Click on any underlined title to see more detailed information on each program, including videos approved for recording by speaker. If you have trouble playing any video, please let us know at email: sqhillhist@shhsoc.org
December
Squirrel Hill by the Numbers, Growth and Change of a Pittsburgh Neighborhood!
Speaker: CHRIS BRIEM, University of Pittsburgh Center for Social and Urban Research
The presentation will compile current and historical data on the Squirrel Hill neighborhood focusing on demographic and economic change in the context of a changing Pittsburgh.
November
The Development of Squirrel Hill — A Journey Through Time and Art
Speaker: HELEN WILSON, Vice President of the Squirrel Hill Historical Society
Her presentation will explain how Squirrel Hill developed from primeval wilderness to the thriving urban community it is today, taking into account its geography, history, political development and immigration patterns.
October
Getting to Know our Neighbors —
“Tales From Our Towns-People, Places & Events Forgotten By the History Books”
Speaker: GARY ROGERS, President of the Oakmont Historical Society
From Gary Rogers: My program will include stories from my book Tales From Our Towns-People, Places & Events Forgotten By the History Books. The book is a collection of true stories from the past that have been lost to time. The stories all took place in Allegheny County. My specialty is uncovering those events that most people do not know about.
Read July,2010 Post-Gazette Article
September
Remembering Walter Forward
(of Forward Avenue and Forward Townships in Washington and Butler Counties)
Speaker: DR. MILES S. RICHARDS, Historian
Walter Forward was born in East Granby, Connecticut, he attended the common schools. After moving with his father to Aurora, Ohio, he settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1803. There he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1806. He practiced in Pittsburgh and also served for several years as editor of the Tree of Liberty. He also served in the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
August
No Meeting- Have a nice vacation.
July
HISTORY OF DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY
Speaker: TOM WHITE, University Archivist
from Duquesne University website: Duquesne University was founded in 1878 by a group of Catholic missionaries also known as the Spiritans. From humble beginnings as a school for the children of Pittsburgh’s poor immigrants, Duquesne today is an educational and economic powerhouse comprising ten schools of study that serve more than 10,000 students.
June
The Formation of Temple Sinai
Speaker: JACKIE BRASLAWSCE, Director of Informal Education at Temple Sinai
Information from Temple Sinai Website
Temple Sinai comes from humble beginnings: a tiny room at Forbes and Murray housed our offices; two neighboring churches opened their hearts and their doors to us for our worship and Religious School. Dr. Burton E. Levinson, our first rabbi, accepted the challenge of molding a new congregation in Liberal Judaism from a small group of unaffiliated families who knew neither each other nor what Reform Judaism had to offer them.
June
WALKING TOUR
Chatham University
Chatham University Website
Chatham University dates its beginnings back to 1869 where it was first housed in the Berry Mansion on Woodland Road. Today’s campus consists of buildings and grounds from former Mansions of such Pittsburgh notables as Andrew Mellon, Edward Stanton Fickes, George M Laughlin Jr. and James Rea.
Elements designed by the renowned Olmsted Brothers for the original Andrew Mellon estates are included in the present campus. Chatham’s campus was designated an Arboretum by the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta.
May
Steel City Cemeteries: From Graveyards to Gardens
Speaker: Dr. Elisabeth Roark, Associate Professor of Art, Chatham University
April
A History of Ten Thousand Villages: The Role of the Presbyterian Church
Speakers: KAREN HORST, Volunteer Coordinator and Outreach Manager, and SUSAN SCHNEIDER, Original Founding Member of the Pittsburgh “Ten Thousand Villages”
from the website: pittsburgh.tenthousandvillages.com
Ten Thousand Villages in Pittsburgh, PA, is a fair trade retailer of artisan-crafted home decor, personal accessories and gift items from across the globe.
March
The YWCA in Pittsburgh since 1869
Speaker: Magdeline E. Jensen, Chief Executive Officer of the YWCA Greater Pittsburgh
Information from YWCA Website: Since its proud beginnings in 1869, the YWCA Greater Pittsburgh has championed social progress for women and children.
February
“The Fall and Rise of Pittsburgh Labor: From the “Stogie Strike” to the Congress of Industrial Organizations”
Speaker: CHARLES McCOLLESTER, Author of “The Point of Pittsburgh” and director of the Pa. Center for the Study of Labor Relations, and professor of Industrial and Labor Relations at Indiana University of PA.
The “1913 Stogie Strike” — The most successful strike in Pittsburgh during this period was the IWW led strike of the stogie workers in the Hill District, in 1913. Led largely by Jewish immigrants and socialists, the stogie workers had been denied membership in the AFL in 1912. They joined the IWW the following year and went on strike for eighteen weeks.
January
The Development of the August Wilson Center
Speaker: OLIVER BYRD, Founder and Interim Co-Director, August Wilson Center
from the August Wilson website: One of only two major arts institutions in the world named for Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright and Pittsburgh native August Wilson, the August Wilson Center for African American Culture engages regional and national audiences in its mission of preserving, presenting, interpreting, celebrating and shaping the art, culture and history of African Americans utilizing the rich history, legacy and culture of African Americans from Western Pennsylvania as a foundation.
*No additional information or video is available for this program
Squirrel Hill Historical Society 