Billed as “the Most Democratic Fete ever attempted in Pittsburgh,” the Equal Franchise Federation held its Suffrage Shirtwaist Ball more than one hundred years ago on Nov. 10, 1916. Though its memory has long since faded, the fundraiser itself was widely attended and lived up to its tagline.

READ MORE

In late 1942, a Pittsburgh freelance artist named J. Howard Miller painted a poster for Westinghouse Electric, his biggest client. This particular poster was one of his simplest and most powerful compositions: a confident, bandana-coifed "woman war worker" making a muscle. A cartoon balloon above her head contained the message, "We Can Do It!" In the post-war years, this image, now recognized worldwide as "Rosie the Riveter," has taken on added meaning and importance.

READ MORE

French author Jules Verne’s adventure novel, “Around the World in Eighty Days,” was published in 1873, when Nellie Bly was nine years old. Verne’s popular story highlighted the fictional character Phileas Fogg, who circumnavigated the globe in less than three months. Inspired by Jules Verne’s novel, Bly came up with another groundbreaking story idea during her career as a journalist: to travel around the world in less than 80 days.

READ MORE