Bethlehem Steel maintained a coal petrography laboratory in its Research Department from late 1962 until 1985, The primary goals of the laboratory were to develop an accurate method for analyzing the microscopic composition of the coals used by Bethlehem and to correlate that analysis with the various tests of coking quality and coking behavior, thus providing a predictive capability from which coals and coal blends could be selected and controlled for use in the cokemaking process. This paper describes the history of this development and some of the key findings that led to the success of the laboratory. It further describes the philosophy behind the development of an integrated research program on cokemaking and how, this program impacted the expanded use of coal and coke petrography. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.