Repository: Heinz History Center
Title: Breathe Pennsylvania Records
Creator: Breathe Pennsylvania
Collection Number: MSS 1106
Extent: 6.5 linear feet (6 boxes and 6 shelf volumes)
Date: 1904-2009
Abstract: Breathe Pennsylvania, formerly known as the Tuberculosis League of Pittsburgh, provides lung health education and direct services to residents across southwestern Pennsylvania. Established in 1905 as the Pittsburgh Sanitarium, the organization operated a hospital for tuberculosis patients on Bedford Avenue in Pittsburgh's Hill District until the mid-1950s. The organization has also operated as the Christmas Seal League of Southwestern Pennsylvania, the American Lung Association of Western Pennsylvania, the American Respiratory Alliance of Western Pennsylvania, and Healthy Lungs Pennsylvania. The Breathe Pennsylvania Records include meeting minutes, reports, financial records, by-laws, membership lists, policy documents, correspondence, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, organizational histories, photographs, slides, and videos.
Language: The material in this collection is in English.
Author: The guide to this collection was written by Megan Massanelli.
Publisher: Heinz History Center
Address: 1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org

History

Breathe Pennsylvania provides lung health education and direct services to residents across southwestern Pennsylvania. The organization was established as the Pittsburgh Sanitarium in 1905 by Otis H. Childs, whose wife had succumbed to tuberculosis (TB) in 1901. In 1908, the organization changed its name to the Tuberculosis League of Pittsburgh after merging with the Pittsburgh Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis.

With state resources for the treatment of TB lacking, the organization turned to the city's business leaders, including H.J. Heinz, R.B. Mellon, and Henry Phipps, for financial support and positions on the board. William McConway, owner of a local steel company, offered his mansion on Bedford Avenue in the Hill District to serve as organization's first hospital.

In its early years, the organization focused on providing rest, exercise, and fresh air to its patients. Reflecting a widespread belief that exposure to cold air was an effective method of treating the illness, the Tuberculosis League established an open-air classroom and sleeping quarters. In later decades, the organization used x-ray machines to identify patients with the disease.

Beginning in the 1940s, a series of antibiotics were developed that proved successful in the treatment of TB. With demand for beds dropping, the Tuberculosis League closed its hospital in 1955. The organization continued to fight TB by sending mobile X-ray units into neighborhoods where the disease persisted and testing students in schools. The Tuberculosis League also treated other respiratory ailments, such as asthma, bronchitis, and black lung. The organization's service area extended beyond the city of Pittsburgh to include all of Allegheny county in addition to regional Pennsylvania counties such as Indiana and Armstrong.

The organization went through several name changes in recent decades, spending time as the Christmas Seal League of Southwestern Pennsylvania, American Lung Association of Western Pennsylvania, and the American Respiratory Alliance of Western Pennsylvania. Known as Breathe Pennsylvania since 2014, the organization continues to offer lung health education and direct services to residents across southwestern Pennsylvania.

Scope and Content Notes

Breathe Pennsylvania Records document the over 100-year history of organized tuberculosis care and treatment in Western Pennsylvania. Records include meeting minutes, reports, financial records, by-laws, membership lists, policy documents, correspondence, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, organizational histories, photographs, slides, and videos. The collection is organized into three series. Folders in each series are arranged alphabetically by title and then by date.

Conditions Governing Access

None.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift from Breathe Pennsylvania in 2015 and 2016.

Archives accession # 2015.0091, 2016.0077

Preferred Citation

Breathe Pennsylvania Records, 1905-2009, MSS 1106, Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center

Processing Information

Preliminary processing by Megan Massanelli on May 2017.

Conditions Governing Use

Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.

Related Materials

Tuberculosis and the Negro in Pittsburgh; a report of the Negro health survey, by Elsie Witchen, director, Negro health survey. 1934 RC313 .A57 N393, Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center

Archives of Industrial Society (AIS) Information Files, Pittsburgh Tuberculosis Sanitarium (Pa.), Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh

Archives of Industrial Society (AIS) Information Files, Tuberculosis league of Pittsburgh, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh

Separated Materials

Mantoux Tuberculin Test Arm separated to the museum collection, Senator John Heinz History Center

Subjects

Corporate Names

Tuberculosis League of Pittsburgh.

Personal Names

Marcy, C. H. (Charles Howard)

Geographic Names

Pittsburgh (Pa.)

Other Subjects

Public health--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh.
Tuberculosis--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh.

Container List

Series I Administrative Records, (1905-2004)

Scope and Contents

Series I contains the working records of the organization, including by-laws and meeting minutes, annual reports, policies and summaries of medical programming, studies, and financial records. The work of Dr. C. Howard Marcy, Medical Director of the Tuberculosis League of Pittsburgh from 1924 to 1959, is prominently documented. The series also includes a bound volume of maps and trends documenting the cause of death per disease of Pittsburgh residents between 1930 and 1936.

100th anniversary postage,, 2004

Containers: Box 1, Folder 1

Activities, general,, 1925, c. 1956, Undated

Containers: Box 1, Folder 2

Administrative correspondence and organization name documentation,, 1982-1990

Containers: Box 1, Folder 3

Administrative records,, 1905-1908

Containers: Box 1, Folder 4

American Lung Association affiliates in Western Pennsylvania,, 1994

Containers: Box 1, Folder 5

Annual reports,, 1949-1955

Containers: Box 1, Folder 6

Annual reports,, 1956-1970

Containers: Box 1, Folder 7

By-laws,, Undated

Containers: Box 1, Folder 8

Chest X-Ray Survey,, 1952

Containers: Box 1, Folder 9

Chest X-Ray Survey,, 1953

Containers: Box 1, Folder 10

Chest X-Ray Survey,, 1954-1957

Containers: Box 1, Folder 11

Chest X-Ray Survey forms,, 1954-1956

Containers: Box 1, Folder 12

Christmas Seal Sale,, 1951-1953, Undated

Containers: Box 1, Folder 13

Christmas Seal Sale,, 1954

Containers: Box 1, Folder 14

Christmas Seal Sale,, 1955-1957

Containers: Box 1, Folder 15

Committees,, c. 1951

Containers: Box 1, Folder 16

Contributions and trustees,, 1905-1959

Containers: Box 1, Folder 17

Deeds and stocks,, 1910-1980

Containers: Box 1, Folder 18

Films,, c. 1951, 1990-1997

Containers: Box 1, Folder 19

Michigan study,, 1949

Containers: Box 1, Folder 20

Patient and family education, social service and rehabilitation,, c. 1953

Containers: Box 1, Folder 21

Pennsylvania State Activities and State hospital reports,, 1966-1967

Containers: Box 1, Folder 22

Pennsylvania State Activities and State hospital reports,, 1966-1967

Containers: Box 1, Folder 23

Public relations and publications,, c. 1952

Containers: Box 1, Folder 24

Scholarship program for educational workshops,, 1955

Containers: Box 1, Folder 25

Tuberculin Testing in Schools,, 1956

Containers: Box 1, Folder 26

Tuberculosis Hospital of Pittsburgh, nomination To National Register of Historic Places,, 1992

Containers: Box 1, Folder 27

"Why We Don't Agree with the National ALA Position on Air Pollution",, 1997

Containers: Box 1, Folder 28

Meeting minutes, book 1, 1905-1911

Containers: Box 1, Folder 29

Meeting minutes, book 1, 1912-1918

Containers: Box 1, Folder 30

Meeting minutes, book 1, 1919-1921

Containers: Box 1, Folder 31

Meeting minutes, book 1, 1922

Containers: Box 1, Folder 32

Meeting minutes, book 1, 1923

Containers: Box 1, Folder 33

Meeting minutes, book 1, 1924-1925

Containers: Box 1, Folder 34

Meeting minutes, book 2, 1905-1913

Containers: Box 1, Folder 35

Meeting minutes, book 2, 1914-1921

Containers: Box 1, Folder 36

Meeting minutes, book 2, 1922-1923

Containers: Box 1, Folder 37

Meeting minutes, book 2, 1923-1928

Containers: Box 1, Folder 38

Meeting minutes, book 2, 1928

Containers: Box 1, Folder 39

Meeting minutes,, 1905-1925

Containers: Box 1, Volume [1]

Meeting minutes,, 1905-1928

Containers: Box 1, Volume [2]

Meeting minutes,, 1926-1934

Containers: Box 2, Volume [1]

Meeting minutes,, 1935-1942

Containers: Box 2, Volume [3]

Meeting minutes,, 1942-1947

Containers: Box 2, Volume [4]

Meeting minutes,, 1947-1951

Containers: Box 2, Volume [5]

Meeting minutes,, 1951-1956

Containers: Box 2, Volume [6]

Meeting minutes,, 1956-1962

Containers: Box 2, Volume [7]

Meeting minutes,, 1963-1967

Containers: Box 3, Volume [1]

Meeting minutes,, 1968-1971

Containers: Box 3, Volume [8]

Meeting minutes,, 1972-1975

Containers: Box 3, Volume [9]

Meeting minutes,, 1976-1989

Containers: Box 3, Volume [10]

Pittsburgh resident deaths, maps & trends,, 1930-1936

Containers: Box 3, Shelf Volume

Series II. Organizational History, (1904-2009)

Scope and Contents

Series II contains published and unpublished histories pertaining to the organization as well as the Indiana County Tuberculosis and Health Society, Christmas seal programs, pioneers in the areas of medical research and disease eradication, and tuberculosis disease in general. There are also collections of loose and scrapbooked newspaper clippings kept by the organization.

100th anniversary exhibit,, c. 2005

Containers: Box 3, Folder 1

Allegheny County Public Health Bulletin,, 1948-1975

Containers: Box 3, Folder 2

Christmas Seal League exhibit at Smithsonian Institute,, 1982

Containers: Box 3, Folder 3

Christmas Seal League, History of,, 1907-2003

Containers: Box 3, Folder 4

Clippings,, 1908-1948

Containers: Box 3, Folder 5

Clippings,, 1957

Containers: Box 3, Folder 6

Clippings,, 1957-1960

Containers: Box 3, Folder 7

Clippings,, 1973

Containers: Box 3, Folder 8

Clippings,, 1973

Containers: Box 3, Folder 9

Clippings,, 1984

Containers: Box 3, Folder 10

Clippings,, 1984

Containers: Box 3, Folder 11

Clippings,, 1984

Containers: Box 3, Folder 12

Clippings,, 1984

Containers: Box 3, Folder 13

Clippings,, 1984

Containers: Box 3, Folder 14

Clippings,, 1985

Containers: Box 3, Folder 15

Clippings,, 1985

Containers: Box 3, Folder 16

Clippings,, 1986

Containers: Box 3, Folder 17

Clippings,, 1986

Containers: Box 3, Folder 18

Clippings,, 1987

Containers: Box 3, Folder 19

Clippings,, 1987

Containers: Box 3, Folder 20

Clippings,, 1987

Containers: Box 3, Folder 21

Clippings,, 1988

Containers: Box 3, Folder 22

Clippings,, 1988

Containers: Box 4, Folder 1

Clippings,, 1988

Containers: Box 4, Folder 2

Clippings,, 1988

Containers: Box 4, Folder 3

Clippings,, 1989

Containers: Box 4, Folder 4

Clippings,, 1989

Containers: Box 4, Folder 5

Clippings,, 1989

Containers: Box 4, Folder 6

Clippings,, 1989

Containers: Box 4, Folder 7

Clippings,, 1990

Containers: Box 4, Folder 8

Clippings,, 1990

Containers: Box 4, Folder 9

Clippings,, 1990

Containers: Box 4, Folder 10

Clippings,, 1990

Containers: Box 4, Folder 11

Clippings,, 1990

Containers: Box 4, Folder 12

Clippings,, 1991

Containers: Box 4, Folder 13

Clippings,, 1991

Containers: Box 4, Folder 14

Clippings,, 1991

Containers: Box 4, Folder 15

Clippings,, 1991

Containers: Box 4, Folder 16

Clippings,, 1991

Containers: Box 4, Folder 17

Clippings,, 1991

Containers: Box 4, Folder 18

Clippings,, 1991

Containers: Box 4, Folder 19

Clippings,, 1993

Containers: Box 4, Folder 20

Clippings- Rocky Bleier,, 1980

Containers: Box 4, Folder 21

Organizational histories,, 1904-1937

Containers: Box 4, Folder 22

Organizational histories,, 1950-1969

Containers: Box 4, Folder 23

Organizational histories,, 1970-c. 1973

Containers: Box 4, Folder 24

Organizational histories,, 1990-2009

Containers: Box 4, Folder 25

Organizational histories,, Undated

Containers: Box 4, Folder 26

Organizational histories,, Undated

Containers: Box 4, Folder 27

Organizational publications,, 1916-1926

Containers: Box 4, Folder 28

Organizational publications,, c. 1940-1956

Containers: Box 4, Folder 29

Organizational publications,, 1963-1966

Containers: Box 4, Folder 30

Organizational publications,, 1971-1990, Undated

Containers: Box 4, Folder 31

Outside publications,, 1922-1937

Containers: Box 4, Folder 32

Outside publications,, 1948-1956

Containers: Box 4, Folder 33

Outside publications,, 1972-1995, Undated

Containers: Box 4, Folder 34

Scrapbook,, 1929

Containers: Box 4, Shelf Volume

Scrapbook,, 1956-1957

Containers: Box 4, Shelf Volume

Scrapbook,, 1972-1973

Containers: Box 4, Shelf Volume

Scrapbook,, 1972-1978

Containers: Box 4, Shelf Volume

Scrapbook,, 1973-1979

Containers: Box 4, Shelf Volume

Series III. Photographs and Video, (1910-2005)

Scope and Contents

Series III contains images of the Tuberculosis Hospital of Pittsburgh, services offered by the organization, summer camps for asthmatic children, exhibits and presentations, educational programming, events, and advertising. Images are also included of board members, trustees, staff, and volunteers. Photographic slides depict members of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh Pirates teams participating in the mobile chest x-ray program. In addition to photographs of Mayor Caliguiri in this series, a photograph of Mayor Sophie Masloff is located in box 5, folder 29. Photographs are also included in box 3, folder 3.

75th Anniversary event,, 1979

Containers: Box 5, Folder 1