Families with heart of steel They made the steel wire that bound America together

摘要

Workers at the Roebling Steel Co. were themselves bound, sweating side by side in the hot, dangerous mill, then going home to the village built by the company on the bank of the Delaware River in Florence Township, Burlington County, in 1905. Every morning the steel workers, mostly Eastern European immigrants, would walk the wide, tree-lined streets to the mill through a building known as the Main Gate. Soon, that structure will reopen as a museum devoted to the Roebling family, the steel workers, and the model town in which they all lived. The museum board still needs $750,000 and continues to solicit donations. If the money comes through, the museum is expected to open in stages. Current plans are for the facility to open on weekends beginning in early summer. It is expected to be fully functioning by mid-2009. The museum will open from time to time before that for lectures and exhibits.