#Lukens Iron and Steel

[spidertalia]

Name?

Personality?

Appearance?

For Pennsylvania

omg yay ! i actually love my iteration of pennsylvania

her human name is rebecca franklin ! after rebecca lukens, known as 'america's first female ceo of an industrial company', and ofc ben franklin

pennsylvania is hardworking, intelligent, down to earth, patient, loya, calm, level headed and tolerant, but also slightly (unintentionally) curt. she's the kinda quiet, slightly stoic and hardworking type who prefers tinkering and working to being around a lot of people, essentially. she played a huge part in the industrial revolution, producing a lot of steel, iron ore and textiles- as a result, she's very skilled with machinery and engineering and loves it. she'll own cars just to tinker and improve them, she'll remodel parts of her house on occasion and will happily answer any other state's call to help with some mechanical.

she also will take any chance to complain about the weather. outside of the weather, though, she rarely complains about anything. she's delaware's little sister and gets along well with him. she also gets along well with germany and the netherlands, but will fight england on sight. she argues with new jersey a lot as well.

appearance wise, i have actually drawn her, but i'll describe her first. she stands at 5'10 or 178 cm, ironically towering over her big brother. she keeps her hair short since she works with machinery a lot and doesn't want anything happening. she's one of the physically stronger states thanks to all the physical labor she's done, and it reflects in her toned, semi-muscular body. she had at least one scar- a burn scar on one shoulder from the burning of Pennsylvania Hall. (she probably has a few small ones from machinery, but i haven't put much thought to it yet)

and here she is !

[hagleyvault]

The American Business Women's Association was founded on this day, September 22, in 1949. Following official Congressional resolutions in 1983 and 1986, the date has since been unofficially designated as American Business Women's Day. In recognition of the date, we’re sharing this portrait drawing of Rebecca Pennock Lukens (1794-1854), who Fortune Magazine once called "America's first female CEO of an industrial company". 

Lukens’s father, Isaac Pennock, founded the iron works that would later be known as the Brandywine Iron Works and Nail Factory in Coatesville, Pennsylvania in 1793. Soon after Rebecca married Dr. Charles Lukens in 1813, Charles leased the iron works from her father. Under Charles’s management, the iron works expanded into steel manufacture. 

But, when Charles died in 1825, Rebecca, then pregnant with her sixth child, inherited a company on the verge of bankruptcy. She chose to maintain ownership of the business and ran the company until 1847. On her retirement, the company was the nation’s leading manufacturer of rolled steel boilerplate. Thirty years after year death, Brandywine Iron and Nail became Lukens Iron and Steel, now the oldest American steel mill still in operation.

This item, possibly created around 1820, is part of Hagley Library’s collection of Lukens Steel Company photographs (Accession 1972.360). The online collection includes woodcuts showing the early history of the mill, interior and exterior views of factory buildings, various depictions of machinery, employees both at work and leisure, floods in 1955 and 1973, and twentieth-century aerial views of the Coatesville plant. Other items depict the owning families, company anniversary celebrations, and philanthropic activities supported by Charles Lukens Huston. The collection has not been digitized in its entirety. Click here to view it in our Digital Archive.

[othmeralia]

Talk about a girl boss! 

Rebecca Lukens is commonly referred to as the first woman CEO of a major industrial company in the United States.

Rebecca’s father, Isaac Pennock, started The Brandywine Iron Works, an iron mill factory, and went into business with Rebecca’s husband, Dr. Charles Lukens, who left medical practice to join the company. Rebecca and Charles had six children together, however, shortly before the birth of their last child, Charles passed away. Her father passed away a year earlier and this left Rebecca as the sole owner of The Brandywine Iron Works.

Rebecca completely turned the company around, taking it from the verge of bankruptcy to the country’s premier manufacturer of boilerplate. By 1834, she had witnessed the arrival of the railroad, paid off all company debts, and began to expand the business. This time was pivotal for not only Rebecca, but the iron industry in the United States, as she became one of America’s few female iron masters and America’s first female industrialist. She was the first woman to own and operate multiple businesses at the same time! These included: a farm, the iron works company, a freight agency, store, and warehouse.

Rebecca established quite the legacy for herself. She even has a boat named after her! Her intelligence and business skills allowed the Brandywine Iron Works to survive and succeed, turning into one of the most influential steel sites in the United States. The company’s name later became Lukens Steel Company, then renamed again as ArcelorMittal. It is the oldest steel mill still in business today. 

A woman in steel--Rebecca Lukens by Robert W. Wolcott

The National Iron & Steel Heritage Museum

[hagleyvault]

This #WorkerWednesday post showcases an 1890 photograph of Lukens Steel Company employees. The Lukens Steel Company, established in 1810 as the Brandywine Iron Works and Nail Factory, it was one of the few successful survivors of the many nineteenth-​​century iron works that once dotted Southeastern Pennsylvania. It was purchased by Bethlehem Steel in 1997, which has since, in turn, been purchased by other corporate entities. Its manufacturing site is the now the oldest steel mill still operating in the United States. These workers were in the mill’s trimming group, which was responsible for part of the finishing process of forged steel parts. Trimmers pressed forged steel parts through cutting die, usually while still hot, in order to remove excess metal (or flash) from the finished piece. 

This photograph is part of the Hagley’s collection of Lukens Steel Company photographs (Accession 1972.360). You can view more material from this collection online now by visiting its page in our Digital Archive.