Making History Blog
Could this be the oldest photograph of a Pittsburgher? … Maybe.
The original photo of the Rodman daguerreotype taken with a flash that helped bring out detail in the damaged plate. It is a “sixth plate” daguerreotype and measures 2.75…
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?: A Portrait of Fred Rogers
Mister Rogers changing his shoes, which he did at the start of every episode. Photo courtesy of The Fred Rogers Company. For more than 50 years, Mister Rogers’ messages…
The St. Patrick’s Day Flood of 1936
Fifth Avenue and Market Street (Market Square), March 18, 1936. Allegheny Conference on Community Development Photographs, Detre Library & Archives at the History Center. On St. Patrick’s Day in…
Celebrate African American History at the History Center
The Heinz History Center’s African American Program is dedicated to the preservation, dissemination, and interpretation of the life, history, and culture of Africans and African Americans in Western Pennsylvania.…
It’s National Love Your Pet Day!
February 20 is a day of celebrations. In some years, it’s Presidents’ Day. It’s National Cherry Pie Day (George Washington’s supporters may have had something to do with that). For…
Breaking Down Barriers: Paul Lawrence Peeler and the Pittsburgh Public Schools
Viola used by Paul Lawrence Peeler, Sr., as a music teacher in Pittsburgh Public Schools. Like many other major American city school districts, Pittsburgh’s public school system has a history…
The Spencer Family Valentine Hunt
Vintage Valentine, c. 1870-1910. Spencer Family Papers, Detre Library & Archives at the History Center. Spencer Family Home, 1890, G. M. Hopkins Company Map. In the early 1900s, on the…
A Jazz Legacy: Mary Lou Williams
Portrait of Mary Lou Williams, New York, N.Y., c. 1946. Photo by William P. Gottlieb, courtesy of the Library of Congress. As an American jazz hub during the 1930s, Pittsburgh…
Picture, Picture on the Wall: A Brief History of Early Photography
One weekend in our #Pixburgh: A Photographic Experience exhibit, a docent watched as two teenage sisters posed for each other. One took out her new Polaroid instant camera (they’re all…
Book Reviews: Winter 2016-17
Abandoned Pittsburgh 1: Portraits of the Steel City’s Forgotten Past By Chuck Beard Beowulf’s Books, 2013/Second edition 2015 Color and B&W photographs Paperback, $30 “Abandoned Pittsburgh 1” is part of…