Making History Blog
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…
The Westinghouse Time Capsule
A version of this article originally appeared in the Fall 2015 issue of Western Pennsylvania History. At 1 p.m. on the 1938 autumnal equinox, Sept. 23, the Westinghouse Time Capsule…
The Search for Eagles at Meadowcroft
Editor’s Note: This post contains photographs of animal predators and their prey. Every winter since 2010, after Meadowcroft has closed for the season, the site has taken part in a…
Happy Birthday, Nat Youngblood!
An example of one of the Nat Youngblood’s early Roto Magazine covers. The winter scene was printed on Jan. 21, 1951. After a heavy snowfall, skiers are setting out in…