From the 1880s to the 1920s, millions of European immigrants arrived in the US hoping to find work and a better life, and many found jobs in Bethlehem's iron and steel industry. In the 1920s, Bethlehem Steel also recruited hundreds of Mexicans to help fill the labor force, and in the late 1940s, Puerto Ricans moved to the area to take jobs at the plant. Ethnic organizations and churches grew throughout South Bethlehem, giving immigrants places to speak their own languages and socialize with people from home. Within the mill, work was often assigned by ethnicity, with Europeans working in the mills, blast furnaces, and labor crews, while Mexicans and Puerto Ricans worked in the hot, grimy coke works. People from around the world became part of the plant's and the town's social fabric.
