Pittsburgh is a working city, in no small part thanks to its strong African American community.

As an integral stop on the Underground Railroad, many enslaved people traveled through Pittsburgh on their way further North, and many still decided to stay. During the Great Migration of the early 20th century, Pittsburgh was again a main destination for African Americans from the rural South; approximately 95% of these men became steelworkers. There was never one centralized neighborhood where a majority of the Black population lived, but Jim Crow discrimination was still rampant, even in a city such as Pittsburgh. Photographs captured by famed Pittsburgh photographer Charles "Teenie" Harris show the candid experiences of residents, including the achievements and celebrations of people struggling in adversity and finding happiness in their families and community.

Details:

• Author: Carnegie Museum of Art
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing; Illustrated
• Publication date: June 14, 2006
• Print length: 128 pages
• Print type: Paperback
• ISBN: 978-0738544878

The uplifting story of what pioneering Italian immigrants brought to Pittsburgh and how they laid a foundation for future generations to build on and preserve.

By 1930, one out of every six Pittsburgh residents was an immigrant. More came from Italy than from any other country in the world. Drawn by chain migration and the prospect of work in coal mines, steel mills, railroads, and other local industries, Italian immigrants contributed greatly to the growth and development of western Pennsylvania and endowed the region with a rich and vibrant ethnic culture that has endured to the present day.

In this unprecedented volume, nearly 200 photographs collected from Italian-American families still living in the Pittsburgh region illustrate aspects of the Italian immigrant experience in western Pennsylvania, including work, community, leisure, religion, and family life.

Details:

• Author: Nicholas P. Ciotola
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing; Illustrated
• Publication date: May 2, 2005
• Print length: 128 pages
• Print type: Paperback
• ISBN: 978-0738537788

All you need is love and cookies.

Everyone loves cookies, but the people of the Steel Valley take this love to another level.
Nowhere else in America will you behold hundreds--or even thousands--of cookies piled high for events of all kinds.

This is the regionally famous cookie table.
But how did this tradition start?
Why do residents of the Pittsburgh and Youngstown areas always create them not just for weddings but for birthdays, graduations, fundraisers, community events, and so much more?
How did this once quaint local custom become a social media phenomenon?
How are the cookies made, and how is a cookie table organized?

Join author and cookie table enthusiast Alice Crosetto on a delectable journey through this beloved Steel Valley tradition.

Through more than 200 vintage photographs, Pittsburgh's Shadyside chronicles the personalities, places, institutions, and events that transformed a farming community into an affluent industrial-age suburb and diverse city neighborhood.

The suburb of Shadyside was established in the middle of farmland during the late 1860s when the Shadyside train station opened. As Pittsburgh grew into the world's preeminent industrial city, Shadyside became the home of many influential men of the industrial age. Rapid change struck Shadyside early in the 20th century when commerce sprouted up around the perimeter of the neighborhood to cater to the residents' demand for luxury goods and services. Within another decade industry moved in, especially close to the train tracks, and in 1915, the Ford Motor Company assembly plant opened in Shadyside.

Details:

• Author: Donald Doherty
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing; Illustrated
• Publication date: July 21, 2008
• Print length: 128 pages
• Print type: Paperback
• ISBN: 978-0738557014

Praise

Ron Donoughe captures not only the essence of a subject or place but a moment in time as well. . . . Ron Is drawn intuitively to the sites that he paints by color, light, atmosphere, texture, shadow, shape, and form. . . . He paints in all seasons and at all times of the day in an effort to translate particular places and moments into art.
-- Barbara L. Jones, curator at the Westmoreland Museum of Art

The Monongahela River Valley in Southwestern Pennsylvania is steeped with a rich industrial history. Starting with iron, brass, tin, and glass production, the river towns--from Brownsville to Braddock--ultimately helped make Pittsburgh the one-time steelmaking capital of the world.

With this industrial legacy in mind, artist Ron Donoughe set out to document the small towns in this region, one painting at a time.
Over a twelve-month period, he explored the forgotten towns of Brownsville, California, Donora, Charleroi, Monessen, Monongahela, Clairton, Duquesne, McKeesport, Braddock, and the Monongahela River itself. Brownsville to Braddock provides key insight on a forty-mile stretch of river towns.

The post-industrial economy led to a decline in manufacturing, and with it, substantial job losses. These towns face many significant challenges, yet there is still beauty to be found. Donoughe finds it as he paints the human spirit through the mills, factories, parks, and homes. The people he meets share their stories of family joy and sorrows, along with a genuine love for the area they call the "Mon Valley."

Foreword by Maxwell King
Afterword by Ron Baraff

About the Author
Ron Donoughe has been painting and documenting the western Pennsylvania region for the last thirty years. His paintings can be found in the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, the Heinz History Center, the Duquesne Club, the Pennsylvania Convention Center, and numerous corporate and private collections. He has taught painting at LaRoche College, the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, and at workshops throughout the United States and France. His previous books include 90 Pittsburgh Neighborhoods and Essence of Pittsburgh.

ISBN-13: 9780822946755

Publish Year: 2020

Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press

Publisher Marketing: Southwestern Pennsylvania is heralded by many as the birthplace of professional football. Here lived the athletes who were first paid to play. In Pittsburgh, the Allegheny Athletic Association paid Pudge Heffelfinger $500 in 1892 to help them beat their rivals, the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. In Latrobe, the first all-professional club was fielded in 1897. The Birthplace of Professional Football celebrates the contributions that the towns in southwestern Pennsylvania made to the sport, a national obsession in this country. These stories also come from towns such as Jeannette and Greensburg and include Latrobe s failed attempt to secure the Professional Football Hall of Fame in the late 1940s and 1950s."

Publisher Marketing: Author and sports historian David Finoli's inside look at the 50 greatest male and female athletes in Pittsburgh history.

Pittsburgh is synonymous with winning. From the Penguins and Steelers to the Pirates and Panthers, the Steel City knows championships. The Negro League's Crawford and Homestead Grays are too often overlooked in the city's sports history but were as talented as any team that has played there. Names such as Lemieux, Crosby, Roethlisberger, Bradshaw, Clemente and Stargell are legends of American sport and members of Pittsburgh's most cherished franchises. The 1970s Steelers were known as the Steel Curtain. The Penguins have raised the Stanley Cup five times. Author Dave Finoli ranks the fifty greatest teams that won trophies, brought glory and lifted the hearts of Pittsburgh's devoted sports fans.

Details:

• Author: David Finoli
• Publisher: History Press Library Editions
• Publication date: October 30, 2017
• Print length: 194 pages
• Print type: Hardcover
• ISBN: 978-1540227072

In 1909, Pittsburgh Pirates president Barney Dreyfuss began construction on a new facility for his team in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh.

Dreyfuss decided to call his palace - the first concrete and steel facility built in the National League - Forbes Field, after the British general John Forbes, a hero in the French and Indian War. Opened on June 20, 1909, Forbes Field was a hit from the onset; the venue hosted large crowds that came to watch the Pirates win in their first World Series against the Detroit Tigers that year. As the years went on, Forbes Field became synonymous with the greatest sports memories in the city's history. Patrons saw the trials and tribulations of the Steelers as well as some of the greatest collegiate football teams in the history of the game. The University of Pittsburgh won three collegiate football national championships, and Duquesne University and Carnegie Tech also fielded many winning teams while calling Forbes Field home. Alongside football, boxing was a constant event at the famed facility, hosting some of the most memorable pugilists this city has ever produced. Above all else, it was a baseball mecca. While the field is no longer in use, the wall remains intact, reminding Pittsburghers of the field's rich history.

Details:

• Author: David Finoli, Tom Aikens
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing; Illustrated
• Publication date: February 4, 2013
• Print length: 128 pages
• Print type: Paperback
• ISBN: 978-0738598321

Beginning with its construction in 1764, the story of the Fort Pitt Block House is one that spans nearly three centuries of Pittsburgh history. The Block House was originally constructed as a defensive redoubt for Fort Pitt, a key British fortification during the French and Indian War. After the conflicts on the Pennsylvania frontier ended, the brick-laid building served as a trading post for wares and munitions, and in the nineteenth century, it played host to families and even a candy shop. In 1894, the only surviving structure of Fort Pitt was gifted to the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Though the building was threatened by demolition for the expansion of the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Daughters of the American Revolution fought to preserve this historic treasure for Pittsburgh. Join site curator and author Emily M. Weaver as she chronicles the remarkable history of the Fort Pitt Block House.

Details:

• Author: PA Fort Pitt Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution of Allegheny County, Emily M. Weaver
• Publisher: The History Press
• Publication date: October 15, 2013
• Print length: 160 pages
• Print type: Paperback
• ISBN: 978-1609499334

Violent bank heists, bold train robberies and hardened gangs all tear across the history of the wild west--western Pennsylvania, that is. The region played reluctant host to the likes of the infamous Biddle Boys, who escaped Allegheny County Jail by romancing the warden's wife, and the Cooley Gang, which held Fayette County in its violent grip at the close of the nineteenth century. Then there was Pennsylvania's own Bonnie and Clyde--Irene and Glenn--whose murderous misadventures earned the trigger blonde" and her beau the electric chair in 1931. From the perilous train tracks of Erie to the gritty streets of Pittsburgh, authors Thomas White and Michael Hassett trace the dark history of the crooks, murderers and outlaws who both terrorized and fascinated the citizenry of western Pennsylvania.

In the late 19th century, the boroughs of Mansfield and Chartiers were situated south and west of Pittsburgh and divided by a creek. They merged to become one unified city, and a new name was sought. The community petitioned philanthropist Andrew Carnegie for financial assistance, and he responded generously. Thus, the town of Carnegie was founded on March 1, 1894.

Throughout the decades that followed, Carnegie experienced rapid growth of industry, commerce, and population. Yet anyone who has ever resided there will boast of its small-town charm. The steel mills supported generations of families, who then struggled to adapt to a changing world when the plants closed down. Carnegie's hometown heroes include Pirates shortstop Honus Wagner and NFL coach Mike Ditka. Carnegie is a photographic essay that chronicles the town'shistory and abundant contributions to industry and transportation.

Author: Sandy Henry
Publisher: Arcadia
Publish Date: 2006
Page Count: 128
Format: Paperback
ISBN-10: 073854518X
ISBN-13: 978-0738545189

A sweeping, illustrated history of the lakeside hideaway turned resort and leisure park enjoyed by Pennsylvanians for over a century.

In 1877, a humble boat landing was constructed on Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania's largest natural lake. Colonel Frank Mantor, a visionary, discovered and purchased the property and convinced investors from the Pittsburgh, Shenango, and Lake Erie Railroad to extend the railroad line to a newly built resort on the site. In 1892, Exposition Park--a permanent fair exhibiting machinery and livestock--was founded. Amusement rides were added alongside hotels, cottages, restaurants, and other businesses. The resort grew into an amusement park and was renamed Conneaut Lake Park in 1920. Conneaut Lake Park illustrates the evolution of this lakeside resort with images of long-gone attractions such as the Hotel Elmwood, Temple of Music, Jungle Cruise, Fairyland Forest, and Wild Mouse. Recent favorites such as the Blue Streak, Tumble Bug, Ultimate Trip, and Devil's Den are also included.

Details:

• Author: Michael E. Costello
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Publication date: June 20, 2005
• Print length: 128 pages
• Print type: Paperback
• ISBN: 978-0738537795

Historic photographs of the German and Croatian immigrants who flocked to this area on the outskirts of Allegheny City, and their customs, religions, skills, and traditions.

The Reserve Tract across from Fort Pitt was set aside in the 1780s by the government of Pennsylvania as a way of raising funds to pay the troops who had served during the American Revolutionary War. Although many areas in the commonwealth were set aside like this, few grew to such prominence as the distinct neighborhoods of Troy Hill, Spring Garden, Spring Hill, and Mount Troy. Photos of the German and Croatian immigrants who helped build a new nation by providing steel, leather products, food, and even beer; their spirit and work ethic set a standard that many Americans to this day try to emulate. The Heinz complex, the old E&O Brewery, St. Anthony's Chapel, Most Holy Name Church, and the Teutonia Mannerchor are several of the local landmarks that were established generations ago and are still being utilized today.

Details:

• Author: James W. Yanosko, Edward W. Yanosko
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing; Illustrated
• Publication date: October 24, 2011
• Print length: 128 pages
• Print type: Paperback
• ISBN: 978-0738575926

Squirrel Hill is one of Pittsburgh's premier residential neighborhoods. It has a vibrant commercial center and two exceptional parks. The area was first settled in the eighteenth century as a pioneer farming community. As the city of Pittsburgh prospered, so did the status of Squirrel Hill. In 1867, Squirrel Hill was incorporated into Pittsburgh, but large portions of the neighborhood remained as farmland or large country estates into the early twentieth century. The neighborhood's primary era of growth was from 1900 to 1930, due in part to the connection of the Boulevard of Allies to downtown. During this time, Squirrel Hill developed into a lively center of Jewish life, with kosher shops, bookstores, and Jewish restaurants. The neighborhood continues to have a large Jewish population but has since become more ethnically diverse.

Details:

• Author: The Squirrel Hill Historical Society
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Publication date: June 20, 2005
• Print length: 128 pages
• Print type: Paperback
• ISBN: 978-0738537177

"It's All About Tailgating! A cookbook and more...the story of our football adventure and the power of passion, positivity and purpose."

Patty's experience is that food connects people. She and her husband, Jay, have found through their travels that no matter where you go people have food in common. The cookbook is a collection of the recipes that make up their tailgate of three generations, from family recipes, those she created and ones she has found during their travels.

It includes traditional tailgate, sides & salads, desserts, breakfast and non-traditional tailgate fare, as well as photos for every recipe. Included in her cookbook are stories from their adventures and her story of her passion for life and the power of positivity. It's lots of fun! Hope you enjoy the cookbook.

"There are 95 fan favorite recipes complete with how-to steps, photos, food science and stories. Recipes include Traditional Tailgating, Sides and Salads, Desserts, Breakfast and Non-traditional tailgating. It is a collection of recipes that makeup our tailgate of three generations, from family recipes, ones I have created and ones I have found during our travels." - Patty Irrgang

Author: Patty Irrgang

Publish Date: 2022

ISBN: 978007575212

In 1842, Adam Gimbel opened a small storefront in Vincennes, Indiana and unknowingly set forth the groundwork for an American retail icon. His "fair trade" practices encouraged him to leave Vincennes and open up "the largest store ever" in 1887 in the city of Milwaukee. After getting his Milwaukee on firm ground, Adam Gimbel left for Philadelphia, his wife's hometown, with his seven sons and opened the "world's largest store" in 1894. Like every major department store, Gimbels began to follow its customer into the suburbs, and the family became less involved in the running of the store. With sales and profits falling, Gimbels was purchased by British-American Tobacco. The company struggled to right itself in the challenging and changing retailing world. It built a new controversial flagship store in Philadelphia but it failed to draw its traditional shopper. By June 1986, Gimbels was going out of business and the 36 Gimbels stores located from Philadelphia to Milwaukee permanently shut their doors.

Details

• Author: Michael J. Lisicky
• Publisher: The History Press
• Print Type: Paperback
• Page Count: 160 pages
• ISBN-13: 978-1609493073

The Decade was the birthplace of rock "n" roll in Pittsburgh, at the corner of Atwood and Sennott. The eclectic bar with parachutes covering the ceiling was home base for local bands such as the Iron City Houserockers, but it also served as a showcase for rising international recording acts, including the Police, U2, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the Ramones. Under the shadow of the University of Pittsburgh, The Decade was an oasis of live rock and blues music in the 1970s to the early 1990s. The small venue had wide appeal to bands who felt they could intimately connect with their audience. Owned and operated by Dom DiSilvio, The Decade will forever be a home to many Pittsburghers, and Images of Modern America: The Decade is a home for their stories.

The Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970s won an unprecedented and unmatched four Super Bowls in six years. A dozen of those Steelers players, coaches, and executives have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, and three decades later their names echo in popular memory: “Mean” Joe Greene, Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Mike Webster, Jack Lambert, Lynn Swann, and John Stallworth. In ways exhilarating and heartbreaking, they define not only the brotherhood of sports but those elements of the game that engage tens of millions of Americans: its artistry and its brutality.

Drawing on hundreds of interviews, Their Life’s Work is a richly textured story of a team and a sport, what the game gave these men, and what the game took. It gave fame, wealth, and, above all, a brotherhood of players, twelve of whom died before turning sixty. To a man, they said they’d do it again, all of it. They bared the soul of the game to Gary Pomerantz, and he captured it wondrously. “Here is a book as hard-hitting and powerful as the ‘Steel Curtain’ dynasty that Pomerantz depicts so deftly. It’s the NFL’s version of The Boys of Summer, with equal parts triumph and melancholy. Pomerantz’s writing is strong, straightforward, funny, sentimental, and blunt. It’s as working class and gritty as the men he writes about” (The Tampa Tribune, Top 10 Sports Books of the Year).

Details

• Author: Gary M. Pomerantz
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Print Type: Paperback
• Page Count: 480 pages
• ISBN-13: 978-1451691634

The University of Pittsburgh first fielded an intercollegiate basketball team in 1905, but an entire generation of fans has only heard or read about a small number of these colorful and outstanding players.

An invitation to join the prestigious Big East Conference in 1982 opened the eyes of the nation to Panther basketball. Continuing a tradition of growth and excellence, the 2001-2002 Panthers again put University of Pittsburgh basketball on the map.

Picked by the league coaches to finish sixth in the seven-team Big East Conference's West Division, Ben Howland directed the team to an overall record of 29-6, earning the Panthers the West Division regular-season championship. The Panthers then advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in twenty-eight years.

Panther Pride: University of Pittsburgh Men's Basketball is the pictorial history of Pittsburgh's basketball program, before and since the Big East Conference.

Well before Dr. Roy Chipman, there was eccentric Doc Carlson. Long before All-American Charles Smith, there was Charley Hyatt. Twenty-eight years before Brandin Knight led his team to the Sweet Sixteen, Billy Knight led another remarkable Panther squad to the Elite Eight.

From Motor Square Garden in East Liberty to the Pitt Stadium Pavilion and Fitzgerald Field House in Oakland, Pittsburgh basketball teams have provided their fans with exciting victories and heartbreaking defeats for close to a century.

Author: Sam Sciullo
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Publish Date: 2002
Page Count: 128
Format: Paperback
ISBN-10: 0738510696
ISBN-13: 978-0738510699

Aptly named because of its hilly terrain and abundance of trees, the area now known as Forest Hills was a dusty coal mining community in the late 1800s. Centered between two major roads, the Lincoln Highway (Ardmore Boulevard/U.S. Route 30) and the Greensburg Pike, Forest Hills was incorporated in 1919 in order to gain better representation for tax money.

Technology put the town on the map with the first commercial licensed radio station broadcast in 1920 and the Westinghouse Atom Smasher, built in 1937. As the borough grew with new houses, schools, and parks, so did traditions such as the Fourth of July celebration at Forest Hills Park and the Bryn Mawr Corn Roast. Many who live in the community are third or fourth generation residents. Using vintage photographs, Forest Hills presents the untold story of this tight-knit community.

Author: Jody B. Shapiro and Joel A. Bloom
Publisher: Arcadia
Publish Date: 2007
Page Count: 128
Format: Paperback
ISBN-10: 0738549878
ISBN-13: 978-0738549873

Publisher Marketing: Nestled along a horseshoe curve of the Monongahela River in the Mid-Monongahela Valley of southwestern Pennsylvania, Monessen was settled in the mid-1800s, though it was not formally established and named until 1898, then chartered as a city in 1923. Throughout the 20th century, Monessen was known mainly for its industry, especially steel and wire. The city served as a site for Pittsburgh Steel until the decline of the steel industry. That has not stopped the caring and determined residents of Monessen from trying to recapture the vibrant culture of the city. This book reflects on the history of the city through the second half of the 20th century, showcasing how current residents have led Monessen into the 21st century.

Christians have played a vital role in the history of Pittsburgh as community leaders, activists, athletes and more. Their ministries have inspired many worshipers and improved the community. Leading Pirates, Steelers and Penguins who have powerfully promoted Christianity here include Andrew McCutchen, Clint Hurdle, Troy Polamalu, Mike Tomlin and Dan Bylsma. A diversity of parachurch organizations and congregations, from Baptist to Presbyterian and Catholic to nondenominational, have shaped and advanced the faith. Gary Scott Smith tells the exciting story of their quest, as Episcopal rector Samuel Shoemaker put it, "to make Pittsburgh as famous for God as for steel."

Details:

• Author: Gary Scott Smith
• Publisher: The History Press
• Publication date: December 10, 2018
• Print length: 320 pages
• Print type: Paperback
• ISBN: 978-1467141093

Pittsburgh Streamlined Trolleys covers the history of the trolley car system that once had the third largest fleet of Presidents' Conference Committee trolley cars in North America. Pittsburgh Railways Company was very innovative and constantly made design improvements in its trolley cars. This led to increased ridership, as these streamlined trolleys were quiet, fast, and had comfortable seating. With the increased use of automobiles, ridership declined.

After the Port Authority of Allegheny County took over Pittsburgh Railways, most of the trolley routes were abandoned. However, a number of trolleys were refurbished with paint schemes that included psychedelic commercial advertising and community messages. The last runs of these trolleys occurred in 1999, and new light rail vehicles are now in service.

Author: Kenneth C. Springirth
Publisher: Arcadia
Publish Date: 2006
Page Count: 128
Format: Paperback
ISBN-10: 073854941X
ISBN-13: 978-0738549415