Making History Blog
Book Review: “The Mount Washington Transit Tunnel Disaster”
The Mount Washington Transit Tunnel Disaster By Mary Jane Kuffner Hirt The History Press, 2021 192 pages, 60 photos and maps Paperback, $21.99 Reviewed by Mark Holan, Pittsburgh native…
Book Review: “An Alternative History of Pittsburgh”
An Alternative History of Pittsburgh By Ed Simon Belt Publishing, 2021 176 pages Paperback, $16.95 Reviewed by Leslie Przybylek, Senior Curator, Heinz History Center In literary tradition, an “alternative…
Book Review: “Andy, Can You Hear Us? Communing with Andy Warhol at His Gravesite – Vol. 1 (Winter)”
Andy, Can You Hear Us? Communing with Andy Warhol at His Gravesite – Vol. 1 (Winter) By Madelyn Roehrig Andy’s Figments, 2020 80 pages, color photos Softcover, $39.99 Reviewed…
Book Review: “A Gift of Belief: Philanthropy and the Forging of Pittsburgh”
A Gift of Belief: Philanthropy and the Forging of Pittsburgh Edited by Kathleen W. Buechel University of Pittsburgh Press, 2021 384 pages Hardcover, $40 Reviewed by Betty Arenth, former…
Book Review: “Banished from Johnstown: Racist Backlash in Pennsylvania”
Banished From Johnstown: Racist Backlash in Pennsylvania By Cody McDevitt History Press, 2020 224 pages Paperback, $23.99 Reviewed by Samuel W. Black, Director, African American Program, Heinz History Center…
Book Review: “Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob”
Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob By Russell Shorto W.W. Norton, 2021 272 pages Hardcover, $26.95 Reviewed by Bill Keyes, former museum division director at the…
Fred Lenn: The Battling Boxer
Fred Lenn fought in two arenas—as a Marine serving during World War II and Korea, and in the ring as a champion amateur and professional boxer. The second of…
Have Fun but Remember the War: Halloween during World War II
With the History Center’s traveling exhibit “We Can Do It: WWII” returning to Barensfeld Gallery, it seemed a good time to celebrate the upcoming Halloween holiday by looking back on how this haunting…
Colin Powell: A Soul Soldier’s Life
In 2006, I was busy working on a new exhibit, Soul Soldiers: African Americans and the Vietnam Era. The exhibit would go on to win regional, statewide, and national awards and travel to seven…
Acorns for Dinner: Finding Food in Prehistoric Pennsylvania
A walk in Squirrel Hill is always pleasant, but as I followed the sidewalk yesterday after a summer of ethnobotanical study, I looked at the plants growing along the…