Making History Blog
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Where Pro Football Began: The $500 Game on Pittsburgh’s North Side
Professional football was born on the North Side in November 1892, fueled by an intense rivalry between the Pittsburgh Athletic Club and the Allegheny Athletic Association. Both believed themselves the best; both sought to assuage the sting of playing to a tie score on Columbus Day. And both were willing to use whatever means it took to win, including money.
The Irish Connection
The recent choice of defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt with the 46th overall pick, 14th choice of round two, in the 2014 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers is part of…
Immaculate History
Three Rivers Stadium is gone now, but the memory of what happened there on Dec. 23, 1972, lives on.
Cradle of Quarterbacks
It goes back a long way, this tradition of quarterbacks as a natural resource in western Pennsylvania.
-Roy McHugh, The New York Times, 1991
The Wearing of the Black and Gold
It’s said that Pittsburghers bleed black and gold and, at least metaphorically, it seems true. We adorn our homes, our cars, and ourselves in all manner of the chosen colors.…
Ma Baker: Pittsburgh’s First Airline Caterer
An enterprising local woman provided airline passengers and workers with fine dining options beginning in the late 1920s. The first meals served aloft prepared in Pittsburgh came from Katherine Baker’s Pleasant Hills kitchen. She was known as “Ma Baker” — but she was no plump, flour-dusted grandmother.
The First Black Pilot Was From Pittsburgh
Like many in the wake of the Wright Brothers’ successful flights, Hill District resident Charles Wesley Peters was fascinated by the wonders of aviation. Using his mechanical skills, in 1906…
Working in Threes: A Pittsburgher’s Design at the Vatican
In December 2005, a holiday card arrived at the riverside office of Pittsburgh architect Lou Astorino. The message read in part, “I remember always you when [I] visit the Vatican…
Memories of Bloomfield: New Voices from Pittsburgh's Little Italy
Oral history is an important part of the work of the Italian American Program. In the History Center’s Detre Library & Archives, there are more than 400 oral histories with…
Pittsburgh’s LSTs: Remembering the “Workhorse” of Normandy
We commemorate June 6, 1944, as “D-Day,” the start of the Normandy invasion and a crucial turning point during World War II. But at the time, nothing about that campaign…