Making History Blog
Tools of Oppression: Cotton Cards
Mary Ann Carlton (1839-1921), a former slave, used cotton cards to contribute to the sharecropping of her family. In the late 18th century, American citizens knew that the road to…
Clothing the Royal Americans: Part One
Part One | Part Two | Part Three The Royal American Regiment was founded on James Prevost’s idea that a corps of foreign-speaking immigrants already in America could be raised.…
Camp James Weldon Johnson
Page from a Camp Johnson pamphlet, 1953. Camp Johnson Records, 1939-1995, MSS 229, Detre Library & Archives, Heinz History Center. In the early 20th century, “fresh air” camps began sprouting…
Wheat in Washington County
Aug. 12, 1947: Miller photographed Dean Fullerton holding a sheaf of wheat waiting to be threshed. Photo Albert Miller Photographs, Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village, Heinz History Center. Meadowcroft founder…
New Pittsburghese Guide Helps Yinz with Local Speech
One of the most distinctive features of Western Pennsylvania is the widespread use of a dialect that we have come to call Pittsburghese. Not just the exaggerated slang heard in…
Cleaning the Fort Pitt Diorama
The model of Fort Pitt at the Fort Pitt Museum is an original museum fixture dating to the 1960s. The museum commissioned the local Pittsburgh business Holiday Displays to create…
The Mystery of Pittsburgh’s “Ghost Bomber”
Illustration of the B-25 bomber over the Monongahela River. Courtesy of the B-25 Recovery Group. Seventy years ago, at the height of our nation’s Cold War frenzy, an American military…
The Secret History of a Famous Westinghouse Photograph
Westinghouse at Work, 1910. One of the most recognizable images of George Westinghouse Jr. depicts the inventor and businessman seated at a drafting board, a piece of paper in front…
Go Outside and Play!
The History Center supports the NFL’s PLAY 60 campaign, which encourages kids to be active 60 minutes each day. On Saturday, Feb. 6, the History Center will fill all five…
Book Reviews: Winter 2015-16
Pittsburgh Irish: Erin on the Three Rivers By Gerard F. O’Neil The History Press, 2015 160 pp., b&w photos Paperback, $21.99 Those interested in a survey of Irish influence in…