Women of Bethlehem Steel - Bess King

Annotation Bess King worked at Bethlehem Steel in the 1970s at a time when few other women worked as laborers. The daughter of a steelworker, King nonetheless had little knowledge of steel when she began working in ore handling. However, like other women interviewed in this collection, King was attracted to Bethlehem Steel by the wages, which were better than women received in other jobs, including factory and service work. King left her job at Mary MacIntosh Laundry for Bethlehem Steel in search of not only better wages but union protections. In her interview, King describes working conditions, including harsh weather and harassment from coworkers. King also shares her experience of working while pregnant and recounts her time in the millwright apprenticeship program. King was laid off when this program was ended in the 1980s and went on to raise her children and then to work at Lehigh University. She reflects upon her time at Bethlehem Steel as an opportunity to prove she could do what was considered a man’s job, to earn good wages, and to assert herself at work. This interview is part of a series of interviews conducted by Lehigh University and the Steelworkers’ Archives and supported by the Lehigh University Mellon Digital Humanities Initiative and the South Side Initiative. An oral history interview is an act of memory and hence both highly selective and highly subjective. While it accurately reflects what a narrator remembers (or chooses to tell) of his or her experience and viewpoints, it may not accurately represent what actually transpired or what another person may have experienced. As such, users should subject interviews to the same degree of critical scrutiny they would any other historical source.