The Pennsylvania Department
What's New -- Archive

Andy Warhol Museum Website

Take a look at the quite remarkable website for The Andy Warhol Museum.
Part of ArtMuseum.net, presented by Intel. 21 December 2000

George Swetnam: Chronicler of All Things Pittsylvanian

An interview with the late journalist, historian and folklorist conducted in June 1994. 12 October 2000

2000 High School Photo Contest

"Getting Around the Burgh: Your Favorite Mode of Transportation."

Announcement of winners. 2 August 2000

Hetrick Collection

279 35mm color slides of Pittsburgh and the region taken by Mr. George D. Hetrick in the 1970s and 1980s. These images were digitized and identified by Ms. Jill Galbraith, intern from the University of Pittsburgh's School of Information Sciences. The site is still under construction. 6 July 2000

Good Fridays at the Andy Warhol Museum

On 12 May 2000, Barry Chad, Senior Librarian, Pennsylvania Department, helped inaugurate the Museum's new series, "Good Fridays," by reading aloud from Andy Warhol's novel, a, and from Jack Kerouac's Visions of Cody--both of which rely on transcribed tape-recorded conversations. 13 May 2000

Increased Maximum Hits on Search Engine

The Search Engine on the Pennsylvania Department's website

can now potentially list up to 100 results for a search.

Use the helpful instructions to search most effectively. 15 March 2000

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh: History 1895 - 1969

Ralph Munn, Director of the Library for 36 years, details the ups and downs and the progress of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in the course of its first 84 years. 9 February 2000

Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society (WPGS) Library Catalog Online

Search the resources of WPGS online.
The Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society library is a non-circulating collection of materials made available to its members, and the general public, to aid in the research of general genealogy as well as specifically Western Pennsylvania ancestors. 9 February 2000

Allegheny County Parks

R. Jay Gangewere recounts the story of the parks system surrounding Pittsburgh and operated by the Allegheny County Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation. From Carnegie Magazine, July/August 1986. 8 February 2000

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Martin Luther King, Jr. Read-Aloud

On 15 January 2000 at the Main Library, Oakland, 7 members of the Pittsburgh community read selections pertinent to Dr. King's life and pertinent to the African-American community. 26 January 2000

Oral Histories: Pennsylvania Bidwell High Rise, Manchester

As an elaboration of the ongoing "Manchester Electronic Branch Library" project, the Pennsylvania Department has been conducting oral history interviews with residents of the Pennsylvania Bidwell High Rise in Manchester. These six oral histories are amplified by 1200+ citations to related and pertinent articles, books and brochures; 70+ digitized images; 230 internal and external hypertext links; and 20 full text articles. The project was featured in a flattering Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article by Bob Batz, Jr., 27 July 1999--"Electronic Branch Library Chronicles the Lives of Manchester's Residents." 13 November 1999

A Search Engine Specific to the Pennsylvania Department Site

A plain vanilla Search Engine, constructed in-house, can now assist users in working their way through the Pennsylvania Department's webpages. Helpful instructions in using the Search Engine are available. Please note that some directories and files related to our site are not yet searchable with the engine. A work in progress, please be patient while we work to improve access. Comments are solicited. 2 September 1999

Nikita S. Khruschev Visits Pittsburgh

In September 1959, Soviet Premier Nikita S. Khruschev visited Pittsburgh. As part of his itinerary, Khruschev toured the Mesta Machine-Building Plant. Thanks to the courtesy of Mrs. Marsha P. Cable, four images of Khruschev's visit have entered the Pittsburgh Photographic Library Collection. Mrs. Cable's grandfather, W. Ward Powell, Sr., was a Vice-President at Mesta at the time of Khruschev's visit. In the images, Mr. Powell is seen escorting the Soviet Premier and engaging him in good-humored conversation. 2 September 1999

North American Serials Interest Group (NASIG) National Conference

On 10 June 1999, Barry Chad, Assistant Head of the Pennsylvania Department, was invited to participate in the opening exercises of the NASIG conference in the Carnegie Music Hall, Oakland. His remarks, focusing on the history of the city of Pittsburgh, were styled, "What's The Point? Meet Me Under Kaufmann's Clock And I'll Explain." This site represents a transcription of those remarks. 10 June 1999

Beyond Words: Celebrating America's Libraries, 1999 High School Photo Contest

This year the Pennsylvania Department expanded its Annual High School Photo Contest under sponsorship of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our 3rd Annual Contest was linked nationally with the American Library Association's (ALA) national photo competition and our first-place winner will be submitted for judging to ALA. This year's theme was "Beyond Words: Celebrating America's Libraries." Spring 1999

Manchester Electronic Branch Library

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh has been collaborating with Information Renaissance in an effort to create an "electronic branch library" for, in and by the Manchester community. This effort was initiated in March of 1998. Online is a tentative prototype / first version. 18 June 1998

National Library Week in the Pennsylvania Department -- 19-25 April 1998

Global Reach. Local Touch.

An introductory bibliography of resources in the Pennsylvania Department celebrating the world-in-miniature that is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 29 April 1998

"A Day at School" -- Photo Contest Winners

This Spring the Pennsylvania Department sponsored its 2nd annual photo contest
which was open to all high school students in Allegheny County.
See the work of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize winners. 21 April 1998

Revising the Pennsylvania Department Website

Beginning in August 1997 the online pages of the Pennsylvania Department's Website have been under revision. A new method of organization--based on broad subject categories (e.g., Local History), important information (e.g., our email address), and topics of wide interest (e.g., Photographs)--are highlighted on our Department's Homepage. Pa Pitt's Master Index serves as a fairly comprehensive guide to the site--but with a site-specific search engine in process.

You will find that a resource (such as "City Directories") is mentioned in more than one category because, frequently, resources can be used in more than one kind of research or investigation.

Please pardon any glitches, dead-ends or non-active links--we are always under construction. An especial thanks is due to Mr. John W. Fail, student at the University of Pittsburgh, whose creative imagination was the source for the design of the Homepage.

We welcome your comments, questions and suggestions about improving the look and content of our site. Winter 1997 / Spring 1998

Roberto Clemente: 31 December 1972 -- 31 December 1997

The 25th anniversary of the death of beloved Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder,
Roberto Clemente. 4 February 1998

"Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow..."

Pittsburgh in Winter

The Pennsylvania Department's Display Cases (2nd floor, Main Branch) celebrate the season with a selection of historic winterscape photographs from the Department's Pittsburgh Photographic Library (PPL). Photos include children at play and shots of the Big Snow of 1950.
Reasonably priced, PPL photographs make wonderful gifts for Pittsburghers whether nearby or far away--and at any time of the year! December 1997

In Search of a Legend:

The Technical Investigation into the 1956 Disappearance

of a B-25 Bomber in the Monongahela River

On 12 November 1997, the Pennsylvania Department sponsored a fascinating program by the B-25 Recovery Group that, from the perspectives of sonar/satellite mapping, water chemistry and hydrology, examined what may have happened to the missing B-25. 13 November 1997

Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein

On 8 November 1997, Barry Chad, Assistant Head of the Pennsylvania Department,
participated in a program at The Andy Warhol Museum. The program was entitled "Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein." Ms. Stein, noted author, personality and art collector, was born in Allegheny City (now the North Side) in 1874. For the event, Mr. Chad created a brochure and read aloud from some of Ms. Stein's works. (The program was part of the Warhol's ongoing series, 15 min +) 9 November 1997

Allegheny City Society: Presentation

On 24 April 1997, Marilyn Holt, Department Head, and Barry Chad, Assistant Department Head, spoke at the annual meeting of The Allegheny City Society on the topic of Andrew Carnegie's youthful sojourn in the old city of Allegheny, now Pittsburgh's North Side. 18 June 1997

"The Street Where I Live" -- Photo Contest Winners

This Spring the Pennsylvania Department sponsored a photo contest
open to all high school students in Allegheny County.
See the work of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize winners. 9 June 1997

End of the Line

The Pennsylvania Department, in conjunction with several of the Carnegie branches, has been proud to participate in the community-based project "End of the Line: Building Bridges with Pittsburgh's Busways." Some brief remarks on the PA Department's participation were made at a news conference held at the East Busway on 8 May 1997. 8 May 1997

A Joint Gift from Iron Workers Local #3 and the Ironworker Employers Association

Iron Workers Union Local #3 and Ironworker Employers Association formally present A History of The Iron Workers Union to the Pennsylvania Department Collection.
An excerpt from the History describes the Union's founding convention in Pittsburgh. 26 April 1997

The B-25 in the Mon

January 31, 1956--an Air Force B-25 bomber mysteriously disappears into the icy waters of the Monongahela River--the raw material of legend. On 2 April 1997 the Pennsylvania Department sponsored a multi-media presentation by Mr. Ray Duquesne on the "Ghost" Bomber. An extensive bibliography adapted from the Department's files offers sources for learning about this unresolved Pittsburgh mystery. 5 April 1997

Bridging the Urban Landscape

Visit Pittsburgh in Cyberspace,
a joint project of Common Knowledge: Pittsburgh
and Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.30 March 1997

Nikola Tesla

On 9 October 1996 the Pennsylvania Department sponsored an enormously successful program by Mr. Ray Duquesne on the life and work of inventor, Nikola Tesla, who briefly worked with and for George Westinghouse in Pittsburgh.
5 November 1996