East Liberty Valley History Program

Come and enjoy an evening about the history of the East Liberty Valley, Thursday, April 7, from 5 to 8 p.m. at 200 North Highland Ave. (corner of Broad St.).

Sponsored by the East End/East Liberty Historical Society and the East Liberty Quarter Chamber of Commerce, this event will start with a wine and cheese social hour, followed at 6 p.m. by a talk by Dr. Charles McCollester on “Three East Enders to Love -- George Westinghouse, Billy Conn, and Gene Kelly.”

Dr. McCollester will be sharing this and other perspectives from his new book, The Point of Pittsburgh, now being sold in all major bookstores. He is a retired professor of Labor History at Indiana University. Copies of Dr. McCollester’s book will be available for sale.

Also featured will be a showing of the latest DVD of the photography of Charles “Teenie” Harris. Teenie Harris (1908–1998) photographed the events and daily life of African Americans for the Pittsburgh Courier, one of the nation’s most influential Black newspapers.

Come and enjoy sharing the history of this great neighborhood, the East Liberty Valley. Bring a friend. For more information, contact Al Mann, President, East End/East Liberty Historical Society, alfred.mann@verizon.net.

East End/East Liberty Historical Society Reception

The East End/East Liberty Historical Society and the East Liberty Chamber of Commerce are sponsoring a wine & cheese reception on Wednesday, February 18, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at 200 North Highland Avenue. Come and hear about the Society's plans for a major event commemorating the Historic East Liberty Valley. Guests can also see the Society's collection of rare, historical, and out-of-print books and postcards, past and present photos of East Liberty and the East Liberty Valley, a model of a blast furnace, a handmade canoe, and much more!

For more information, call 412-661-9660.

Pittsburgh 250 Grants

Several East End organizations have received "Pittsburgh 250" grants for projects that address the theme of "Pride & Progress" in Western Pennsylvania. The grants are for the 250th anniversary celebration of Pittsburgh in 2008. The Thomas Merton Center, on Penn Avenue in Garfield, received $45,000 for an exhibit on the history of the local women's movement called "In Sisterhood." In a smaller grant, Lawrenceville Stakeholders and the Lawrenceville Historic Society were awarded $5,000 to expand the Lawrenceville Hospitality House Tour, which spotlights historic residences in Pittsburgh's Lawrenceville neighborhood, and to stage a series of reenactments and performances at other historic locations, such as the Allegheny Arsenal and the Allegheny Cemetery. You can read all about these projects and others funded for Pittsburgh's anniversary year in a thorough story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Peoples' Pittsburgh History Project Meets Tonight

State Sen. Jim Ferlo (D-Pittsburgh) today will host a kickoff meeting for the “Peoples’ Pittsburgh History Project Version 250,” an initiative of citizens and local historians inspired by Pittsburgh’s rich history and enduring legacy.

The event will be held this evening, Monday, July 23, starting at 6:30 p.m. at the City County Building Lobby in Downtown Pittsburgh.

“The mission is to hear all sorts of voices from the breadth of our diverse city,” Senator Ferlo said. “It is simply impossible for any single initiative to cover such a vast and storied history as Pittsburgh’s. The goal of Peoples’ Pittsburgh History Project is to gather the good, the bad, and even the ugly stories of our past to inform our future. The History Project will supplement the other efforts that are already underway, including Community Connections.”

Community Connections is a program of the Allegheny Conference on Regional Development’s Pittsburgh 250 project. Community Connections is being administered in partnership with The Sprout Fund.

Peoples’ Pittsburgh Version 250 has been conceived as an open source project and will work to develop creative projects that emphasize equity, humanity, and the legacy of past, present and future Pittsburgh.

“This is a great opportunity for all Pittsburghers, no matter what your affiliation or background, to have a voice in what is vital to Pittsburgh’s story,” said Ferlo. “I look forward to hearing all the diverse and creative ideas this initiative will inspire.”

Let's make sure that voices from our neighborhoods are heard!