EP9: Michelle Stefano and Bill Shewbridge on Mill Stories
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Michelle Stefano and Bill Shewbridge discuss Mill Stories, their wonderful project to preserve the legacy of the workers at Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point mill in Baltimore.
Bill (UMBC) and Michelle (UMBC/Maryland Traditions) began a video project in 2014 about the steelworkers at Sparrows Point and, with the productive work of Christine Ferrera of the UMBC New Media Studio, created a wonderful web-based project they call Mill Stories. The site has video and transcriptions of some of the interviews, still portraits, maps, and links to various media presentations. It was a wonderful, and sometimes emotional, experience for the workers. The production team spent a considerable time with the retired and displaced steelworkers at the old 2609 hall. Many of the participants in the Mill Stories project appeared at a public premiere at The Creative Alliance in Highlandtown in April, 2014. There was a later show at a Baltimore literary group called Mercury Rising—and who could imagine the memories of steelworkers at a literary group?—sponsored by Deborah Rudacille, author of Roots of Steel at the Windup Space in Baltimore City. One of the points made by members of the audience for the Creative Alliance show was that all of the participants spoke as if they were talking with other steelworkers from Sparrows Point, so that the stories were difficult to follow by an “outsider.” To try to provide some context, Bill Barry did a 25-minute description of the history of Sparrows Point (below), with the “L” Furnace as a background.
Coverage in The Baltimore Sun: https://www.baltimoresun.com/2016/03/06/mill-stories-documentary-shows-history-of-sparrows-point-loss-felt-by-former-workers/
Michelle Stefano discription of project: https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2017/05/industrial-boom-and-bust/
