Collections

This oral history collection consists of transcripts, cassette tapes, project working files and background organizational records of the interviews conducted during the African American Jazz Preservation Society of Pittsburgh (AAJPSP) Oral History Project (1995-1999). The project documents individual African American Jazz Musicians in Pittsburgh as well as their efforts to organize. The content of the interviews span from 1904 to 1999.

Contains correspondence to Alexander Addison, the president judge of the Fifth District Court of Pennsylvania (1791-1802), from Hugh Henry Brackenridge, William Findley and Charles Nisbet regarding political events in the U. S. and Europe, particularly the Constitutional Convention, Jay and Pinckney Treaties, Indian wars, and the Whiskey Rebellion.

Consists of 14 of 16 patents that Dr. Lowy secured for his research, some memorabilia from his college years, and materials related to the dedication of the Alexander Lowy Memorial Seminar Room in Langley Hall on May 25, 1959.

Photographic negatives documenting buildings, construction projects, and events in Allegheny County. The county fair, county parks, the construction of roads and bridges, and official county events are particularly well represented within the collection. The records also include aerial photographic prints, film, and video.

Images of Alcoa’s founders, employees, factories, and products dating from the 1870s through 1960s.

Correspondence from Andrew Carnegie between the 1890s and 1920s that include letters and telegrams pertaining to Andrew Carnegie, his philanthropy, and the founding of his Pittsburgh institutions.

Papers hold the accounting records and personal and business correspondence between 1809-1888 related to the Beazel family, who lived in Westmoreland County and Washington County, Pennsylvania.

Contains selected images from c. 1930 to 1974 that document the operation of the Bill Green’s nightclub in Pleasant Hills, Pennsylvania. The collection includes images of Bill Green, his nightclub, musicians, radio broadcasts, and events.

Contains images of blind men and women engaged in occupations such as making brooms, weaving, and caning chairs.

Contains images from ca. 1910 to 2000 that document Breathe Pennsylvania's work in promoting respiratory health in Western Pennsylvania. The collection includes images of the organization offering health services and promoting education initiatives.

Visual images of depictions of glassware manufacturing as well as images of products, product displays, glass production facilities, and employees from Bryce Brothers Company and Lenox, Inc.

Visual images from the 1930s-1940s depict the Consolidation Coal Company (the forerunner of CONSOL Energy Inc.) and its operations, including miners at work, mine construction, interiors of shafts, mine cars, barges carrying coal, and railroad cars filled with coal. Also includes hand-drawn above-ground maps and annual reports.

Visual images from the 1870s-1950s show scenes from mills and factories, street activity, portraits, and aerial shots of Downtown Pittsburgh by noted photographers Esther Bubley, Clyde Hare, Luke Swank, Harold Corsini and Hugh Torrance.

Contains speeches given by Charles C. McGovern between 1924-1948. They include Square Deal Party speeches made during the McGovern/Barr for County Commissioners re-election campaign and WJAS weekly broadcast speeches.

Visual images depict the march in Pittsburgh on the National Day of Mourning on April 7, 1968, three days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Images from the 1870s-2000s chronicle the students, faculty, and university community and the growth of Chatham University from a small women’s college to a thriving coeducational institution.

Images of the Shadyside campus of Chatham University in the early 1900s depict campus facilities and highlight building interiors, athletic facilities, and student activities during the early years of the school.

The Children's Service Bureau provided adoption and foster care services, and in-home counselling for underprivileged children in Pittsburgh from 1908-1948. These records contain annual reports from 1931-1944.

The City Directories contains directories published between 1815 and 1945 by J.F. Diffenbacher and R.L. Polk & Company. While most of the directories cover Pittsburgh and Allegheny City, a portion includes Homestead and nearby boroughs.

Contains hand-rendered and mimeographed broadsides, newsletters, and flyers that present a local snapshot of Pittsburgh's radical politics during the 1930s and 1940s.

Visual images document confirmation classes, Hebrew school classes, and bar and bat mitzvah students from 1920-1992. Other images include B'nai Israel's religious leaders, congregational events, and the exterior and interior of the synagogue.

The Crafton Public Library collection contains photographs and documents pertaining to people, places, and businesses in Crafton; Crafton’s original land deeds dating back to the late 1800s; print records of the Crafton Borough Council from the late 1800s onwards; maps and estate plans of Crafton and contiguous boroughs; and three dimensional objects such as street signs and clothing

Contains copies of orders sent by Colonel Daniel Brodhead, who commanded the Western Department from his headquarters at Fort Pitt from 1779-1781, to various military officers, including those stationed at Forts Armstrong, Wheeling, Tuscarora, and Laurens; they reveal the recurring difficulties posed by food shortages, lack of money, uncooperative officers, and raids conducted by hostile Indian tribes, which contributed to settlers abandoning their property.

The Darlington Digital Library was created from the first major collection of books, manuscripts, atlases, maps and artwork donated to the University of Pittsburgh. Most of the credit for assembling the Darlington Collection rightly goes to William M. Darlington, an attorney by profession who was born in Pittsburgh in 1815.