NEW RESOURCES FOR LABOUR HISTORY

The Bessemer Historical Society and the Colorado Fuel and Iron Archives

Jonathan Rees

The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&I) was far from the largest steel company or mining firm in United States history. However, families of its miners were the main casualties of the infamous 1914 Ludlow Massacre. That tragic event led to the creation of the so-called 'Rockefeller Plan', the first and most influential company union in American history. For these reasons, CF&I is now one of the best known firms in American labour history.	1
The last of CF&I's mines closed in the early 1980s. The entire firm went bankrupt in 1990. When Rocky Mountain Steel Mills (a subsidiary of Oregon Steel of Portland, Oregon) bought the company in 1993, ownership of over 100 years worth of CF&I's records came with it. These records were scattered across a chain of nearly-abandoned buildings across from the firm's steel mill in Pueblo, Colorado. On 24 January 2003, Rocky Mountain Steel Mills gave the archives to the Bessemer Historical Society (BHS).	2
BHS is a non-profit organisation made up of Pueblo residents and civic leaders. For most of its history, I have been the only member of the Board of Directors with an academic background. BHS began life in March of 2000, when a few people began meeting over breakfast in the back room of Bev's Bessemer Inn, a local diner. The name 'Bessemer' derives from the Pueblo neighbourhood where the steel mill is located. The Society's mission is to preserve the written and physical heritage of CF&I and its employees. It also intends to demonstrate the importance of this heritage to the history of Colorado, the United States and even the world.	3
At present, BHS has raised over two million dollars in support of its activities. Much of this money has been used to purchase the buildings where the collection will be housed. Although BHS is a grass-roots organisation, grants from the State of Colorado and the United States government have proved pivotal to this effort.	4
For example, BHS recently obtained a Save America's Treasures grant from the National Parks Service and the National Trust for Historic Preservation which will go towards hiring an archivist to oversee the processing of the collection. The phrase 'America's Treasures' should be taken literally. Other projects to receive this honour include the ancient Native American ruins at Mesa Verde and President Abraham Lincoln's summer house.	5
The interest that government agencies have shown in this project is a sign of the historical importance of this collection. The archive contains approximately 21,500 linear feet of material, thereby making it one of the largest collections of records from an American company in public hands. Because of the paucity of material on important American businesses, its size alone would generate scholarly interest. However, there is also every reason to believe that the material in the collection is of exceptional quality.	6
Records in the archives pertain to every aspect of CF&I's operations. They include production records from the steel mill, personnel files from both the mill and the mines, and dusty leather-bound ledgers which record all the purchases at the company stores in remote mining towns. We have found some material relating to the day-to-day operations of the Rockefeller Plan, but are hoping to find much more as we sort through the collection.	7
Besides documenting the labour history of this innovative company, the collection will prove particularly valuable for understanding the history of the American West. CF&I was once the largest private employer and the largest private landowner in Colorado. As the owner of the only fully-integrated steel works west of the Mississippi River, its rails, nails and wire literally built an entire region of the United States	8
In order to accomplish its mission, BHS is planning to turn CF&I's original 1901 Pueblo administration building into a museum. Current plans call for getting a sample exhibit into place within 18 months. Later exhibits will follow subjects like steel production, railroads and the contribution of various immigrant communities to Southern Colorado and the West. The museum will also be a repository for artefacts from the CF&I mines, steel mill and the Bessemer neighbourhood.	9
The annex adjoining that building will be the home of the CF&I archives. At the present time, the CF&I collection is unprocessed and largely unorganised. Substantial work is necessary in order to make any significant portion of this collection available to researchers. Nevertheless, in order to help set priorities, the Bessemer Historical Society is interested in hearing from the scholarly community about the kinds of material that researchers might be interested in using once it is available. The society is also interested in making contact with scholars whose efforts and/or expertise can help it complete the preservation and processing of this enormous collection. Please understand in advance that the state of the collection means that answering questions about its contents may prove difficult. For this same reason, access for scholars is still very limited and subject to restrictions.	10
BHS is a membership-supported organisation. You do not have to be a Puebloan or even an American to join the society. Membership is available at many different support levels. All members receive our monthly newsletter which will keep you posted on the progress of this enormously important project. If you are interested in joining BHS, contact the Executive Director Maria Sanchez at: Bessemer Historical Society, 1612 E. Abriendo, Pueblo, Colorado 81004, USA. Maria's e-mail address is steelhistory@aol.com. You can also look BHS up on the World Wide Web at http://www.cfisteel.org.	11
Because of my involvement with a very broad inventory of the collection, I am the best person to contact if you are interested in learning about its contents. My address is: Department of History, University of Southern Colorado, 2200 Bonforte Boulevard, Pueblo, Colorado 81001, USA. My e-mail address is reesj@uscolo.edu.	12

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