Now Available Through the IU Libraries' Digital Library Program
The Digital Library Program and the Calumet Regional Archive at
IU Northwest are pleased to announce the availability of an online
digital photograph collection that captures the history of the
U.S. Steel Works at Gary, Indiana, and the building of Gary itself.
The U.S.
Steel Gary Works Photograph Collection, 1906-1971 is accessible
online. It includes not only a wealth of photographic documentation
reflecting the steel plant's rich history, but a host of other
resources as well, including bibliographies, suggested readings,
and hypertext links to a wide range of research and educational
materials.
The U.S. Steel Gary Works Photograph Collection provides access
to more than 2,200 digital images documenting the creation of the
world's largest steel mill during the height of America's industrial
revolution. The collection depicts the life and times of one of
the nation's largest corporate towns, documented by U.S. Steel
photographers. And while the gaze of the camera's eye often focuses
upon the massive and varied industrial machinery of the steel works,
it also captures the lives of the men and women who worked in and
around it as well. The experience as a whole provides a startling
portal into the past of one of the most tumultuous periods of our
nation's history.
Although the site will undoubtedly prove a valuable resource for
scholars and historians of American history and the Industrial
Revolution alike, the U.S. Steel Gary Works Photograph Collection
was also carefully designed to meet the unique needs of another
target audience: school teachers and students. As such, in addition
to its core of documentary photography, the site also includes
guides for fourth grade, middle and high school teachers, as well
as question sets for classroom discussion.
The digitization project is supported by the Institute of Museum
and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services
and Technology Act, administered by the Indiana State Library.
IU's Digital Library program is a university-wide partnership
of the IU Libraries, University Information Technology Services,
and the School of Library and Information Science. ( This news
release written by Kristine R. Brancolini, Director of the Digital
Library Program originally appeared in the February 8, 2002 issue
of IUL NEWS.) |
