worker
“I had an adventure… I never knew what would be on the other side of a ringing phone," she said.
"Whether it was the top of the house saying ‘I need help with writing a speech,’ or a reporter calling to question about general steel economics or a specific incident at the plant."
This weekend, Kovach’s stories will be told alongside those of many other female Bethlehem Steel employees as the National Museum of Industrial History celebrates Steel Weekend.
The two-day event will be held Saturday and Sunday, organized by the museum at 602 E. Second St., Bethlehem.
Admission to the museum will be free all weekend for the celebration of everything steel-related — from the history of Bethlehem Steel to current metalworking artists.
First to feature women
This year’s Steel Weekend is the sixth of its kind, but the first to focus on celebrating women in the steel industry.
“We’re focusing on trailblazers. We’re learning, especially by talking to these women, that many stereotypes have been broken," museum Executive Director Andria Zaia said.
"You think of a steelworker as a really tough guy, and a lot of these women broke the mold.”
“I think it's important to document the stories of the past. Whether they’re male stories or female stories, I think future generations will learn from some of the situations we all faced in the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s.”Bette Kovach, career Bethlehem Steel employee
The weekend will include live music, artwork, food trucks, a steelworker reunion, lectures, guest panels, a book signing, film screenings, walking tours of the Bethlehem Steel plant, a live iron pour demonstration and more.
Complimentary lunches will be provided to attending steelworkers and their families.
The brown bag meals will include the same menu served during overtime at the plant in its operating days: a sandwich, a bag of chips, an apple, a hard-boiled egg and a local A-Treat soda.
At 1:30 p.m. Saturday, a discussion panel, moderated by Kovach, will invite six women who worked a variety of roles across Bethlehem Steel’s history to discuss their experiences.
The six speakers will include a secretary, a typist, an ore handler, a millwright in the blast furnace, a woman who worked in finance and the head of sanitation services.
The women's experiences will be told again as part of a video premiering at 2:30 p.m. that compiles interviews from 19 female Bethlehem Steel employees.
Kovach, who worked as part of the video’s production crew, said the interviews began in early June and ran through mid-August.
Since then, Bruce Ward, a local photographer, filmmaker and former Bethlehem Steel employee, worked with the rest of the production team to narrow 14 hours of video interviews into a 38-minute video.
“I think it's important to document the stories of the past,” Kovach said. “Whether they’re male stories or female stories, I think future generations will learn from some of the situations we all faced in the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s.”
'Little-known story'
Even after Steel Weekend concludes, The National Museum of Industrial History will continue to celebrate Bethlehem Steel and the women who were a part of it.
Portraits by photographer Edward Leskin of the 19 female Bethlehem Steel employees will remain on display at the museum.
Alongside them will be a QR code through which visitors can view the video far past the premiere.
“Some historians believe that this is where the Industrial Revolution happened in our nation."National Museum of Industrial History Executive Director Andria Zaia
In addition to the museum, a women in steel exhibit will be on display at ArtsQuest through Jan. 31.
Zaia said the impact of steel on the Lehigh Valley is immeasurable, and an impact worth celebrating year-round.
She said without Bethlehem Steel, the Lehigh Valley and perhaps the entire world would look very different.
“Some historians believe that this is where the Industrial Revolution happened in our nation,” she said.
Some other historians also argue that it is because of Bethlehem Steel we have the sociopolitical and economic world that we have today.
"We really just wanted to cover this little-known story of all the women who contributed to the success of the company,” Zaia said.
