The Battle of Homestead Foundation (BHF) was established in 1996 by a group of historians, artists and concerned local residents to promote the Pump House in Munhall as an important national labor history site. The group had coalesced around the events commemorating the centennial of the 1892 Homestead Steel Strike, after organizing the centennial conference, publishing an anthology, and producing a film. Several members had been involved in the focus groups organized by the Steel Industry Heritage Corporation to arrive at a plan for interpretation of the Pump House and other sites in Western Pennsylvania. Once the original plan for the Rivers of Steel was published, with the Pump House slated to become an interpretive site for steel making technology and not for labor history, the BHF was formed to promote the site as a "sacred site for labor" (quoting author John Hoerr in his talk at the Pump House in the summer of 2000).

The mission of the BHF is is promote the Pump House as a labor history monument and meeting place that will attract labor groups, out-of town visitors, students, and the general public interested in Western Pennsylvania’s industrial and labor heritage. In line with that mission, the group works with the Steel Industry Heritage Corporation and has worked previous owners of the site (Continental Realty and Park Corporation) to preserve the physical and historical integrity of the site and has organized an annual series of events at the Pump House.

The Board of Directors of BHF is elected annually by the general membership. The President is Russell Gibbons, Vice President is Charles McCollester, the Treasurer is Joel Sabadasz. Secretary David Demarest is chair of the Programming Committee. Additional members of the Board include: Steffi Domike, Jim Hohman, Rosemary Trump, Joe White, Joel Woller, and Bill Yund.