The Pittsburgh History Journal

Monongahela Incline, c. 1900. Carnegie Museum of Art. On This...

Mon, 28 May 2012 08:30:43 -0400

Monongahela Incline, c. 1900. Carnegie Museum of Art.

On This Day in Pittsburgh History: May 28, 1870

The Monongahela Incline, opened on May 28, 1870, was the first incline constructed in Pittsburgh. The incline, one of seventeen inclines in Pittsburgh at one time, climbs a 35 percent grade, one of the steepest incline planes in the world. Today, only two inclines remain in Pittsburgh. [Explore PA History]

The Highland Park Zoo, Pittsburgh, 1911 (via)

Sun, 27 May 2012 09:57:32 -0400

The Highland Park Zoo, Pittsburgh, 1911 (via)

On This Day in Pittsburgh History: May 27, 1874 The Central District and Printing Telegraph Company...

Sun, 27 May 2012 09:48:42 -0400

On This Day in Pittsburgh History: May 27, 1874

The Central District and Printing Telegraph Company was organized as the first telephone company in the city. [Historic Pittsburgh]

From The Pittsburg Electrical Handbook: Being a Guide for Visitors Abroad, by the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, 1904:

CENTRAL DISTRICT AND PRINTING TELEGRAPH COMPANY

In the light of the present day the telephone is considered as a necessity in even the smallest towns and hamlets. How indispensable then must the telephone be to a city like Pittsburg, which is divided by natural and political boundaries into numerous districts, many of them small cities in themselves. Transportation in a rugged district such as makes up and surrounds Pittsburg is necessarily slow and tedious, and the demand for instantaneous communication of thought by the telephone is consequently greatly enhanced. This demand for telephone service has been met by the Central District and Printing Telegraph Company, who are the licensees of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company for Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio, and Northern West Virginia. It is interesting to note that the Central District & Printing Telegraph Company was originally chartered to exploit the Gray Printing Telegraph. Later, when the telephone was invented, this company secured a license from the American Telephone and Telegraph Company to operate in the above mentioned states.

Although telephone service was started in Pittsburg something over twenty years ago by the Bell Telephone Company, it is only within the past ten years that the great advantages of the telephone were realized by the public, and the growth in the number of subscribers during this period has consequently been phenomenally great. To day the Central District & Printing Telegraph Company operates two hundred and two exchanges, to which are connected sixty three thousand subscribers. Of this number about thirty five thousand are included in what is commonly known as the Pittsburg District, which may be defined as the territory included in a circle struck with a fifteen-mile radius from the point at the intersection of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers.

El Chico Cafe Español, Pittsburgh [Pittsburgh Elders...

Sat, 26 May 2012 10:54:05 -0400

El Chico Cafe Español, Pittsburgh [Pittsburgh Elders Guild]

Related: “El Chico Club Re-Captures Gay Atmosphere of Old Spain,” The Pittsburgh Press, 1940

Harvey Haddix pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates (via) On This...

Sat, 26 May 2012 08:34:35 -0400

Harvey Haddix pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates (via)

On This Day in Pittsburgh History: May 26, 1959

In what many experts call the greatest pitching performance in history, Harvey Haddix — suffering with a flu and sore throat — hurls a 12 inning perfect game for the Pirates but loses in the 13th inning 0-1 on a Don Hoak fielding error to the Braves as lightning storms threaten the end of the game. [Wikipedia]

Fencing class, Chatham University, 1941 [University of...

Fri, 25 May 2012 10:20:42 -0400

Fencing class, Chatham University, 1941 [University of Pittsburgh Digital Archives]

Marie Curie at the Radium Refining Plant, The Pittsburgh Sun,...

Fri, 25 May 2012 10:13:00 -0400

Marie Curie at the Radium Refining Plant, The Pittsburgh Sun, 1921 (via)

On This Day in Pittsburgh History: May 25, 1921

Madame Marie Curie, famed French scientist and co-discoverer of radium, arrived in Pittsburgh for a visit but was taken ill and confined to the home of Mrs. Henry R. Rea in Sewickley. Although weak from her illness, Madame Curie appeared at Memorial Hall the following day to receive her fifty-ninth honorary degree, conferred by Chancellor Bowman of the University of Pittsburgh. [Historic Pittsburgh]

Diamond Square with Allegheny City Hall and Carnegie Library,...

Thu, 24 May 2012 08:52:48 -0400

Diamond Square with Allegheny City Hall and Carnegie Library, Pittsburgh, 1937 (via)

Map of Fort Duquesne, 1755 (via) On This Day in Pittsburgh...

Thu, 24 May 2012 08:48:57 -0400

Map of Fort Duquesne, 1755 (via)

On This Day in Pittsburgh History: May 24, 1755

The French commandant announced that Fort Duquesne was completed. [Historic Pittsburgh]

picturedept: The Teenie Harris Archive Stumbling upon...

Wed, 23 May 2012 14:34:46 -0400

picturedept:

The Teenie Harris Archive

Stumbling upon photographer Teenie Harris was a fortuitous piece of luck while reading David Maraniss’ biography of baseball great Roberto Clemente, Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero.

Nicknamed “One Shot” because he rarely made a subject sit through retakes, Charles “Teenie” Harris (1908-1998) photographed Pittsburgh’s African American community at his photography studio and from 1936 until 1975 as a staffer with the Pittsburgh Courier, one of America’s oldest local black newspapers.

In his dual capacities as commercial and news photographer, Harris photographed both celebrities (Earl Hines, Lena Horne, Harry Truman, Jackie Robinson) and local figures. Collectively, his work provides an emotively vibrant group portrait of a community’s everyday life as played out against the Jim Crow and Civil Rights eras. (According to Jonathan Gaugler at the Carnegie Museum of Art, women in the community would stop by Harris’ studio immediately after they got their hair done, sit down and turn away from the camera. They had come for portraits of their new hairdos, and Harris obliged.)

In 2001, the Carnegie Museum of Art was entrusted with the Teenie Harris Archive of nearly 80,000 negatives. Almost 1,000 images can be viewed on the museum’s website.

Fun fact: dozens of Harris’ images capture Negro League baseball players from the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords, a team for which Harris himself played when they were the Crawford Colored Giants.

On This Day in Pittsburgh History: May 23, 1966 Frank Lloyd...

Wed, 23 May 2012 08:44:00 -0400

On This Day in Pittsburgh History: May 23, 1966

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, built for magnant Edgar Kaufmann, is deemed a National Landmark. [Wikipedia]

On This Day in Pittsburgh History: May 22, 1843 Mary Cassatt,...

Tue, 22 May 2012 09:21:34 -0400

On This Day in Pittsburgh History: May 22, 1843

Mary Cassatt, noted impressionist painter, was born in Allegheny. [Historic Pittsburgh]

Night View Through Trees of Pittsburgh, W. Eugene Smith, c. 1955...

Mon, 21 May 2012 20:45:34 -0400

Night View Through Trees of Pittsburgh, W. Eugene Smith, c. 1955 (via)

Gimbels’ department store looking south on Smithfield...

Mon, 21 May 2012 10:27:03 -0400

Gimbels’ department store looking south on Smithfield Street, Pittsburgh, early 1960s. Photo taken by Ralph McGough. [Old Family Photos]

(image via Jasperdo’s Flickr) On This Day in Pittsburgh...

Mon, 21 May 2012 09:54:54 -0400

(image via Jasperdo’s Flickr)

On This Day in Pittsburgh History: May 21, 1937

Governor Earle signed a bill to create a turnpike commission to issue $50 million to $65 million in bonds to finance construction of an “all-weather” toll highway from Pittsburgh to Harrisburg. [Historic Pittsburgh]

Oakmont Yacht Club, Pittsburgh, 1949 (via)

Sun, 20 May 2012 09:39:52 -0400

Oakmont Yacht Club, Pittsburgh, 1949 (via)

On This Day in Pittsburgh History: May 20, 1887 The Duquesne...

Sun, 20 May 2012 09:39:16 -0400

On This Day in Pittsburgh History: May 20, 1887

The Duquesne Incline starts operations on Mount Washington. [Wikipedia]

Biologist, author and Pittsburgh native Rachel Carson with...

Sat, 19 May 2012 19:34:00 -0400

Biologist, author and Pittsburgh native Rachel Carson with children and dog in the woods near her home, by Alfred Eisenstaedt for Life magazine. (via)

On This Day in Pittsburgh History: May 19, 1921 The...

Sat, 19 May 2012 09:53:20 -0400

On This Day in Pittsburgh History: May 19, 1921

The world’s first broadcast of “market” reports are on the air at KDKA-AM. [Wikipedia]

jaw3: “Duke Ellington at piano, with dancer Honey Coles and...

Fri, 18 May 2012 07:43:00 -0400

jaw3:

“Duke Ellington at piano, with dancer Honey Coles and Billy Strayhorn looking on, in the Stanley Theatre” by Teenie Harris (c. 1942-1943) © 2006 Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh