STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF THE COLLECTION

COLLECTION POLICIES

First Steps:

- Catalog items which have been rescued from the Acme Coke Plant and Acme Furnace Plant. 
- Complete acquisition and transportation of large pieces of steel industry equipment to Pullman site.

Acme Coke Plant Photo by Rod Sellers

Hegewisch Marsh, future site of the Ford Calumet Environmental Center Photo by Aaron Rosinski

• The equipment and artifacts at the Pullman site are the last historic remnants of Chicago s and especially the Calumet area's steel-making industry.  This is perhaps the last opportunity to save these historical items and make them accessible to the public.
  
  
• The site has great significance to the organized labor movement.  The historic town of Pullman was the site of the 1894 Pullman Strike. Two miles east of the Pullman site is the site of the 1937 Memorial Day Massacre at the Republic Steel Plant.  Both of these events were of major significance in American labor history.
  
  
• The site's proximity to the Lake Calumet wetlands has created an opportunity to understand the contrasting land uses in the region. The site highlights the juxtaposition of industry, community and nature;
  
  
• The historic site is located a few miles northwest  of the future site of the Ford Calumet Environmental Center, predicted to bring 100,000 visitors per year to the area to learn about the industrial, social, and ecological his tory of the region.
  
  
• A strong case for economic growth through cultural and heritage tourism can be made in light of the planned extension of the I&M Canal National Heritage Corridor into the Calumet region. The Calumet Industrial Heritage Project represents the only project interpreting the history of steel making in the Calumet region.
  
  
• Industrial Heritage Archives of the Calumet Region: The Pullman State Historic Site, the Calumet Heritage Partnership and the Southeast Chicago Historical Society have partnered to create an on-line archive of photos and other materials related to industries that operated in Chicago's Clumet Region. CHP's portion of the archives includes a trove of materials that tell the story of work and technology at Acme, especially at the Coke plant. Policy on Archives Use and Access: The CHP archives is a private archives and a restricted collection. Users should know that access is by appointment and contingent on volunteer availability.
  

If you'd like to help with the Partnership's efforts, send your check to:Calumet Heritage Partnership, 13300 S, Baltimore, Chicago, Il 60633 or click on the donate button below.