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.
In 1941, the average annual salary in the United States was roughly $1,500 and the average annual pay for a steel industry employee was slightly higher at $2,055.
It was Eugene Gifford Grace, the President of Bethlehem Steel from 1916 - 1945 who made history in 1941 - for receiving a salary and bonuses totaling $522,637, making Grace the second highest paid executive of that year.
Based on the 2026 Consumer Price Index Data - Eugene Grace’s annual salary today would be worth $11.74 Million.
Eugene Gifford Grace was born on August 27, 1876 in Goshen, New Jersey to the parents of John Wesley Grace, a sea captain who later became a storekeeper and Rebecca C. Morris Grace.
Eugene moved to Bethlehem in 1895 on a baseball scholarship to study electrical engineering at Lehigh University. He graduated at the top of his class as valedictorian in 1899.
After graduating, Grace was offered a professional baseball contract from the Boston Braves, but refused it to take a job as a crane operator for the Bethlehem Steel.
Within three years, Grace worked his way to superintendent of yards and transportation at the steel company. On June 12, 1902 he married Marion Brown, daughter of Charles Brown, co-founder of the Brown-Borhek lumber supply company.
Shortly after their marriage they moved into a Queen Anne-style home located at 114 W. 4th Street in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania where they lived from 1902-1906.
During the next ten years Grace was promoted to general manager, Vice President and to President of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation.
Leveraging the demand for warships, ammunition and steel for the Allied forces during World War I and World War II, Grace and Charles M. Schwab solidified Bethlehem Steel’s role as a vital supplier for American and Allied military victory.
During peace time Grace focused the steel production on bridges and skyscrapers. With the innovation of the H-shaped beam, buildings could be constructed more than two stories high.
As a golf enthusiast in the roaring 20s, Grace and 15 other business leaders, primarily from Bethlehem Steel, purchased 205 acres of farmland to establish the Saucon Valley County Club, within five miles from the steel plant. Grace was the primary founder and the driving force of the club who directly influenced its development for over 40 years. Today the club encompasses over 850 acres and has a long history of hosting major golf championships.
In 1929 Bethlehem Steel was known as one of the largest industrial titans in the world and it afforded Grace the family mansion at 1317 Prospect Avenue in Bethlehem known as Uwehlan, Welsh for “the land over the valley.” It had a ballroom, 23 bedrooms, 15 bathrooms, three green houses, a driving range, putting green, and an underground bomb shelter. Maids, servants, cooks, butlers and under-butlers waited 24-7 on Eugene, Marion and their three children.
While Grace was surrounded by luxuries, steel workers were subject to the "open-shop" policy and a paternalistic system, known as the "Bethlehem Plan" where workers were selected daily by foremen, with no collective bargaining to set consistent pay or safety standards.
This disparity fueled intense labor unrest, such as the 1910 strike and the 1941 strike, which ultimately broke when unionization finally took hold to protect the worker, rather than the executive paycheck.
In the fall of 1941, the workers formally joined the United Steel Workers of America.
Grace served as president from 1916 to 1945 and chairman from 1945 until his retirement in 1957, effectively leading the company for over 40 years.
Grace died on July 25, 1960 at the age of 83 in his Uwehlan mansion and is buried in Nisky Hill Cemetery overlooking the former Bethlehem Steel Corporation.
Sources for this episode can be found online in the transcript.
