Making History Blog
No Giant Eagle for Fort Pitt!
A demonstration of 18th century cooking techniques as part of the Fort Pitt Museum’s Living History program. Upon arriving at the Point in late November of 1758, British soldiers were…
First Frontier Mechanized Cavalry
The key members of the American Bantam Car Company pose with the first jeep prototype outside of the Butler factory, September 21, 1940. Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution. No…
An Amusement Park in Miniature
Frank Salisbury and his miniature amusement park. The thrills of the amusement park have delighted Americans for generations. Many amusement parks were built in the late 1800s and early 1900s…
Cookbooks with a Cause
Title page of the Suffrage Cook Book, 1915. The Community Recipes of Western Pennsylvania Women Originating from churches, auxiliaries, athletic teams, neighborhoods, and civic organizations, the Library & Archives’ collection…
Michael Musmanno and the Nuremberg Trials
Judge Musmanno at Nuremberg, 1947. Duquesne University Archives and Special Collections. Between 1946 and 1949, the U.S. military conducted the “Subsequent Nuremberg Trials,” prosecuting mid-level Nazi officials who carried out…
Food Fights for Freedom
A Guide to Wartime Cooking. Gift of the Heinz Company. World War II brought a host of struggles to those serving on the home front. One that confronted housewives every…
Remembering Billy Strayhorn
Billy Strayhorn, Westinghouse High School yearbook, 1934. Pittsburgh’s Jazz legacy includes some of the greatest musicians, composers, arrangers, and singers in the history of the music. One of the greatest…
Vintage Base Ball at Meadowcroft
The great pastime of American baseball has a long history. With apologies to Abner Doubleday, the game actually evolved from earlier games such as cricket and rounders. The rules of…
“I had to take the fife and use it”
In the 18th century military, fifers and drummers played a pivotal role at Fort Pitt. They not only announced daily routines for the military but also indirectly served as a…
Arthur Buchman’s Cards Home
The following article originally appeared in the Spring 2010 edition of Western Pennsylvania History. Arthur Buchman, c. 1940 Among the more unique forms of correspondence in the collections at the Detre…