Hagley Library is closed this Monday in observance of Memorial Day ...

Hagley Library is closed this Monday in observance of Memorial Day. In observance of the holiday, we’re sharing this May 26, 1944 Memorial Day issue of Lukens Plate, a newsletter of the Lukens Steel Company, from our Lukens Steel Company newsletters (Accession 2020.209) collection.

First established in 1793, the company is the oldest iron mill in commission in the United States; one of the few successful survivors of the many nineteenth-century iron works that once dotted southeastern Pennsylvania. What began as a small iron works and nail factory just outside Coatesville, Pennsylvania grew to become a medium-sized producer of specialty steel products and one of the top three producers of steel plate in the country. 

Lukens Steel is also notable for being the first industrial company in the United States led by a woman, Rebecca Lukens (1794-1854), who operated the mill alongside her family members from a young age, and then as a sole operator from 1825 to 1847.

The Lukens Steel Company newsletters (Accession 2020.209) collection is an online collection of the employee newsletter of the Lukens Steel Company produced between 1935 and 1989. The newsletter was called Lukens Plate through 1949, then was renamed Lukens Life after 1950. The issues include information about the Lukens community; retirement, engagement, and wedding announcements of Lukens employees; and other relevant industry news.