Labor & Industry Museum Fact Sheet

This page has been optimized for printing through your browser.


	Labor & Industry Museum DESCRIPTION: The Labor & Industry Museum documents the development of industry and the labor movement in the Belleville, Illinois area. It also focuses on Belleville's role as the stove-making capital of the world. Housed in a former cigar factory, the Museum building is owned by the city of Belleville. The displays are owned by the non-profit Belleville Labor and Industry Museum organization. The Museum, which was six years in the making, had its grand opening in August 2002. ADDRESS: 123 N. Church St., Belleville, Illinois; mailing address: P. O. Box 8242, Belleville, Illinois 62222. LOCATION: In Metro-East (Illinois) across the Mississippi River southeast of St. Louis. PHONE NUMBER: 618-222-9430 WEB SITE: http://laborandindustrymuseum.org GETTING THERE: From downtown, take I-55 North to I-64 East to Illinois Route 159 (the Belleville exit). Turn right (north) on Route 159 and follow it about seven miles to the Belleville Public Square. Turn east on East Main Street and proceed three blocks to Church Street. Turn left on Church and follow it two blocks. The Museum is at the corner of Church and East B streets. HOURS: 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Sat. or by appointment. The Museum is also open during some special events. ADMISSION: Free for individuals and groups. Donations accepted and appreciated. SIGNIFICANCE: The Museum seeks to preserve memories of Belleville's Gilded Age -- the period from the end of the Civil War to 1929, Belleville's heyday as a center of industry. During the 1800s, with St. Clair County the largest producer of coal in Illinois, Belleville was an integral part of St. Louis' industrial complex supplying much of the coal for its factories. And, the area's foundries were big jobbers for St. Louis manufacturers. Belleville was also the site of the first nail mill in Illinois. Beginning in the 1930s, Belleville attracted the largest German migration in the state of Illinois, and from 1850 to 1860, the largest brewery east of the Alleganies was located in Belleville. The first enameled stove was made in Belleville, and the first jacketed parlor stove (a stove that had an outer shell that wasn't too hot to touch) was made by Belleville Stove Works. HISTORY: Conrad Bornman, a blacksmith who is thought to be the first German immigrant to Belleville, built the original two and a half rooms of the building that is now the Labor & Industry Museum in 1837. Bornman owned a farm and it is believed that he did not live in the building he constructed. The building, however, was built in the German tradition -- close to the street so that most of the yard was in back of the house to maximize the area that could be planted as a vegetable garden. In 1840, Bornman sold the building to Charles Born who lived in the house and put a rear addition on it. Born and his sons operated a machine shop out of the building for 60 years. During that time, they machined many of their own inventions and won six patents for things such as a steam pump, a lathe and several grinders. In 1913, the Borns sold the building to Charles Beck who turned it into a cigar factory. At that point, the building was no longer used as a residence. Older Belleville area residents say they can remember walking by the building and seeing workers rolling cigars inside. A depression in the wood floor is probably where a cigar maker stood for many years grinding his foot into the wood as he worked or moved back and forth in the work area. Beck put another addition on the building, and he continued to operate the cigar factory there until 1957. Two years later, the building was sold to Everett Sakasko, who ran a union television repair business, and his wife Geraldine, who operated the Lady Orchid Beauty Salon in it until the early 1990s. In 1995, the St. Clair County Transit District wanted to raze the building and build a parking lot in its place. When the Belleville Historic Preservation Commission, a volunteer organization, learned of the plan, it announced it wanted to save the building. The transit district gave the Commission six months to raise the funds to purchase the building and save it from the wrecking ball. Working with the city planning department, the group was successful in raising the needed funds. The city purchased the building in January 1996. The Commission then had to raise the funds to restore the building and to collect items for the exhibits. Many volunteer hours went into gutting the building and restoring the interior. Plumbers from the Plumbers Apprentice Program installed the plumbing and Belleville Mechanical Company installed the heating and cooling systems. Much of the work was done with donated materials and donated union labor. All of the wood floors are original, and the windows are six over six as they were in the original building. The Museum has held periodic open houses since 1997 to let visitors view the progress that had been made on the building. It held its formal grand opening in August 2002. HIGHLIGHTS: The Museum has several permanent exhibit rooms and three galleries for changing exhibits. A 12-minute video produced by the Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville introduces visitors to Belleville, the museum and the history of labor and industry. Some 26 parlor and cooking stoves made from 1880 to 1930 are on display at the Museum. It is believed to be the most complete single collection of stoves in the world. On display are stoves made of iron, enamel and sheet metal. To commemorate the years the building was used as a cigar factory, visitors can watch a cigar-making mannequin "roll" cigars. The mannequin is surrounded by cigar-making materials and old cigar boxes from the Belleville area. One room of the Museum is dedicated to pattern making and casting. On display are examples of the two-burner hot plates that were chosen for use on a 1983 Mt. Everest expedition, the first Mt. Everest climb that involved a woman. Ten stoves were taken on the expedition and used to feed the 50 climbers. The stoves, made by the Superb Company of Belleville, were favored by the Sherpa cooks who found they did not impart a kerosene taste to the food. Another exhibit documents the shoe-making industry in early Belleville. Old tools and farm implements are on display. An exhibit shows how Jelly Belly candies are made. The company that makes Jelly Bellies originated as the Goelitz Confection Company in Belleville. Another exhibit focuses on iron and nail making. An exhibit on coalmining examines working conditions during the 1860s and demonstrates how some people made a difference in the lives of coalminers. A Marsh stencil machine manufactured in 1920-21 is displayed. An Ideal #1 Stencil Cutter manufactured in Belleville in 1911-12 is among the items on display. A hand-lever tabletop press used by the Wangelin family for generations to print business cards, flyers and the Belleville Main Street newsletter can be seen in the Museum. The second floor of the building houses a learning and resource center where visitors can do research on labor and industry. Temporary exhibits include a display of glass made by a Belleville glassworks company owned by Adolphus Busch from 1880 to 1912, an exhibit of union emblems and paraphernalia and another on early labor activities dating from 1850 which predated unionism. A corner in the Museum is dedicated to the life and times of Mother Jones, the Irish-born wife of a Memphis ironworker turned muckraker. Early in her career, Mother Jones investigated working conditions in southern cotton mills. A self-proclaimed hell-raiser she later turned her attention to the coal mining industry and fought for the formation of a union amongst the miners. She died in 1930 at age 100 and is buried in the Union Miner's Cemetery in Mt. Olive, Illinois. WHAT'S NEW: The Labor & Industry Museum's latest addition is "Jumbo," a steam engine built in 1895 by Harrison Machine Works in Belleville. The steam engine was built for an Indiana farmer who used it for many years. After it became obsolete, it was relegated to a field where it rusted until 1931 when representatives of The Henry Ford Museum/Greenfield Village in Detroit rescued and rebuilt it and stored it at the Village. Recently, Greenfield Village decided to sell "Jumbo," and the Labor & Industry Museum, eager to have it back home in Belleville, was happy to buy it. Jumbo, a huge piece of equipment, got its name from the 14-foot tall circus elephant of the same name which toured with P. T. Barnum's Circus in the 1880s. WHAT'S COMING UP: Museum organizers are hoping visitors and residents will like the Museum so much they will donate enough money to allow for an annex to be built to the rear of the building. Included in the expansion would be a permanent display area for Jumbo, the 1895 steam engine which the Museum displays on special occasions. The annex would also house a blacksmith shop that the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago has offered to give to the Belleville Museum. ESPECIALLY FOR KIDS: Special tours are offered for school and Scout groups, and children enjoy learning about Jumbo, the 1895 steam engine that is named after the elephant who toured with P. T. Barnum's circus. HANDICAPPED ACCESSABILITY: The first floor of the museum is handicapped accessible. WHERE TO GET LUNCH: There are several restaurants in downtown Belleville including the Pie Pantry and St. Louis Bread Company. GIFT SHOP: There isn't one at this time but there are plans to add one. The Museum has issued a commemorative burnished pewter holiday ornament featuring Jumbo, the steam engine that was built in Belleville in 1895. Plans are underway to issue a new ornament featuring some item at the Museum each year. WHAT'S NEARBY: The Belleville Philharmonic, the second oldest philharmonic orchestra in Illinois, performs in a building nearby. The Lincoln Theatre, an old-time movie theatre where silent movies are sometimes shown and stage events are held, is also nearby and the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows is about six miles west. PUBLIC RELATIONS CONTACT: Harold A. Wright, President, Board of Directors at 618-234-0584 or Jack Wittlich and 618-233-6480.
	Readers should call 1-800-916-0040 to request a free copy of the Official St. Louis Visitor Guide or point, click and explore St. Louis at www.explorestlouis.com