Homestead Album Oral History Project Records
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Audio and transcripts from all the oral history interviews in this collection are available online. In addition, photographs and documents from the project case files are available for several interviewees. The content of the interviews spans the life histories of the individuals and addresses the topics of community and family life from the turn of the Twentieth century to 1976-1977 in the Homestead area. A grant from the Recordings At Risk Program from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) made the digitization of these oral histories possible during the 2022-2023 academic term. As part of this project, all transcripts were machine-generated with minor edits for intelligibility and to identify speakers when possible. Transcripts may contain inaccuracies, misspellings, or omissions depending on original audio clarity.
A Notice on Harmful or Offensive Language
While using the Homestead Album Oral History Project, please consider its context. These interviews were recorded in 1976-1977. Due to the nature of these historical materials, there are occurrences of language, positions, and values that do not align with our values and practices at the University of Pittsburgh.
When harmful, offensive, or misrepresentative language is present and part of the original archival materials, it is recognized as best practice to retain such information so as not to censor or alter the historical record and to maintain an understanding of the context and time period in which these items were first created.
What's in the entire collection?
The collection consists of twenty oral history interviews conducted in 1976 and 1977 by the Pennsylvania Ethnic Heritage Studies Center, part of the University Center for International Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. The interviews document the experience of individuals of varied ethnicities who have lived in the Homestead area of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The 20 interviews were originally captured on 31 cassette tapes. The original project also included transcriptions, subject indexes, and translations for many of the interviews. Project case files for each interviewee may also include photographs and documents provided by the interviewee at the time of their interview. The collection also includes project operational files consisting of administrative files, contact work, and informational card files.
About the Homestead Album Oral History Project.
The Homestead Album Oral History Project was administered by the Pennsylvania Ethnic Heritage Studies Center (PEHSC), part of the University Center for International Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. The interviews were conducted by Nora Faires and Jim Barrett using a set questionnaire and photographs to aid the interviews. The project was led by Stephen P. Zupcic, director of the Oral History Program for Western Pennsylvania at the University. The impetus for the project came from the 1975 reissue of the classic sociological study, Homestead: The Households of a Mill Town by Margaret Byington (first published in 1910 by the Russell Sage Foundation and later reissued by the University Center for International Studies at the University of Pittsburgh). It was the Center's intention to reexamine Homestead using such research tools as survey analysis and oral history. The projected plan included the preparation of a magazine focusing on excerpts from oral history interviews. After 20 interviews, the project was set aside, and a magazine was never published. It is unclear from the records whether the project was dropped because of lack of funding, lack of direction, or some other reason. The project as it stands documents the experience of individuals of varied ethnicities who lived in the Homestead and Munhall (Steel Valley) areas near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from the turn of the century to 1976-1977.
