African Americans in Pittsburgh
4/5
()
About this ebook
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.
John M. Brewer Jr.
John M. Brewer Jr. is a historian and consultant for the Pittsburgh Courier archive project, a consultant for the Carnegie Museum of Art's Charles "Teenie" Harris photograph project, and the curator and founder of the Trolley Station Oral History Center.
Related to African Americans in Pittsburgh
Related ebooks
The New Negro in the Old South Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5African Americans in Downtown St. Louis Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tulsa's Historic Greenwood District Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Syracuse African Americans Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSmoketown: The Untold Story of the Other Great Black Renaissance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Journal of Negro History, Volume 1, January 1916 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHouston Bound: Culture and Color in a Jim Crow City Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNotable Southern Californians in Black History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFugitivism: Escaping Slavery in the Lower Mississippi Valley, 1820-1860 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNegro Education in Alabama: A Study in Cotton and Steel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5River of Blood: American Slavery from the People Who Lived It: Interviews & Photographs of Formerly Enslaved African Americans Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBefore Harlem: The Black Experience in New York City Before World War I Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe New Negro Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Black Book II: From Hajji Malik Al-Shabazz to Barack Obama Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDetroit’s Sojourner Truth Housing Riot of 1942: Prelude to the Race Riot of 1943 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Congo Love Song: African American Culture and the Crisis of the Colonial State Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlack Lives, White Lives: Three Decades of Race Relations in America Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Rope and Faggot: A Biography of Judge Lynch Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBoss of Black Brooklyn: The Life and Times of Bertram L. Baker Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Grapevine of the Black South: The Scott Newspaper Syndicate in the Generation before the Civil Rights Movement Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRoland Hayes: The Legacy of an American Tenor Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSt. Louis: Disappearing Black Communities Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStormy Weather: Middle-Class African American Marriages between the Two World Wars Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRoot and Branch: African Americans in New York and East Jersey, 1613-1863 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Journal of Negro History, Volume 7, 1922 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRace, Riots, and Roller Coasters: The Struggle over Segregated Recreation in America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Grassroots Garveyism: The Universal Negro Improvement Association in the Rural South, 1920-1927 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5African American Bryan, Texas: Celebrating the Past Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCan’t Stand Still: Taylor Gordon and the Harlem Renaissance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSister Days: 365 Inspired Moments in African American Women's History Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5
African American History For You
Debunking the 1619 Project: Exposing the Plan to Divide America Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5100 Amazing Facts About the Negro with Complete Proof Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5African American Herbalism: A Practical Guide to Healing Plants and Folk Traditions Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Burning: The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Plot to Kill King: The Truth Behind the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Systemic Racism 101: A Visual History of the Impact of Racism in America Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5White Like Her: My Family's Story of Race and Racial Passing Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Orishas: An Introduction to African Spirituality and Yoruba Religion Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The End of White World Supremacy: Four Speeches Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hoodoo For Beginners: An Introduction to African American Folk Magic Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: An Autobiographical Account of an Escaped Slave and Abolitionist Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Secret History of Memphis Hoodoo: Rootworkers, Conjurers, & Spirituals Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Africa's Gift to America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDon't Let Them Bury My Story: The Oldest Living Survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre In Her Own Words Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5African American Fraternities and Sororities: The Legacy and the Vision Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Fortunes: The Story of the First Six African Americans Who Escaped Slavery and Became Millionaires Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Defining Moments in Black History: Reading Between the Lies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Souls of Black Folk: Original Classic Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Somebody's Daughter: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of The 1619 Project: by Nikole Hannah-Jones - A Comprehensive Summary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Reviews for African Americans in Pittsburgh
1 rating1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I was looking for an introduction to the cultural experience of African Americans in Pittsburgh. As someone who spent her formative years in Philadelphia, I was aware of the city on the opposite side of the state but knew nothing of the people who lived there and formed the backbone of its development. This is a easy way to become familiar with the names, places, and faces that helped to shape a city.
Book preview
African Americans in Pittsburgh - John M. Brewer Jr.
Brushton.
One
THE WORST AND THE BEST YEARS
The area called Little Haydi, otherwise known as the Hill,
was the primary African American community in Pittsburgh. The Hill was located only a stones-throw away from downtown Pittsburgh. Vacant lots were often filled with garbage and the remains from collapsed wood-framed structures. Nearby steel mills keep the Hill’s air full of pollution. The people of the Hill were isolated from the rich downtown centers of capital wealth and power. And yet, life goes on. Children created their own games, despite the hazards. African Americans who have settled in this section of the Hill still remember when conditions were worse. Scene like this one existed from the early 1900s. A map of Little Haydi, which is otherwise known as the Hill by Pittsburgh residents, ascends from downtown Pittsburgh to one of two high points in the city.
Wooden constructed outhouses existed in the Hill District until the late 1950s. Many old frame homes had no plumbing, modern heating systems, or functional sewer lines. Major rodent problems were common. Outside structures like these were also common. (Courtesy of the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; gift of the estate of Charles Teenie
Harris.)
Vacant lots were often cleared and maintained by the people who lived nearby. Some would utilize their farming skills to plant gardens for food. Others built open play zones for children. Self-help and community pride efforts by the residence helped to control rodent problems, disease, and crime from consuming those who wanted to live in the Hill District. (Courtesy of the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; gift of the estate of Charles Teenie
Harris.)
Abandoned homes frequently were havens for the homeless. There were few, if any, shelters or city housing enforcement efforts to rid the community of these dangerous places. Fires often resulted from homeless people trying to keep warm. Illegal drug and prostitution activities were sometimes conducted inside. Community resident complaints were never enough to eliminate housing problems in the Hill. (Courtesy of the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; gift of the estate of Charles Teenie