August Wilson
August Wilson

Author: Laurence A. Glasco

Publisher:

Published: 2015-12-15

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13: 9780996937207

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

August Wilson is one of America's great playwrights. He lived in Pittsburgh from his birth in 1945 to 1978, when he moved to St. Paul, MN, and later to Seattle, WA. He died in 2005 and is buried in Pittsburgh.Wilson composed 10 plays chronicling the African American experience in each decade of the twentieth century--and he set nine of those plays in Pittsburgh's Hill District. He turned the history of a place into great theater. His plays, including Fences, The Piano Lesson, Two Trains Running, Jitney, Gem of the Ocean, and Radio Golf have become classics of the American stage.August Wilson: Pittsburgh Places in His Life and Plays guides visitors to key sites in the playwright's life and work in the Hill District and beyond. This guidebook enriches the understanding of those who have seen or read his plays, inspires others to do so, and educates all to the importance of respecting, caring for, and preserving the Pittsburgh places that shaped, challenged, and nurtured August Wilson's rich, creative legacy.

An Alternative History of Pittsburgh
An Alternative History of Pittsburgh

Author: Ed Simon

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing

Published: 2021-05-04

Total Pages: 138

ISBN-13: 1953368131

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

“[An] epic, atomic history of the Steel City . . . a work of literature, a series of linked creative nonfiction essays, an historical story cycle.” ―Phillip Maciak, Los Angeles Review of Books The land surrounding the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio rivers has supported communities of humans for millennia. Over the past four centuries, however, it has been transformed countless times by the many people who call it home. In this brief, lyrical, and idiosyncratic collection, Ed Simon, a staff writer at The Millions, follows the story of Pittsburgh through a series of interconnected segments, covering all manner of beloved people, places, and things, including: • Paleolithic Pittsburgh • The Whiskey Rebellion • The attempted assassination of Henry Frick • The Harmonists • The Mystery, Pittsburgh’s radical, Black nationalist newspaper • The myth of Joe Magarac • Billy Strayhorn, Duke Ellington, Andy Warhol, and much, much more. Accessible and funny, An Alternative History of Pittsburgh is a must-read for anyone curious about this storied city, and for Pittsburghers who think they know it all too well already. “[A] rich and idiosyncratic history . . . Even Pittsburgh history buffs will learn something new.” —Publishers Weekly “Simon tells the story of the city and all the changes that made it what it is today in a way that's entirely new, by the hand of someone who is deeply familiar.” ―Juliana Rose Pignataro, Newsweek “A sparkling new take on everyone’s favorite Rust Belt metropolis.” ―Justin Velluci, Jewish Chronicle “A brilliant look at how geology and art, politics and religion, disaster and luck combine to build America’s great cities―one that will leave you wondering what secrets your own hometown might be hiding.” ―Anjali Sachdeva, author of All the Names They Used for God

Never Come to Peace Again
Never Come to Peace Again

Author: David Dixon

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press

Published: 2014-05-15

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 0806145013

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Prior to the American Revolution, the Ohio River Valley was a cauldron of competing interests: Indian, colonial, and imperial. The conflict known as Pontiac’s Uprising, which lasted from 1763 until 1766, erupted out of this volatile atmosphere. Never Come to Peace Again, the first complete account of Pontiac’s Uprising to appear in nearly fifty years, is a richly detailed account of the causes, conduct, and consequences of events that proved pivotal in American colonial history. When the Seven Years’ War ended in 1760, French forts across the wilderness passed into British possession. Recognizing that they were just exchanging one master for another, Native tribes of the Ohio valley were angered by this development. Led by an Ottawa chief named Pontiac, a confederation of tribes, including the Delaware, Seneca, Chippewa, Miami, Potawatomie, and Huron, rose up against the British. Ultimately unsuccessful, the prolonged and widespread rebellion nevertheless took a heavy toll on British forces. Even more devastating to the British was the rise in revolutionary sentiment among colonists in response to the rebellion. For Dixon, Pontiac’s Uprising was far more than a bloody interlude between Great Britain’s two wars of the eighteenth century. It was the bridge that linked the Seven Years’ War with the American Revolution.

Pittsburgh's East Liberty Valley
Pittsburgh's East Liberty Valley

Author: East End/East Liberty Historical Society

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing

Published: 2008-01-16

Total Pages: 132

ISBN-13: 1439635749

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Pittsburghs East Liberty Valley originally consisted of lush hunting grounds used by many Native American groups. In the 1700s, British general John Forbes instructed George Washington to build a military road from Fort Ligonier through the East Liberty Valley to the forks of the Ohio River. In 1758, Forbes traveled this widened trail, first named for him, now known as Penn Avenue. Many plantations were established after the Revolution, and the village grew, with its tollhouse and taverns serving stagecoaches and Conestoga wagons en route to Pittsburgh. By the 20th century, East Liberty was one of the wealthiest suburbs in America. Many famous firsts occurred here, including the building of the nations first gasoline service station and the founding of the National Negro Opera Company. The area also boasts many famous residents, including Billy Eckstine, Erroll Garner, Gene Kelly, Dick Powell, and Lillian Russell. Through vintage photographs, Pittsburghs East Liberty Valley salutes the areas rich history.

Pittsburgh's Mansions
Pittsburgh's Mansions

Author: Melanie Linn Gutowski

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing

Published: 2013-08-19

Total Pages: 179

ISBN-13: 1439642478

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A collection of images celebrating the extravagant and historic mansions of Pittsburgh, PA. In the 19th century, the positioning of Pittsburgh as a major manufacturing center and the subsequent rise of the area's steel industry created a wave of prosperity that prompted the beneficiaries of that wealth to construct extravagant residences. Wealthy enclaves sprang up in the city's East End, across the river in neighboring Allegheny City, and into the countryside. Pittsburgh's Mansions explores the stately homes of the area's prominent residents from the 1830s through the 1920s. Businessmen such as H.J. Heinz, Henry Clay Frick, and members of the Mellon family commissioned elaborate homes from the preeminent architects of their day. Firms such as Alden & Harlow, Janssen & Abbott, and Rutan & Russell left their marks on the city's landscape, often contributing iconic public buildings as well as expansive private homes. Though many of the residences have since been lost, Pittsburgh's Mansions offers a look back at the peak of the city's prominence.

Pittsburgh's Rivers
Pittsburgh's Rivers

Author: Daniel J. Burns

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 134

ISBN-13: 9780738545141

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

For centuries, the land at the forks of the Ohio River was known to the Native Americans of western Pennsylvania, but it was not until 1753 that a British officer named George Washington surveyed the area for Gov. Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia. He described the land as well timbered and convenient for building, and with that, the first community at the site of modern-day Pittsburgh was established. Over the next two and a half centuries, Pittsburgh changed from a small settlement in the Pennsylvania wilderness to a city that has flourished because of, and continues to be identified by, its surrounding rivers. The Allegheny, the Ohio, and the Monongahela Rivers have played an inimitable role in the industrial growth of America as they have provided for the movement of coal, lumber, and steel to the Pittsburgh region and beyond. Pittsburghs Rivers highlights the immeasurable contributions these three rivers have made to the area both economically and socially. For centuries, the land at the forks of the Ohio River was known to the Native Americans of western Pennsylvania, but it was not until 1753 that a British officer named George Washington surveyed the area for Gov. Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia. He described the land as well timbered and convenient for building, and with that, the first community at the site of modern-day Pittsburgh was established. Over the next two and a half centuries, Pittsburgh changed from a small settlement in the Pennsylvania wilderness to a city that has flourished because of, and continues to be identified by, its surrounding rivers. The Allegheny, the Ohio, and the Monongahela Rivers have played an inimitable role in the industrial growth of America as they have provided for the movement of coal, lumber, and steel to the Pittsburgh region and beyond. Pittsburghs Rivers highlights the immeasurable contributions these three rivers have made to the area both economically and socially.

Historic Pennsylvania
Historic Pennsylvania

Author: Mindy Gulden Crawford

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2019-09-12

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 149304186X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Historic Pennsylvania: A Tour of the State’s Top 100 National Historic Landmarks is a carefully curated travel guide, written by a local historian, featuring the most intriguing and significant of the state's nationally recognized historic landmarks. This guide provides interesting anecdotes and color photography of famous homes and churches, man-made wonders set amid the splendor of nature, and the crumbling remains of the region's industrial, coal mining past. Tour the Keystone State and travel back in time with Historic Pennsylvania.