Welcome to the Lehigh Valley Landmarks with Leon podcast series, celebrating 250 years of independence. I'm your host, Rachel Leon. Since being elected in 2022 and serving as Vice President of Bethlehem City Council, I'm humbled by the opportunity to serve the diverse communities that make up our great city. But to understand where we're going, we need to understand our past. Each week, I'll share a short feature with a big story about the 250 years that made the Lehigh Valley and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, known as the Christmas City, as we explore historic landmarks.
RACHEL
Last week we had Katie Rymon, Manager of Education and Public Programming for the National Museum of Industrial History as a guest to discuss John Fritz. This is part two of that episode.
When did John Fritz retire from the Bethlehem Iron Works?
KATIE
Fritz retired in 1892 at the age of 70. Although he retired after working for 32 years at the Bethlehem Iron Works he continued to stay active in the business including when it became the Bethlehem Steel Company in 1899.
RACHEL
What is the John Fritz Medal?
KATIE
It’s often called the Nobel Prize for Engineering and he was the first to receive it in 1902 on his 80th birthday. The award recognizes significant scientific or industrial achievements across various engineering fields.
RACHEL
In what ways did John Fritz give back to the southside of Bethlehem?
KATIE
That’s a great question. At 87 years old, John Fritz funded and supervised the construction of the Fritz Engineering Laboratory at Lehigh University. As a pioneering steel engineer, he funded the $150,000 facility to provide a state-of-the-art research space for students. The project began in 1909 and the laboratory was completed around 1910.
RACHEL
What are a few of the projects that the laboratory tested?
KATIE
At the time the Laboratory was built it was considered state-of-the-art. The original building contained many state-of-the-art testing machines including the 800,000 pound Riehle universal testing machine. This machine tested many structural components including sections of the gates of the Panama Canal and the cable anchorages of the first Tacoma Narrows Bridge which were a unique design made by Bethlehem Steel Corporation.
RACHEL
Bethlehem history is really world history. How did the Fritz Laboratory continue to stay relevant during the next 75 years?
KATIE
In the 1950s the Fritz Laboratory expanded to include the world’s largest testing machine for the era, the Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton five-million pound universal testing machine.
This machine tested the structural frame of Telstar, the United States’ first communications satellite. If you can believe that.
In 1985, the Lab was again expanded.
In 1992 the original Fritz Laboratory was named a Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Fritz Engineering Laboratory is the headquarters of the Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering Department at Lehigh University.
RACHEL
That’s incredible. Bethlehem’s history is actually intergalactic history. How old was John Fritz when he died?
KATIE
John Fritz died on February 13, 1913 at 90 years old in Bethlehem and he is buried in Nisky Hill Cemetery in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
RACHEL
Katie- In 2021 the National Museum of Industrial History held an exhibit on John F. Fritz celebrating what would have been his 200th birthday and you shared a special collection pertaining to his life. Can visitors come into the museum and see some of that collection today, and what is in it?
KATIE
Yes, we do have some artifacts relating to John Fritz in our Iron and Steel Gallery and we have a model of a three-high rolling mill that visitors can take a look at.
RACHEL
Thank you so much to Katie Rymon, from the National Museum of Industrial History.
KATIE
Thank you very much Rachel. It’s always a pleasure.
