It may seem, if this is all you read, that nothing is going on in Bethlehem except historical skulduggery and the selling of souls.
For the record, though, it also is raining here. Hard. Hard enough to remind those with long memories of Hurricane Agnes, back in the early 1970s. Or at least of Hurricane Ivan, two years ago. And not only here is it raining, but throughout the whole Northeast and the East Coast. As I write this, I am listening to reports of flood damage, flood threats, and compulsory evacuations from my Pittston-based public radio station. That, of course, is up in the Wyoming Valley, where they have good reason to remember the horrors of Hurricane Agnes in particular. Here's praying we get through this period safely and reasonably well.
I can't resist, though, translating some of it into local historical terms. Whatever flooding there is, is likely to cause further damage to Historic Bethlehem Partnership's properties in the Monocacy Creek Valley. I truly regret this; but I regret even more that it is likely to generate a need in that organization for more money still. And soon there will not be any more organizations to absorb, will there?

When most people think of Historic Bethlehem Partnership they probably think of its constituent parts--the Kemerer Museum,for example; or the Moravian Museum, or the Burnside Plantation.
Well, if rumors are correct, you will never, ever, ever think of the South Bethlehem Historical Society, because no vestige of it will exist. There is talk of attaching it to one of the north side museums, perhaps the Kemerer--a lovely place, with almost nothing in common with the industrial and ethnic and labor history of the South Side.
More than this, and this much is for certain: For some years now, the biggest perk--almost the only perk--of SBHS membership has been its brilliant newsletter, Southern Exposure. Well, that is gone, unless some miracle occurs. Hold on to your copies; they are likely to become collectors' items.

Some months ago, an edition of the South Bethlehem Historical Society's admired newsletter "Southern Exposure" carried an announcement that I found ominous. I have been unable to locate this edition in my files, although it IS in there; but what struck me about it was what I may call its hidden boldness. As I recall, it did not have a border around it, or anything else to call attention to it. The gist of it was that several board members had (apparently on their own hook, since the people I was able to talk to do not remember an election)constituted themselves a committee of three to pursue the matter of affiliation with Historic Bethlehem Partnership.
The three board members who seem to have selected themselves for this purpose were the then-president, his predecessor, and another board member, all of whose terms were to end in June of this year.
Assuming ill intent--and I DO assume ill intent--this announcement was slid by so smoothly that at least one board member did not notice it at all. Other board members may or may not have given it much thought, if they noticed it at all. Even I, who definitely DID notice it, shrugged it off as something to be dealt with later.
One of the things most alarming about it, though, was that three people who had no apparent future with the organization, were about to decide--and had possibly TAKEN IT UPON THEMSELVES TO DECIDE--the group's future.
I no longer have a copy of the bylaws, but cannot help but wonder if those bylaws address such a situation. I mean, shouldn't at least one member of the committee have been a board member whose term was not up?
But it gets more interesting. The committee is now aware that there is growing public interest in what is going on. So, an ex-board member tells me, the committee members have "offered" to "stay on" until the affiliation is pushed through.
Well, I am virtually certain the bylaws allow no such thing as usurping board positions and offices. Besides, are there no other possibilities for SBHS? Such as remaining independent and resuming doing its important work. Why should the board not be permitted to discuss and vote on ALL possibilities? Why should it not spend its funds on South Side history, as the donors intended, instead of having those funds melded into those of a large organization? (Which I assume is one of the intentions of the proposed affiliation.)

It seems to be true that Historic Bethlehem Partnership wishes to swallow the South Bethlehem Historical Society, and is likely to succeed in doing so.
This almost certainly is not because the north side historical complex has any more sincere interest in South Side history than it has ever had. Hardy immigrant workers from many lands have never been one of its big interests; neither have the brilliant and hard-driving entrepreneurs who, with the immigrants, put Bethlehem on the world map.
No. Clearly, two things have happened. One is that industrial history is now very much in the spotlight; and the north side desperately wants to be part of that scene. That is why we have the sudden invention of "the Moravian South Side."
The other is that, rumor has it, HBP is in desperate financial straits. If the rumors are true, HBP could certainly use SBHS's few tens of thousands of dollars.
There are two troubles with this. One is that, when this small trove of money is gone, together with the society, it will be gone for good. The other is that much of it was given in the form of bequests from good people who expected it to be used for South Bethlehem history. It does not seem ethical to take these funds and use them for other purposes, as is almost bound to happen.
As for South Bethlehem history itself, I predict it WILL be given its due, but probably not by HBP. During the 30 plus years I have been in the Bethlehem area, that group and its constituent parts have never demonstrated the heart for it, as I have indicated. Mere need will not be enough to make them good at pretending they care.