2017

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
Refugees and Resettlement in Pittsburgh
Speakers: Barbara Burstin, SHHS Member and faculty member of both Pitt and CMU
and Michael Ehrmann, SHHS President
This talk will include a family story of flight by Squirrel Hill Historical Society president Michael Ehrmann and some perspective on resettlement in Pittsburgh by refugees and World War II survivors by historian Barbara Burstin

November
History of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust 
Speaker: J. Kevin McMahon,
President and CEO The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust

From: Pittsburgh Cultural Trust website:
For over three decades, the Trust has led the cultural and economic development of Pittsburgh’s Cultural District.

Lauded as “the single greatest creative force in Pittsburgh because of its spirit of reinvention” by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, the Trust is the catalyst behind Pittsburgh’s thriving Cultural District that continues to enrich the region’s vibrancy and prosperity.

October
Homestead Steel Strike” by Frick Art & Historical Center
A seminal event of the era, the Homestead Steel Strike of 1892 changed the face of labor for decades. Examine the events and the players in this drama of American industrial history.

September
KDKA and the History of Radio
Speakers: Michael Young, Senior Vice President and Pittsburgh Market Manager, KDKA Radio, and PJ Kumanchik, News Director, of KDKA Radio

“World’s First commercial station began operating November 2, 1920, when KDKA reported Harding Cox election returns from a makeshift studio at the East Pittsburgh Works of Westinghouse. Music, sports, talks, and special events were soon being regularly aired.” – Explore Pa History

August
History of Giant Eagle
Speaker: Josh Shapira,
Member of One of the Giant Eagle Founding Families
Manager, City of Pittsburgh Stores

After World War I, three Pittsburgh-area families–the Goldsteins, Porters, and Chaits–built a grocery chain called Eagle Grocery. – fromWikipedia.

July
Her Deeds Sing Her Praises: Profiles of Pittsburgh Jewish Women
Speakers: Eileen Lane and Lois Michaels
“Her Deeds Sing Her Praises: Profiles of Pittsburgh Jewish Women” relates 21 brief biographies of local Jewish women spanning nearly 150 years. – from the Chronicle

July
Walking Tour of “Schenley Park”
Held in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy

May
Community Day School: Preserving Tradition, Securing the Future
Speaker: AVI BARAN MUNRO, Head of the School
“Community Day School is a nurturing, academically excellent Jewish day school for the 21st century.” – Jewish Community Day School website

May
Walking Tour
Carnegie Mellon University
Tour Guides Don Coffelt, Associate Vice Pres. for Facilities Management Services and Bob Reppe, Director of Design for Campus Design and Facility Development

From Wikipedia: Founded in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools, the university became the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1912 and began granting four-year degrees. In 1967, the Carnegie Institute of Technology merged with the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research to form Carnegie Mellon University…….

Carnegie Mellon consistently ranks in the top 25 in the national U.S. News & World Report rankings. It is home to the world’s first degree-granting Robotics and Drama programs, as well as one of the first Computer Science departments. The university spent over $703 million on research in 2015.

April
Pittsburgh Holocaust Center
Speaker: LAUREN BAIRNSFATHER, PhD., Director
In 2015, Lauren Apter Bairnsfather was appointed director of the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, an affiliate organization of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

Congregation Beth Shalom, Celebrating 100 Years
Speaker: HONEY FORMAN, Centennial Coordinator, Beth Shalom
Ms. Forman has worked in Jewish education for over forty years having taught both Judaic studies and Hebrew in a number of synagogues and temples in the Pittsburgh area.

March
The Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh
Speaker: JO ELLEN PARKER, President of the Carnegie Museums
In August 2014, Jo Ellen Parker arrived in Pittsburgh and became the 10th president of Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh and the first woman to lead the museums.

February
Examining the History of Squirrel Hill through its Buildings: How to Research the History of Your Own Building
Speaker: KELLEY STROUP, Founder of House History
Using maps and other historical documents to track the history of development in Squirrel Hill lends both historical and local context to the vibrant community we all appreciate today.

January
The Map in the Image — A 50 Year Effort to Combine Pictures and Maps
Speaker: DOUG COOPER, Andrew Mellon Professor at Carnegie Mellon University
Combining story, history and memory into panoramic murals has become the theme of Doug Cooper’s work. – from CMU Website: CMU Mural .