The Rise Of Bethlehem Steel: 1904 – 1945

Bethlehem Steel Steps Onto The World Stage

Hear the incredible story of how a single steel plant company along the Lehigh River in eastern Pennsylvania grew into world prominence.

Free for NMIH Members

$5 for Non-Members

About the Presenter

Robert W. Bilheimer is General Manager of the Industrial Archives & Library in Bethlehem, Pa. He has had a 40+ year career in private sector and non-profit management including 22 years at Bethlehem Steel Corporation, the last 5 of which as General Manager- Public Affairs. Joining Bethlehem Steel as a member of the Loop Management Training Course in 1981, Bilheimer spent his entire career at Bethlehem in Public Affairs, primarily in government and community affairs and corporate communications until 2003 when the company was sold to the International Steel Group (ISG). He also served for 6 years as Director – Public Affairs at Bethlehem’s Burns Harbor Division in Burns Harbor, Ind. Returning to Bethlehem in 1998 as General Manager – Public Affairs, he was responsible for corporate communications, including oversight of the Schwab Memorial Library and where he served as the last editor of Bethlehem Steel’s renowned corporate magazine, the Bethlehem Review. Coming from a Bethlehem Steel family whose heritage at the company goes back over a century, Bilheimer has spent a lifetime of service, experience and study in the American steel industry and is a foremost expert in Bethlehem Steel Corporation history. Mr. Bilheimer is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Gettysburg College with a B.A. in Business Administration, magna cum laude, and holds an MBA from Lehigh University.

Host or Publisher National Museum of Industrial History