A Treasure of Memories By Edward Pany and Roger Firestone
A Treasure of Memories By Edward Pany and Roger Firestone
The ultimate tribute to the heritage of the Atlas Portland Cement Company [later the Universal Atlas Cement Company] can be found in a priceless collection of lore, memorabilia, and a wall of honor that are part of the new Atlas museum. Each month the Atlas Cement Company Memorial Museum honors and recognizes an employee of the area cement industry to keep alive the industry's contribution to the Lehigh Valley and the world.
The Atlas Portland Cement Company Memorial Museum honors and preserves the memories and heritage of the legendary cement plant via a collection of treasured artifacts as seen through the eyes of the men and women who worked there.
The museum, housed in a spectacular wing of the Northampton Borough Municipal Government Building is made possible by a grant from the US Generating Company, which operates a power plant on the Atlas site through its Northampton Generating Company subsidiary.
The museum chronicles the history of cement production at the Atlas from its humble beginnings in 1895 to its development into the largest Portland Cement Company in the world. Displays, storyboards, and videos depict the Atlas quarry, farms, cooper shop, bag factory, office, and laboratory.
Other displays capture the use of Atlas Cement in the construction of renowned projects such as the Panama Canal, Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, and the Holland Tunnel.
The cornerstone of the museum is a breathtaking, larger-than-life mural in which artist Roger Firestone captures The Atlas Spirit in the faces of the men and women as they glance admiringly through the heavens at the Atlas plant, in the structures its cement helped build, and in the new power plant. The mural also features the borough's oldest building, the Wilson Block House, built in 1756.
The museum pays tribute to the employees and communities that helped make the Atlas Portland Cement Company a successful industrial enterprise. Local historian Edward Pany single-handedly researched and gathered the names of more than 2,500 Atlas men and women which adorn a wall memorial in a corridor adjoining the museum. Many of the Atlas employees came from the local community and surrounding areas. Others immigrated from Central Europe to pursue job opportunities in the United States of America, in particular, work provided by the Atlas Portland Cement Company.
Each month the Atlas Cement Company Memorial Museum honors and recognizes an employee of the area cement industry to keep alive the industry's contribution to the Lehigh Valley and the world. These are published in The Northampton Press
|
The five remaining plants are
|
Employees honored since 1997 are: Richard Haas - Lafarge George Gasper - Keystone James Roth - ESSROC Richard Sakasitz - Hercules Richard Hottenstein - Allentown Herb Johns - Lafarge Richard Bealer - Keystone Nicholas Viglione, Jr. - ESSROC Robert Schnabel - Allentown Bruce Jones - Hercules Robert Sickonic - Lafarge Robert Aichele - Keystone Richard Fox - ESSROC William Didyoung, Sr. - Allentown Reuben Snyder - Lafarge Ronald Silfies - Keystone Jonathan Wolfel - Paper Allied Industrial Chemical and Energy Workers International Union George Prebula - Allentown Jack Gallop - Hercules Ana Kish - Keystone Rick Gaston - ESSROC George and Robert Mayer - Allentown |
History
About Northampton
