The collection consists of 131 photographic prints taken by Dr. Walter J. Teskey. Subjects depicted include the city of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh during the 1936 and 1937 floods, trains, and people riding model trains. These images were taken between 1936 and 1963., Walter J. Teskey Photograph Collection, AIS.2010.03, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh., Also available online through the World Wide Web., Acquired from Ken Kobus via Rawden E. Rambo, who acquired them from his friend, Walter J. Teskey. Rambo and Teskey are both deceased., Dr. Walter J. Teskey was an amateur photographer, train enthusiast, and a chiropodist who practiced in the Jenkins Arcade. Teskey was a resident of Wilkinsburgh until his death in 1979. Known for his highly precise scale train models, Dr. Walter J. Teskey considered himself to be a hobbyist train enthusiast, though his extremely precise scale models were employed by Westinghouse in their development of production-size train components. The latter portion of this collection depicts trains and scale models with riders., Warmer than normal temperatures on March 16, 1936, led to the melting of snow and ice pushing the waters of the already swollen Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers over their banks. Heavy overnight rains on March 17 further elevated water above the 25 foot flood levels of the city. On March 18, 1936, the city of Pittsburgh experienced the worst flood in its history, with water levels reaching a peak of 46 feet. Referred to alternately as both the Pittsburgh Flood of 1936 and the Great Saint Patrick's Day flood, flood waters submerged portions of the city for more than 48 hours. This massive destruction of buildings and area steel mills finally prompted the United States Congress, three months after the flood, to approve nine flood control reservoirs as part of flood control measures that the city had pursued without success for the prior three decades. In early 1937, record rainfall contributed to the flooding again of the city of Pittsburgh. Heavy rainfall across several states in the Ohio River Valley caused water levels of the Ohio River to rise above flood levels, resulting in massive flooding that devastated portions of Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and the city of Pittsburgh. Though spared the brunt of the river's floodwaters, Pittsburgh still experienced serious flooding, with water levels reaching a peak of 28.1 feet., Finding aid Available in repository and on Internet; Item level control; http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/f/findaid/findaid-idx?type=simple;c=ascead;view=text;subview=outline;didno=US-PPiU-ais201003
Publisher
Contributor
Teskey, Walter J., University of Pittsburgh (depositor)
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