Just in time for the IBEW’s 125th anniversary, founder Henry Miller is getting a museum built in his honor.
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| Local 1 has been researching the history of the house and building design from the late 1800s to ensure the renovation’s historical accuracy. Left: a photo from that era of a building on the same block as the Miller house. Right: The Miller house before construction began earlier this year. |
Featured in December’s Electrical Worker, the IBEW and its flagship local, St. Louis Local 1, are restoring the original St. Louis boardinghouse where the National Brotherhood of Electrical Workers was born in 1891.
Work has already begun at the property, which Local 1 purchased earlier this year for $53,680. Located on a nearly vacant block in the St. Louis neighborhood of JeffVanderLou, the two-story building is little more than a shell, but with hard work, donations, and a little luck, tentative plans call for opening in time for the IBEW’s 39th convention in September 2016.
With the International Office, Local 1 formed the Electrical Workers Historical Society, a nonprofit with plans to raise the $6 million required to restore and maintain the property over the coming months.
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| The 10 delegates who attended the NBEW’s founding convention in 1891. Henry Miller is seated in the middle row, second from the left. |
The story behind the purchase along with the building’s history and photos can be found at www.nbew-ibewmuseum.org. The site also includes links to donate to the effort, where contributors can purchase commemorative courtyard bricks or even entire museum floors.
“We hope that all IBEW members will be inspired by the house and the history it holds, and see it as a home for everyone in the Brotherhood,” Local 1 Business Manager Frank Jacobs told the Electrical Worker this month.
During construction, be sure to follow the museum’s progress on Twitter, on the Web, and through the live-streaming app, Periscope. Local 1 officials plan to stream live tours periodically as the project progresses.
Download Periscope for iPhone or Android and follow @IBEWMuseum to receive alerts when the feed is live. Meerkat can be downloaded for iPhone or Android as well.