Guide to the Papers of Loresa Arbula Matthews, c1900-1955
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- Papers of Loresa Arbula Matthews
- Creator
- Matthews, Loresa Arbula
- Collection Number
- MSS#257
- Extent
- .25 cubic feet (1 box)
- Date
- c1900-1955
- Abstract
- Loresa A. Matthews, an African-American woman, was born in 1910 to parents Laurence and Clara Beale Matthews. They lived in the Eighth Ward of Pittsburgh on the east side of the city. These papers include handwritten school notebooks, a yearbook, a property mortgage, two newspaper articles, and an autograph book. These papers were kept from 1916-1954.
- Language
- The material in this collection is in English.
- 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
Biographical Sketch of Loresa Arbula Matthews (1910- )
Loresa A. Matthews, an African-American woman, was born in 1910 to parents Laurence and Clara Beale Matthews. They lived in the Eighth Ward of Pittsburgh on the east side of the city. For her primary education she attended Minersville and Belmar public schools. In 1928 she graduated from Westinghouse High School. During the immediate 15 years after high school, it is not known according to these records what she had done. The next known fact is that she worked at the Oliver Iron and Steel Corporation from 1943-1954. She received an honor from the company for her extended employment. From a mortgage of her parents it is indicated that her family moved to Ward 13 in Pittsburgh, or Homewood, in 1949. Loresa's extended family is quite large, for her mother had a brother and two sisters and her father had a sister and two brothers. Her mother, Clara, lived from 1888-1952.
Scope and Content Notes
These records include handwritten school notebooks, a yearbook, a property mortgage, two newspaper articles, and an autograph book. These records were kept from 1916-1954.
The notebooks include handwritten schoolwork from grade eight and her four years of high school. The notebooks indicate the types of subjects that Loresa studied in school. There is also an autograph book (1924-1928) that contains signatures of many of her friends from high school. There is also a 1928 Westinghouse High School yearbook. The yearbook indicates what a high school would have been like in 1928, its activities, sports teams, size, and racial make-up.
One of the newspaper articles is a photograph of Loresa in 1954 receiving the honor from Oliver Iron and Steel Corporation. The other article is an announcement for a professor who is going to speak about Pan-Africanism at a local college.
Also included is a mortgage from 1949 and it is an indicator that Loresa's family had moved to a different area of Pittsburgh. A small card of Loresa's when she was younger, reveals that she had lived somewhere prior to this new location.
Arrangement
The Loresa Arbula Matthews Records are housed in one archival box and are arranged alphabetically by folder title.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These materials came in two accessions and were combined into one collection in 1992.
Acc# 1991. 377 Gift of Tamir Shaheed, (Papers).
Acc# 1992. 50 Gift of Tamir Shaheed, (Papers).
Preferred Citation
Papers of Loresa Arbula Matthews, c1900-1955, MSS# 257, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Julie Diehl on January 28, 1997.
Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Doug MacGregor on June 6, 2001.
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.
Subjects
- Oliver Iron and Steel Corporation, Pittsburgh (Pa.)
- Westinghouse High School, Pittsburgh (Pa.)
- Matthews, Loresa Arbula
- African-Americans -- Biography -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
- Social Life/ Customs -- Early Twentieth Century -- African-American -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
- Family Archives -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh