Making History Blog
Book Reviews: Summer 2017
Butterflies of Pennsylvania: A Field Guide By James L. Monroe & David M. Wright University of Pittsburgh Press, 2017 328 pp., 900+ color illus., checklist of species Paper/flex bound,…
American Culinary Tastes Over Time
It’s impossible to encapsulate all of America’s history in only a few prepared dishes. By examining changes in taste through recipes published in cookery books, however, we gain a…
Putting Faces to Names: Exploring Italian American Identity with Photo IDs
As the project archivist for the Italian American Program at the Heinz History Center, I spent the last 10 months organizing, preserving, and providing access to collections that document…
Taking the Field: Women and Baseball
Just as World War II impacted the political, social, and cultural life of the nation and created new opportunities for women at work, so too did it alter sport…
Locating Luna Park
This excerpt from Luna: Pittsburgh’s Original Lost Kennywood follows Frederick Ingersoll in choosing a site to build Luna Park after his first two deals fell through. Late in 1904…
Picturing Protest: The Great Railroad Strike of 1877
S. V. Albee and the Great Railroad Strike in Pittsburgh, July 21-22, 1877 Sometime after July 22, 1877, Pittsburgh photographer S. V. Albee captured an extraordinary series of photographs.…
The Homestead Steel Strike: Perspective on the Past
A lithograph in the History Center’s collection provides an interesting perspective on the unfolding of events in the steel strike on July 6, 1892. In title and in imagery…
Washington, Lincoln, and the Fourth of July in Pennsylvania
In July, my thoughts inevitably turn patriotic. I can’t help it. Living in Pennsylvania, I am reminded of momentous events of July’s past and the people who made history.…
Becoming American: The Rajcan Story
A version of this article originally appeared in the Special Edition #Pixburgh Issue of Western Pennsylvania History Magazine. George and Mary in their wedding clothes, 1904. From the Rajcan…
Local Families, Global Mysteries: Offering Hope and Haven to German Jews
The Eric Moses papers, while not quite as enigmatic as the Marcia Robbins papers (read part one), also speak to the difficulty in arranging Jewish emigration from Germany and…