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Society for Industrial Archaeology
51st Annual Conference
June 8-11, 2023
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan’s “Second City” serves as the home for the SIA’s 2023 Annual Conference. Historically known as the “Furniture City” and more recently as “Beer City,” the city and the wider region features a diverse set of industrial sites. The Grand River Valley and West Michigan emerged during the mid-nineteenth century as a trading and manufacturing center connecting the interior of Michigan from Kalamazoo and Battle Creek in the south, north to Muskegon, east to Lansing, and west to Lake Michigan.
Located on the Grand River, Michigan’s longest, the production of household furniture became Grand Rapids’ signature industry by the 1880s. Moving to become dominant players, the city’s firms created annual Furniture Exhibitions drawing national and international buyers. This secured the city’s place as “Furniture City, U.S.A.” until the 1930s. Design, printing, metalworking, gypsum mining, and other supporting industries provided the city a diversified economy. Later automobile parts, precision manufacturing, and more specialized furniture production shape the city’s economy into the present. A more recent development is a vibrant brewing and distilling industry throughout the region.
The cities along the coast of Lake Michigan further contribute to the manufacturing and shipping activities of the region. This rich maritime culture is readily apparent in cities such as Muskegon, Saugatuck, and South Haven. Inland, pharmaceuticals in Kalamazoo, processed breakfast foods in Battle Creek, and automobile production in Lansing added to the region’s industrial base. All of this has contributed to create a rich industrial legacy that the conference will highlight.
Please see bottom of page for details about extended call for papers.
Caption for photo at top: Huge piping, attached on one end to a barrel shaped object and on the other to a rectangular object. Installed by Berkey & Gay Company in 1930 to eliminate the dust problem in the neighborhood as described in a news article in the Grand Rapids Herald, January 12, 1930. (Source: Grand Rapids Public Library Digital Collections)
View of the rear of the Stickley Brothers Company factory, showing lumber and railroad tracks. Stickley Brothers was located at 837-861 Godfrey SW, Grand Rapids and was well-known for its Arts and Crafts furniture. The company operated from 1891 until 1954. Photo circa 1918. (Source: Grand Rapids Public Library Digital Collections)
Man watching the assembly line at the Bissell Carpet Sweeper company plant, 1950. (Source: Grand Rapids Public Library Digital Collections)
Berkey & Gay Furniture Co. Plant No. 1 with smoke stack at rear left in image.(Source: Grand Rapids Public Library Digital Collections)
Interior view of the Hekman Furniture Company showing three men finishing pieces of furniture (Source: Grand Rapids Public Library Digital Collections)
CALL FOR PAPERS
The deadline for abstract submissions was Feb. 28, 2023, but please contact the paper chair, Patrick Pospisek, if you would still like to participate.
The Society for Industrial Archeology invites proposals for presentations and poster displays at the 51st Annual Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan, June 7-11, 2023. The presentation sessions will be held at the conference hotel, the Embassy Suites – Grand Rapids Downtown, on Saturday, June 10, 2023.
We invite presentations on all topics related to industrial archeology, history of technology, social change related to industry, and historic industrial structures and bridges. Papers about regional industries and transportation in Grand Rapids and Western Michigan are particularly encouraged. Poster displays are also encouraged and can be on works in progress or finished projects. All presentations and poster displays should offer both interpretation and synthesis of data.
Presentation Formats: Proposals may be for individual presentations, a session of papers, a roundtable on a theme, or posters. Individual presentations 20 minutes in length, a group of three or four presentations on a common theme filling a 90-minute session, or a 90-minute panel discussion with 2-5 discussants (a formal moderator is optional, but encouraged). SIA will provide computers, data projectors, screens, microphones, and speakers as needed in each presentation room. Posters will be on display all day Saturday with a dedicated time for poster presenters to be present at their posters for discussion.
Proposal Formats: Proposals should be submitted online unless special arrangements have been made. Each proposal must include:
- The presentation title (you will indicate the type of presentation—single paper, session proposal, or poster—on the submission form)
- A 300-word abstract that outlines the scope, findings, and conclusions of the presentation
- Contact information including name, affiliation, email address, mailing address, and telephone number for each presenter
- A brief biographical statement of 150 words for each presenter
- The software (incl. version) used to create your presentation and any additional audio-visual requests beyond the standard equipment listed above.
Submit proposals using the online submission form here: https://forms.gle/Q8j6QovAhPm2hejM9
For 90-minute themed sessions or panel discussions, the organizer should submit a title and a brief description of the theme, along with all above information together as a group as prompted on the online submission form. If any of these items is missing, the proposal cannot be considered. Note that the above word counts apply separately to each presenter in a group. Note that all speakers are expected to pay the registration fee (for either the full conference or one-day rate). The deadline for proposals is now February 28, 2023. For questions please contact: Patrick Pospisek, SIA Presentations Committee Chair, pospisep@gvsu.edu
Please see our Poster Guidelines (PDF download) for poster preparation parameters.
Follow the link below to submit your proposal. For questions please contact:
Patrick Pospisek, SIA Presentations Committee Chair, pospisep@gvsu.edu
50th Annual Conference
June 9 - 12, 2022 - Portland, Oregon
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PORTLAND TOUR SITES
Early Industry
Willamette Falls Navigation Canal and Locks
T.W. Sullivan Power Plant
Willamette Falls Paper Company
Lake Oswego Iron Furnace
Modern Industry
Swan Island Shipyard
VintageTEK Museum
Cascade Steel Rolling Mill
Historic Columbia River Highway
Columbia River Highway</span
Bonneville Dam
Antique Powerland
Powerland Heritage Park
Antique Caterpillar Machinery Museum
Pacific Northwest Logging Museum
Western Steam Fiends Association
Walking Tour of Portland
Timber Old and New
Hull-Oakes Sawmill
Tallwood Design Institute at Oregon State University
Rail Heritage
Union Station
Oregon Rail Heritage Center
Bridges of Portland
49th Annual Conference
August 23 - 27, 2021 - Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
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LEHIGH VALLEY TOUR SITES
An Embarrassment of Bridges
Hill to Hill Bridge
Northampton Street Bridge
Central Railroad of New Jersey and bridges over the Delaware River, as well as a covered bridge, stone Delaware River bridges
Walnut Street Bridge
ATLSS Engineering Research Center at Lehigh University
An Embarrassment of Slate
Blue Mountain Antique Gas & Steam Engine
Bangor Quarry Hoist
Slate Belt Heritage Center
Penn Big Bed Slate Company
Moravian Industrial Quarter
An Embarrassment of Museums
Sigal Museum
Hoover Mason Trestle
National Museum of Industrial History
Anthracite-Anthracite-Anthracite
Eckley Miners’ Village
Lehigh Anthracite Coal
Number 9 mine and museum
Go East Tour
Bethlehem Steel sites
New York, Susquehanna, and Western Railway Technical & Historical Society
Phillipsburg Railroad Historians
People’s Water Company pump house
A Day Set in Cement
Saylor Kilns Park in Coplay
LaFarge Holcim
Atlas Memorial Cement Museum
Swope and Bartholomew fabricating shop
Bridesburg Foundry
An Embarrassment of Canals
Port Warren Park/Morris Canal
Jim and Mary Lee Museum
Plane 9 West
Bread Lock Park and Museum
National Canal Museum
Freemansburg Canal Education Center
An Embarrassment of Iron Furnaces
Warwick Furnace
Hopewell Furnace
Joanna Furnace
Lock Ridge Furnace
Historic Bethlehem Walking Tour
48th Annual Conference
June 6 - 9, 2019 - Chicago, Illinois
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CHICAGO TOUR SITES
North Side Industry and Transit History
Chicago Transit Authority Skokie Shops
S&C Electric Company
Life Fitness
Metropolitan Elevated Truss Bridge
Southwest Side and Central Manufacturing District
Vienna Beef Plant
Union Stock Yard Gate
Wheatland Tube
McKinley Park
Chicago & Western Indiana "Little Englewood" Railroad Depot
Central Manufacturing District
Ace Industries
Steel, Water and Pullman
Riverdale ArcelorMittal
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Calumet Water Reclamation Plant
Pullman National Monument
Energy Research and the Nuclear Age
Argonne National Laboratory
Fermilab
Additional Tour Sites
ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor
ArcelorMittal East Chicago
Indiana Harbor Canal
Marktown
BP Whiting Refinery
U.S. Steel South Works
Illinois Railway Museum
Chicago Loop Architecture Sites
Calumet River/Indiana Harbor Canal Boat Tour
Chicago River Bridges
47th Annual Conference
MAY 30 - June 3, 2018 - Richmond, Virginia
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RICHMOND TOUR SITES
Machine and Foundry Work in Richmond
Strickland Machine Company
O.K. Foundry
Philip Morris USA
Tredegar Ironworks
Petersburg and South
Philip Morris USA
Appomattox Ironworks
Seaboard Railway Viaduct Arches
Aluminum Bridge
Upper Appomattox Canal
Petersburg Gasworks
Trapezium Brewery
Falling Creek Bridge
Falling Creek Ironworks
Virginia Maritime and Peninsula
Fort Monroe
USS Monitor Center
Colonial Parkway
Jamestown
James River and Kanawha Canal
Triple Crossing
Tobacco Row
Great Shiplock Park
Kanawha Canal
James Monroe’s Tomb
Byrd Park Pumphouse
CSX Belt Line Bridge
Main Street Station
Lumpkin’s Jail
Additional Tour Sites
University of Virginia
Blue Ridge Tunnel, aka “Crozet’s Tunnel”
46th Annual Conference
MAY 18 - 21, 2017 - Houston, Texas
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HOUSTON TOUR SITES
The Oil Industry
Texas Energy Museum, Beaumont
Spindletop Gladys City Boomtown, Beaumont
Lockwood International (valves and valve fittings used in oil field service)
Genesis Test Rig at the Schlumberger Sugar Land Technology Center
The Houston Ship Channel
Willow Street Pump Station, University of Houston
Narrated tour of the Houston Ship Channel aboard the M/V Sam Houston
Battleship Texas
Intermarine (logistics and ocean transport)
Work, Water, and Recreation
Lockwood International (valves and valve fittings used in oil field service)
Frost Town Site archeological excavation
Buffalo Bayou Cistern
The Astrodome
Yellow Rose Distilling
Texas Bridges and Concrete
Rainbow Bridge, Beaumont
Trinity River Bridge
An abandoned railroad bascule bridge
Main Street Bridge over Buffalo Bayou
Flexicore of Texas (precast and pre-stressed concrete products)
Additional Tour Sites
NASA Johnson Space Center
Port of Galveston
Tall Ship Elissa
Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig and Museum
Galveston Seawall
Allen’s Landing
The Binz historic neighborhood
Boat tour of Buffalo Bayou
Caption for photos: The forest of oil derricks depicted in both halves of a 1919 panoramic photograph (top and bottom) comprise Goose Creek Oil Field. Goose Creek (now Baytown) is a bayou east of Houston where oil was discovered in the late 1910s. Library of Congress.
45th Annual Conference
JUNE 2 - 5, 2016 - Kansas City, Missouri
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KANSAS CITY TOUR SITES
Manufacturing & Power
General Motors Plant
Subtropolis/Hunt Midwest (subterranean industrial park)
Veolia Energy
Power House Ballet (in 1914 power plant)
Historic Kansas City and Surrounds
McCormick Distilling Company
Watkins Woolen
Tension Envelope (envelopes)
Roasting, Brewing & Technology
The Roasterie (coffee roaster)
Ryerson Metals
Zahner Sheet Metal
8th Street Tunnel
Boulevard Brewery
Goods Manufacturing
Faultless Starch/Bon
Ford Motor Plant
Vita Craft (cookware)
Kansas City Star Printing Plant
Rieger Distillery
Historic Bridges
ASB Bridge
Broadway Bridge
12th Street Trafficway
Hannibal Bridge
Truman Lift Bridge
Waddell A-Truss
Highline Bridge
Additional Tour Sites
Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Manufacturing
Nelson Atkins Museum of Art
Liberty Memorial and WWI Museum
Harley Davidson
Fort Leavenworth
Missouri River Tour with Healthy River Partnerships
Library District
Freight House District
Captions: (top) SIA 45th Annual Conference logo by Elizabeth Linden Rahway of Graphic Engineering; (below) historic aerial photograph of Pratt & Whitney Manufacturing complex.
44th Annual Conference
MAY 28 - 31, 2015 - Albany, New York
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ALBANY TOUR SITES
Schenectady & Vicinity
Environment-One, Niskayuna (sewage pumps for municipal and domestic applications)
Applied Robotics, Glenville
Integrated Fab Technologies, Glenville (turbine components
Tough Traveler, Schenectady (luggage and bags)
Power & Transportation
Amtrak repair shops, Rensselaer
Empire Generating Company, Rensselaer
Port of Waterford Flight, Erie
New York State Canal Shops, Waterford
Mechanicville Hydroelectric Plant
New Tech
Port of Coeymans
TCI-NY, Coeymans (transformer rebuilder)
Scarano Boat Building, Port of Albany
SUNY College of Nanoscale Engineering & Science, Albany (microchip R&D)
Hudson-Mohawk Industries
Ross Valve Manufacturing, Troy (automatic valves for water supplies)
NYS Canal Shops & Waterford Flight
Mohawk Paper, Cohoes
Plug Power, Latham (hydrogen fuel cells)
Bridges
NY Central swing bridge, Albany
Cohoes-Waterford Bridge
Union Bridge, Waterford-
Whipple bowstring truss over Enlarged Erie Canal, Vischer Ferry
Schoharie Aqueduct
NY Barge Canal movable dam
Additional Sites
AMT Castings (aerospace and firearms castings)
Contractors Millwork (window sashes and molding)
Thistle Hill Weavers
U.S.S. Slater
New York State Capitol
Downtown Albany
Nine Pin Cider Works
Albany Distilling
C.H. Evans Brewing Co.
Sunday, May 31
Cohoes Falls
Harmony Mills (textiles)
Troy Gasholder House
Burden Ironworks, Troy
Photo Caption: Pouring iron at Rathbone & Sard Foundry, Albany, ca 1911.
43rd Annual Conference
MAY 15 - 18, 2014 - Portland, Maine
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PORTLAND TOUR SITES
Bath
Lowell Brothers, Yarmouth (boats)
Custom Composite Technologies
Tide mill
Maine Maritime Museum
Sagadahoc High Bridge
Carleton Lift Bridge, Bath
Biddeford
Pepperell Manufacturing (textiles)
Precision Manufacturing Solutions, Biddeford
Yale Cordage, Saco
Portland
Barber Foods (chicken processing)
Nichols Portland (gerotor pumps)
New England Distilling
Geary Brewing
Portland Company (repurposed factory complex)
Barber Foods
Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad.
Additional Tour Sites
Downtown & Lighthouse Tour
Fort Gorges
Fort Scammell
Fort Levett
Maine Maritime Museum
Allagash Brewery
Longfellow House & Museum
Machine tool collection of George Collord
42nd Annual Conference
MAY 30-June 2, 2013, St. Paul & Minneapolis, Minnesota
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TWIN CITIES TOUR SITES
Mighty Mississippi
Helicoidal Stone Arch Bridge
Stone Arch Railroad Bridge
St. Anthony Falls
Pillsbury A Mill
Washburn A Mill
Rice County & Goodhue County
Faribault Woolen Mill Company
Northfield Machinery Builders, Inc. (woodworking machinery)
Ames Mill, Northfield (cereal)
1000 Hills Cattle Company, Cannon Falls (meat products)
Upper Lock & Dam
I-35W Bridge
Cappelen Memorial (Franklin Ave.)
Mississippi River Lock and Dam No. 1
Mendota Bridge
Omaha Swing Bridge
Farmers Union Grain Terminal Headhouse
C&NW Vertical Lift Bridge
Robert Street Bridge
The Geology of Twin Cities Industry
St Anthony Falls
Mill Ruins Park
First Street Canal and City Water Company tailraces
North Star Woolen
Heinrich Brewery Lagering Caves
Lock & Dam No. 1
Ford Hydroelectric Plant
Metro Waste Water Treatment
Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha RR
Mushroom Valley
Railroads, Windows and Milling
Andersen Corporation & Andersen Windows
Jackson Street Roundhouse
Mill City Museum
Milling, Malting and Grain
PEM Millwork (specialty doors)
T.E. Ibberson Company (engineering)
Peavey-Haglin Experimental Concrete Grain Elevator
Lilac Park
Rahr Malting Company, Shakopee
Additional Tour Sites
Summit Avenue Neighborhood
James J. Hill House
St. Paul Theater District
Ford Steam Plant
District Energy
St. Paul Union
Photo Caption: (top) Rahr Malting Co., Shakopee, Minn. Looking toward Malthouse #4 (at right); photo by Marc Belanger.
41st Annual Conference
MAY 31 - June 3, 2012 - Cincinnati, Ohio
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CINCINNATI & NORTHERN KENTUCKY TOURS
“Upriver”
Greater Cincinnati Water Works
Lunken Airport
Verdin (operating bell foundry)
Zakira’s Garage (historic sports car restoration)
“Downtown”
Erhart Foundry
Roebling Bridge
Mill Creek Dam
Rookwood Restaurant (historic pottery with kilns still in place)
Over The Rhine Brewery District
Union Railway Terminal
Northern Kentucky
Glier’s Meats
TMK IPSCO (steel tubing mill)
Behringer- Crawford Museum
Railway Museum of Greater Cincinnati
“Paper Trail”
Aeronca (aircraft manufacturer)
Wausau Paper (tissue paper mill)
Historic Downtown Lebanon
Laurel Court (historic mansion of an original paper baron)
“Countryside”
Xenia Foundry
Clifton (historic mill town)
Yellow Springs, Ohio
19th Century powder mill complex in Goes, Ohio
19th Century munitions complex in Kings Mills, Ohio
Additional Tour Sites
Dayton’s Air Force Museum
Carillon Park
Carew Complex
Procter & Gamble Museum
Spring Grove Cemetery
Cincinnati Bridges
Other Activities
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) workshop at University of Cincinnati
June 2-5, 2011
About Conference
June 3-6, 2010
About Conference
May 28-31, 2009
About Conference
May 29-June 1, 2008
About Conference
2007 - Philadelphia, PA (36th), June 7-9
2006 - Saint Louis, MO (35th), June 1-4
2005 - Milwaukee, WI (34th), June 2-June 5
Download Milwaukee 2005 Guidebook
2004 - Providence & Blackstone Valley (33rd), June 10-June 13
2003 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada (32nd), May 30-June 1
2002 - Brooklyn, NY (31st), June 6-10
Download Brooklyn 2002 Guidebook, Part 1
Download Brooklyn 2022 Guidebook, Part 2
Download Brooklyn 2022 Paper Program
2001 - Washington, DE (30th), May 10-14
2000 - Duluth, MN (29th), June 1-4
Download Duluth 2000 Guidebook
1999 - Savannah, GA (28th), June 3-6
About Conference
Savannah Abstracts
1998 - Indianapolis, IN (27th), June 4-7
1997 - Houghton, MI (26th), May 29-June 1
1996 - Sacramento, CA (25th), May 30-June 2
1995 - Baltimore, MD (24th), May 11-14
1994 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada (23rd), June 2-5
1993 - Pittsburgh, PA (22nd), June 3-7
1992 - Buffalo, NY (21st), June 4-7
1991 - Chicago, IL (2oth), June 13-17
1990 - Philadelphia, PA (19th), May 30-June 3
1989 - Quebec, City, Quebec, Canada (18th), June 1-4
1988 - Wheeling, WV (17th), May 19-22
1987 - Troy, NY (16th), May 28-31
1986 - Cleveland, OH (15th), June 12-15
Download Cleveland 1986 Guidebook
1985 - Newark, NJ (14th), May 9-12
1984 - Boston, MA (13th), June 14-17
Co-hosted with The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage (TICCIH)
Proceedings (link to TICCIH publications download site)
Download Friday Afternoon Tour Brochure (Hyde Park, Dedham, Newton, Brighton)
Download Sunday Morning Tour Brochure (Waltham, Watertown, Newton, Cambridge, Charlestown)
Download Sunday Afternoon Tour Brochure (Boston Waterfront)
1983 - Minneapolis & St. Paul, MN (12th), May 12-15
Download Conference Brochure
Download Presentations Abstracts
1982 - Harrisburg, PA (11th), May 6-9
1981 - Hartford, CT (10th), May 7-10
1980 - Detroit, MI (9th), May 29-June 1
1979 - Columbus, GA (8th), April 26-29
1978 - Louisville, KY & Cincinnati, OH (7th), March 30-April 2
Download Louisville Guidebook
Download Cincinnati Guidebook
1977 - Wilmington, DE (6th), 28-May 1
1976 - Lowell, MA (5th), April 23-26
1975 - Baltimore, MD (4th), April 25-28
1974 - Pittsburgh, PA (3rd), April 26-29
1973 - Troy, NY (2nd), April 28-29
1972 - New York, NY (1st), April 8-9
About 1st Conference
1971 - Washington, DC Founding Meeting, October 16
History of the Society for Industrial Archeology