Baltimore’s Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard launches the first of 14 “emergency” ships, the SS Patrick Henry, at Liberty Fleet Day with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in attendance. FDR says that the new class of freight vessels will bring liberty to Europe, giving rise to the term Liberty Ship. The Fairfield Yards leads the other 12 shipyards, building 384 of the 2710 Liberty Ships over four years (up to 3 ships every 2 days). The need for workers produces a great influx of African American and Native Americans (primarily Lumbee) workers from the south into Baltimore.
The SS Patrick Henry survives 12 dangerous voyages, carrying war supplies and troops. The ship, along with the SS John W. Brown (also built in Baltimore and one of four surviving Liberty Ships), symbolizes the long and successful Maryland and Bethlehem Steel and Shipyard operations at Sparrows Point.
In 1887, the Maryland Steel Company purchased the property and built a steel mill. In 1916, Bethlehem Steel purchased the mill and it became the largest steel producer in the world, producing materials for the Golden Gate, George Washington and Bay Bridges.
