A recent but important period in the 150-year history of Pueblo’s steel mill is being explored through the latest core exhibit at El Pueblo History Museum, 301 N. Union Ave.

The new "Steel City 1980-2004" exhibit begins at the 1980s collapse of the steel industry, recounts its effects on Pueblo workers and ends with the 2004 settlement of a 6-year, 3-month and 11-day Pueblo steelworker strike against Oregon Steel Mills.

The exhibit launched Friday, June 10, and replaces the "Children of Ludlow," exhibit which had been part of the museum since 2013, said Zach Werkowitch, director of community relations at History Colorado.

"To put together this exhibit, we really relied on stories from steelworkers and stories from the community," he said. "We collected … many oral histories. All of this came from them almost exclusively."

More on Pueblo's 'Steel City' history:Pueblo celebrates 150 years of CF&I steel mill history

In 1980, roughly 8,000 workers were employed at the mill, then owned by Colorado Fuel & Iron.

A national steel crisis brought mass layoffs to the Pueblo mill and by 1984, the workforce had been reduced to about 1,000.

In 1993, three years after CF&I filed for bankruptcy, Oregon Steel Mills acquired the Pueblo mill and renamed it Rocky Mountain Steel Mills. At that time, working at the mill was a treacherous job with forced overtime and 60- to 80-hour work weeks, Werkowitch said.

"In 1997, a contract came up for negotiation," he said. "(Steelworkers) had some demands that Oregon Steel wasn't willing to meet and that led to a seven-year strike."

The cause garnered support not just from Pueblo steelworkers, but also from community members and national grassroots organizations.

Labor and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta visited Pueblo to show her support and wives of Pueblo steelworkers traveled to the Oregon Steel headquarters, chaining themselves to pillars outside of the building in protest.

"If this isn’t a story of a community coming together and having to get through one of the hardest times in their lives, I don’t know what is," El Pueblo History Museum Director Diane Archuleta said. 

"It just really fills us with a lot of pride for our city, the fact that so many people came together to try to figure out how they can keep the biggest employer accountable in so many ways.”

Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached by email at JBartolo@gannett.com