The Pittsburgh Renaissance Historic District

Posted by on May 8, 2015 in | Comments Off on The Pittsburgh Renaissance Historic District Throughout much of its industrial history, Pittsburgh had an image problem. In 1868 James Parton wrote in The Atlantic Monthly that it was “Hell with the lid taken off.” Later, it became known as “The Smoky City.” Pollution was a big issue, but there were other problems, such as traffic congestion, flooding and blight that made Pittsburgh a less-than-desirable place to...
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Pennsylvania Architectural Heritage: The Preservation Movement in the Keystone State, 1800-1950

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania Architectural Heritage: The Preservation Movement in the Keystone State, 1800-1950 The primary focus of this series of four articles is the architectural heritage of Pennsylvania through the past three centuries. However, in the context of history, architecture is neither an isolated creation nor an assured cultural resource for the future. As buildings ore the products of the interaction of many facets of a society, so. too, the preservation of architecture is the result of...
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Expanding A Vision: Seventy-Five Years of Public History

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Expanding A Vision: Seventy-Five Years of Public History Three-quarters of a century ago, it proba­bly surprised no one that the first act of the Pennsylvania Historical Com­mission, not long after its creation in 1913, was to survey all monuments and memorials in the Commonwealth’s sixty­-seven counties. At that time it was universally assumed that public history involved com­memoration and the rituals associated with recognizing significant...
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Fort Pitt Museum

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Fort Pitt Museum Experience the saga of the bitter struggle between France and Great Britain for control of North America by visiting the Fort Pitt Museum. Located in a re-created eighteenth century bastion in Pittsburgh’s picturesque Point State Park, the museum features exciting exhibits and conducts a number of living history events each year, including the popular “Colonial Fair at the...
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David L. Lawrence, the Deft Hand Behind Pittsburgh’s – and Pennsylvania’s – Politics

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on David L. Lawrence, the Deft Hand Behind Pittsburgh’s – and Pennsylvania’s – Politics David Leo Lawrence (1889-1966), governor of Pennsylvania from 1959 to 1963, and mayor of Pittsburgh from 1946 to 1959, during the city’s first heralded renaissance, was a professional politician to the very core. Ranked as one of America’s great chief executives among big cities, Lawrence immersed himself in politics, beginning at the age of fourteen when he became a city Democratic...
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Executive Director’s Message

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Message The articles in this issue underscore the diversity of Pennsylvania’s history – from the role of women in industrv to Cuban baseball players in Williamsport. The range of these topics is matched by the complexity and breadth of the PHMC’s mission and programs. With 17 million visitors each year to our more than two dozen historic sites and museums – comprising more than...
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The Pennsylvania Dugout Canoe Project

Posted by on Nov 24, 2013 in | Comments Off on The Pennsylvania Dugout Canoe Project Then: Imagine the sight of individuals clad only in loincloths, furiously chipping at a large felled log, slivers of wood flying high above them, and smoke curling upward from sections of the burning tree as they carve out a dugout canoe. Now: In painstakingly precise recreations, archaeologists of the Bureau for Historic Preservation (BHP) of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission...
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Executive Director’s Letter

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Letter This issue of Pennsylvania Heritage showcases star players from Pennsylvania – Christy Mathewson, whose prowess shone on the baseball diamond, and the Barrymores of Philadelphia, whose stage and screen performances delighted generations of audiences. David Lembeck’s article on New Deal murals in Pennsylvania focuses on artists and their works for post offices under the auspices of the U.S....
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Pennsylvania History Goes Green

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania History Goes Green Sustainable, or “green” design is beginning to make its way into daily lives in ways that are both obvious and subtle. For the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), “going green” has become part of the philosophy of preserving and protecting treasured historic sites and museums, as well as conserving resources and improving sustainability. On December 15,...
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