Repository

Heinz History Center

Title

Pittsburgh Public Schools Records

Creator

Pittsburgh Public Schools

Collection Number

MSS#117

Extent

124.5 cubic feet (197 Boxes)

Date

1848-1999

Abstract

The Pittsburgh Public Schools began operating as an official institution in 1835 after the passage of the "Common School" Law of 1834 by the Pennsylvania Legislature. These records include correspondence, reports, scrapbooks, student records, minutes, and business records documenting the internal and external operations of a large, urban school district. The most thorough series of material is the Curriculum Division course descriptions and curriculum guides.

Language

The material in this collection is in English.

Author

This guide to the collection was originally prepared by: Stephen Doell in December 1994. Revisions occurred to the finding aid as a part of the encoding process in Fall, 1999. Additional records were arranged by David R. Grinnell in March 2010. Additons added by Sierra Green in June 2021.

Sponsor

This finding aid has been encoded as a part of the Historic Pittsburgh project a joint effort of the University of Pittsburgh and the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Funding for this portion of the project has been donated by the Hillman Foundation.

Publisher

Heinz History Center

Address

1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org

Historical Sketch of the Pittsburgh Public Schools

The Pittsburgh Public Schools began operating as an official institution in 1835 after the passage of the "Common School" Law of 1834 by the Pennsylvania Legislature. The four wards of the city at that time became the school wards, West, South, East, and North. For the first fifteen years of its existence the Pittsburgh Public schools operated out of rented or loaned office space, churches or warehouses in the downtown area. An 1838 newspaper article reported 1420 students attended twelve different schools administered by 18 teachers. These schools consisted of five male, five female, one black(attended by both boys and girls) and one infant school. By 1850 each ward had constructed school buildings for the sole purpose of instruction.

In 1855 the commonwealth relinquished its supervisory role over public schools thus enabling the Pittsburgh Board of Public Education to assume control over the school system. A Central Board was created by the directors of each ward to oversee the administration of the schools, but, for the most part, each ward board had complete authority over the schools within its jurisdiction including the hiring of teachers and principals, construction of buildings, and the approval of curricula. This system permitted unscrupulous tactics for the collection and distribution of funds for the schools. Graft, patronage, spoils politics and corruption dictated school policy for the next fifty years. Stories of payoffs to illegal contractors, uneducated relatives of board members hired as teachers, and outright theft of school coffers for illicit activities flourished throughout the city, but little could be done to change this system.

Despite these practices the Pittsburgh Public Schools and its students did progress throughout the second half of the nineteenth century. The Central Board created the first High School in the city with the opening of the Central High School in September, 1855. One hundred fourteen students enrolled in three separate levels of instruction that fall. In 1859 three seniors attended ceremonies honoring the first graduating class of Central High.

With the appointment of George Luckey as Superintendent in 1868, the Schools acquired a long-term leader who worked to upgrade the conditions of the school system. He submitted the first annual report in 1869. Luckey served as superintendent until 1899. During his tenure the Pittsburgh Public Schools organized the Pittsburgh Teachers' Institute, began offering evening courses, opened the first kindergarten in Pittsburgh, received special service from the Carnegie Library, and offered special classes for the deaf.

The Pennsylvania Legislature enacted a new School Code in 1911 changing the structure and function of the Board of Education. Under this new organization all sixty one individual school districts were eliminated and a court appointed board of fifteen was established to oversee the administration of the school system. The restructured school district ended the corrupt practices of the ward boards and ensured a more efficient and productive system. Despite the evils of the previous system, many local groups criticized the new Board because of its central authority, these groups felt they were losing control of their own neighborhoods by the state instituting an appointed board. The change helped to elevate the Pittsburgh Public Schools to one of the top school districts in the country over the next several decades. Accolades from national organizations and government agencies recognized the Pittsburgh Public Schools.

The new board worked swiftly to advance the school district appropriating funds for the refurbishing, demolition and construction of several school buildings. At that time 12,000 students were attending school half-time because of lack of classrooms and teachers were carrying loads of over ninety students. The board formed the Building Department, which immediately began construction of five new elementary schools and two new high schools. From 1911 to 1920 annexation added more buildings desperately in need of repair. In the first thirty years of its existence, the board oversaw sixty five major building projects at a cost to the district of over 41 million dollars. But this building boom was necessary to make the education experience of sixty thousand pupils safe, secure and comfortable.

Other changes and improvements the new board adopted after its appointment were a uniform district wide system of record keeping and taxation, the establishment of a Department of Vocational Guidance, the abolishment of entrance examinations to high school which increased enrollment in the secondary schools 382% between 1914 and 1930, a normal school and retirement package for teachers, an evening school and continuation school for dropouts including Industrial and Trade Training programs, and took over the Open Air School at the Irene Kaufmann Settlement House.

Continuity in leadership also helped the Pittsburgh Schools to progress. While S. L. Heeter, the district's first superintendent, served only two years, Dr. William Mehard Davidson (1913-1930) and Dr. Benjamin G. Graham (1930-1942) combined to act as the school's top administrator until the middle of World War II. This long term commitment to service and a centralized board, many of whom served longer than both Davidson and Graham, enabled the board to correct many of the problems created by the previous sub-district system.

As the prosperity of the twenties gave way to the poverty of the Great Depression the Pittsburgh Public Schools adapted to the changing needs of the community and its children. Working in tandem with the Frick Educational Commission many schools became food distribution centers for needy families. In 1932 all teachers agreed to voluntarily give back ten percent of their salary to keep the schools open and functioning at normal schedule. Federal programs also worked with the district for the benefit of the community. The National Youth Administration hired students for non-academic maintenance and clerical positions in the schools. In addition, the Public Works Administration put construction crews to work building Schiller School and West Liberty School in 1939. Along with economic aid the school district also was concerned with the social welfare of its students replacing its ineffective Truant Officer with trained social workers called Home and School visitors. By 1940 the district mandated a Department of Special Education to provide extra instruction to mentally and physically disadvantaged youths.

The next two decades also saw the Pittsburgh Public Schools adjusting to the ebb and flow of local, national and international events. World War II brought civil defense training to the high schools and a decrease in enrollment as students and teachers joined in the service of their country. After the war the schools retooled their curriculum to train returning veterans who left without earning their diplomas. A more interdisciplinary approach to education became the standard reaction to a burgeoning global economy. Despite several budget crunches in the mid 1940s and early 1950s forced cutbacks and retrenchment of programs the board initiated a second building boom to keep pace with the city's own Renaissance.

The Post-war years also changed the racial matrix of the city of Pittsburgh affecting major policy of the school district into the 1980s. In 1945 the black student population in the schools was 18.8% by 1965 this figured doubled to 36.7%. The 1965 board annual report issued a statement of policy noting a need for, "All reasonable measures to integrate student population and staff." In 1967 the Columbus Middle School opened with much fanfare as the first attempt at desegregation in the school district. The magnet system of schools, as it was called, attempted to pull in students from different neighborhoods to one central location for a more consistent educational experience. Unfortunately the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC) did not agree that the Columbus School changed segregation policy and ordered the Pittsburgh Public Schools to develop an official desegregation plan in February 1968. School and government leaders formed the Pittsburgh Council on Public Education (PCPE) to do just that. However, their first submissions were rejected by the PHRC creating a protracted battle between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg for the next fifteen years. Teacher strikes, frequent superintendent changes and calls for direct election of board members combined with the PHRC's ultimatums for integrated schools created tense situations for school administrators. In 1979 the PCPE instituted the "Pittsburgh Desegregation Plan" based on a similar magnet school concept of program oriented schools. The PHRC rejected the plan and held the district in contempt of court, but the board implemented the plan anyway and opened schools in September 1980 without incident.

Into the 1990s the Pittsburgh Public Schools continue to support its community just as it did when the central board was appointed in 1911. It still provides vocational training, adult education programs and free lunch programs to the disadvantaged. Despite the changes that have taken place throughout their history the Board of Education and School District of Pittsburgh have maintained their commitment to excellence in their service to the city of Pittsburgh.

Scope and Content Notes

The Records of the Pittsburgh Public Schools are housed in 197 archival boxes and arranged in ten series. The records contain the following series: Series I: Individual Schools (1848-1980), Series II: Curriculum and Instruction Division (1927-1980), Series III: Assistant Superintent's Offices(1900-1982), Series IV: Superintendent and Board of Education (1925-1986), Series V: Board of Education, Annual Reports (1912-1945), Series VI: Board of Education, Committees (1911-1942), Series VII: Board of Education, Minute Books (1911-1999),Series VIII: Central Board of Education, Minutes (1890-1911), Series IX: Pittsburgh-Mount Oliver Intermediate Unit, Minutes (1971-1991), and Series X: Topical Materials (1889-1983).

These records include correspondence, reports, scrapbooks, student records, minutes, and business records documenting the internal and external operations of a large, urban school district. Although these records are not comprehensive they provide strong elements that include course descriptions, status reports, school records from closed schools and Parent Teacher Association(PTA) records. The most thorough series of material is the Curriculum Division course descriptions and curriculum guides. These records originated in an Assistant Superintendent's office and therefore would normally be located in Series III. However, because of their comprehensiveness and volume they are designated as a separate series. Nearly every class offered by the Pittsburgh School District is represented including core classes such as English and Mathematics, low interest but challenging courses(Russian Languages), the full gamut of vocational courses from Aeronautics to Ornamental Metal working, and various specialized courses for the mainstream students.

The first accession of records was collected through the Pittsburgh Public Schools Archival Survey Project in 1982 directed by Dr. Carolyn Schumacher. The project was funded with a grant from the H. C. Frick Educational Commission. The records were stored at various facilities and combined as one unit during the accessioning of the collection by the Historical Society. One problem encountered during the processing of the collection was the hit-or-miss appearance of certain records. For example, the business and finance records include detailed retirement and wage reports from 1941-1953 and withholding tax records from 1959-1969, but very little information beyond those materials. In addition, most of the individual school records are from closed schools or schools that changed function and unfortunately during the transition process many records were lost or destroyed. Likewise many of the assistant superintendent office files only contain records from particular personnel who held that position( e.g. the curriculum division records are exclusively from Dr. Mary Molyneaux's office). Lastly, some of the records are from school districts that were at one time not part of the Pittsburgh School District such as Minersville, Mount Oliver and East Street School of Allegheny, which, through annexation, became part of Pittsburgh and hence part of the school district.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

These items came in three accessions in 1992,2010, and 2015.

Acc# 1992.300 Gift of the Board of Education of the Pittsburgh Public Schools (Records).

Acc# 2010.0060 Gift of the Board of Education of the Pittsburgh Public Schools (Records). Acc #2015.0077 Gift of Michael and Elmer Parks (Knox School, Knoxville/South Pittsburgh School District additions).

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Stephen Doell in December 1994.

Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Lisa Sheets in Fall, 1999.

Acc# 2010.0060 was incorporated into the existing collection by David R. Grinnell in 2010. Acc# 2015.0077 was incorporated into the existing collection by Sierra Green in 2021.

Conditions Governing Use

Property rights reside with the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or publish, please contact the curator of the Archives.

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