Posted: February 19, 2024 11:27 am
Were you a steelworker? Do you or someone you love have a story about working in the steel mills of Johnstown? JAHA wants to hear it!
The momentous new exhibition “Forging a Nation: Johnstown Iron & Steel” is now open at the Heritage Discovery Center, completing the Iron & Steel Gallery. The exhibition is a timeline of the steel industry in Johnstown, from its earliest days in the 1700s, through Cambria Iron and Cambria Steel, the rise and fall of Bethlehem Steel, all the way to the present.
The formal opening of the exhibition was held on Feb. 10, and attended by about 100 JAHA members and invited guests. Feedback has been tremendous – almost everyone from Johnstown has family connections to the industry, and people have been responding with warmth, interest, and enthusiasm.
Now, JAHA is working on the next phase: collecting oral histories from steelworkers and others in the industry. We plan to create an archive to preserve these stories for generations to come, and to make portions of them available as part of the new exhibition.
Currently we are gathering names and contact information of people who would like to share their story. You can fill out an interest form when you visit the exhibition – or contact us at the form below.