Pittsburgh’s Park of a Century

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Pittsburgh’s Park of a Century Currently ranked first as the Most Livable City by the Rand-McNally annual survey, Pittsburgh is reveling in media exposure comparable to the boosterism of the town of Zenith which writer Sinclair Lewis satirized in his novel, Babbit. Accompanying the zealous, self-proclaimed promotion, however, has been a healthy dose of self­-examination, with the city’s less enviable qualities suddenly...
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The ‘State’ of Allegheny

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on The ‘State’ of Allegheny One of the first centers of the organization of the Re­publican party and scene of its first national conven­tion in February, 1856, Allegheny County was strongly for Lincoln in the presidential election of 1860. As the vote count proceeded, one of the leaders kept sending telegrams to Lincoln’s home in Illinois, keeping him up on the news that “Allegheny gives a majority of …...
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Pennsylvania Gridiron: Washington and Jefferson College’s First Century of Football

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania Gridiron: Washington and Jefferson College’s First Century of Football Gentlemen, you are now going to play football against Harvard. Never again in your whole life will you do anything so important. Yale’s noted football coach T.A.D. Jones delivered his message just as his team was going out to defend Yale Bowl against its ancient rival. But it’s not only coaches whose pas­sion for football is ardent­ – millions play the game on high school,...
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Shorts

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Shorts Nearly one hundred watercolors and drawings of fruits, flowers, ani­mals, and saints by artists working in the cities of Jaipur and Bikaner, India, will remain on view at the Carnegie Mellon University’s Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation through Friday, February 24, 1995. The exhibition of natural history works of art features pieces created in Rajasthan, the desert state of...
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Benno Janssen Collection of the Carnegie Mellon University Architecture Archives

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Benno Janssen Collection of the Carnegie Mellon University Architecture Archives Pittsburgh architect Benno Janssen (1874-1964) purveyed im­peccable taste and elegance with his many commissions during the early decades of this century. He is best remembered for such monumental landmarks as the Pittsburgh Athletic Association (1911), the William Penn Hotel (1914-1916 and 1927-1928), and the Mellon Institute (1931-1937), now part of Carnegie Mellon University. He partnered...
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Shorts

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Shorts “Women of Flowers: Victorian Women Botanical Illustrators” will be on exhibit, at Longwood Gardens from Saturday, Janu­ary 23 [1999], to Tuesday, February 23 [1999]. This spe­cial exhibit showcases works by artists fea­tured in garden writer Jack Kramer’s book of the same title. For more information, write: Longwood Gardens, P.O. Box 501, Kennett Square, PA 19348-0501;...
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Currents

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Currents Kingdoms Come Edward Hicks (1780-1849), one of the best known of America’s folk painters, was a native and Lifelong resident of Bucks County, and a devoted Quaker preacher and missionary. His images of The Peaceable Kingdom, inspired by the Book of Isaiah’s prophetic vision of a peaceful world in which “the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie with the...
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Romancing the Stone: Benno Janssen, Architect of Elegance

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Romancing the Stone: Benno Janssen, Architect of Elegance Every community has its coming of age, when the style of its best buildings, both commercial and residential, speaks clearly, “This is the way it is going to be here for a long time.” Although Pittsburgh, the first American city to rejuvenate itself out of its dusky past – of steel and soot and smoke and smog – has employed many notable architects) from Henry H....
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The Value of Pennsylvania History

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on The Value of Pennsylvania History George W. Bush won the presidential election of 2000 because the fifty states cast more electoral votes for him, even though more people actually voted for his opponent, Albert A. Gore Jr. The election reminded Americans about a curious institution called the Electoral College, and an equally peculiar system known as federalism in which each state conducts elections according to distinct laws...
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Out and About

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Out and About Soul Soldiers The Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center recently unveiled the most comprehensive exhibition ever to explore the issues of the Vietnam War from an African American perspective. “Soul Soldiers: African Americans and the Vietnam Era” tells the story of the Vietnam War’s impact on African American life and culture by examining both the war and the civil rights...
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