Partnership with Purdue University Northwest Features a Digital Finding Aid
When Acme Steel’s Coke Plant on Chicago’s South Side ceased operations in 2001, workers were shut out immediately, leaving the complex as a sort of time capsule containing invaluable information and resources on a part of the Calumet region’s industrial past. Amid the signage, architectural drawings, models of the facility, and countless other industrial artifacts, were things left behind by the facility’s workers – pieces that help tell the story of the cultural impact facilities like this have had on the region.
When a group of volunteers got word of the facility’s impending demolition, they formed Chicago’s Steel Heritage Project. Collaborating with the Calumet Heritage Partnership (CHP), they seized the opportunity to salvage those relics. “To gain access to and ownership of a collection of this magnitude and significance is rare anywhere, especially in the Calumet region,” says CHP Board President Gary Johnson. “A part of our organization’s mission is to preserve, interpret, and share the stories of this region’s industrial past and the impact it’s had, and continues to have, on its inhabitants. There was no better opportunity for us to do so than when we were presented with the chance to salvage these important pieces.”
After collecting and organizing those items with support from the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, perhaps the biggest challenge presented to the small nonprofit was finding a place to safely store them. Following temporary stops in Pullman and Portage – and the safe redeployment of several large pieces into a display at Chicago’s Steelworkers Park – the opportunity to find an appropriate and permanent home for the collection finally presented itself.
Joseph Coates, an archivist and the Assistant Director of Purdue University Northwest’s (PNW) library, learned of the collection, and saw a mutually beneficial solution for CHP and the University. Joseph spent the next year poring through the massive collection’s contents and cataloging each item, transforming it into a usable and important resource for students and researchers. The results of that work can be found online at https://guides.pnw.edu/ACMECollection.
Mr. Coates’ work was funded by a grant awarded to CHP by the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation. Integrating the perspectives and voices of former workers at the plant are an ongoing feature of the project. “As someone who grew up in a steelworker home, I would love to build on this project to tell the story of the Calumet Region’s blue collar heritage,” says Coates.
CHP President Gary Johnson sees immense value in the collection as an asset while his group continues to lobby Congress for the designation of a region-wide National Heritage Area: “We believe this collection helps to demonstrate the national significance of the Calumet region, as our organization continues to advocate for the designation of the Calumet National Heritage Area. Pieces of our cultural and industrial past are found throughout this archive, and I encourage anyone interested in learning more about those stories to visit this new online resource, and to see the collection in person.”
On March 7, 2024, the EPA named the Acme Steel Coke Plant site to the Superfund National Priorities List. Since then, neighborhood residents have made their voices heard, taking part in meetings to help guide the eventual remediation and redevelopment of the site. The National Priorities List (NPL) is primarily an informational tool that the EPA uses to determine sites that require further investigation to determine their environmental remediation needs and prioritize EPA-funded Superfund remediation. NPL designation is an important step in the right direction to clean up the site of the former Acme Coke Plant after nearly 24 years of vacancy.
