Cue the History Nerd
Unless you have a passion for the past, this may not make any sense. But I just found out that the Ft. Pitt Museum will be hosting a conference in April on the Eastern Woodland Indian. Among other topics, the conference will discuss American Indian material culture of the 18th century. And I am so excited. Like this excited.
I make it no secret that I don't plan to make Pittsburgh my forever home. While I was born here, we moved to central Pennsylvania when I was three. Ten years later, we followed my dad's job to South Carolina. The family ended up back in Pittsburgh where I completed high school, then left as soon as possible for college. With no job prospects lined up after school, I moved back to the nest to job hunt and try to figure out next steps. My first job had me moving East again, only to have the bottom drop out two months later. Back to Pittsburgh and Mom and Dad's basement. After years of scorning the city, I've grudgingly accepted that it is home for now; instead of ignoring all the city has to offer, I need to embrace it as I've done with other homes, however temporary they were. The fact of the matter is, being Pittsburgh was synonymous with steel and its blue collar work ethic, it was on the edge of the known world. Just as the French and Indian/Seven Years' War is often overlooked, Pittsburgh's role is often forgotten or ignored. Its role in the Gilded Age, with its self-made men of steel and textbook melting pot population, is what seems to be most readily acknowledged as its historical heritage. Indeed, the stories I learned of at my grandparents' knees were that of the sooty air, blackened buildings, and life of a mill worker. And being that three branches of the family emigrated after (or close to) 1900, that makes sense. There is no family branch dating back to Pittsburgh's frontier days. And on that note, I wonder if any Pittsburgh family can trace roots beyond 1800 to this area--my thought would be that many of Pittsburgh's inhabitants kept moving West into the Ohio River Valley and beyond.
Anyway, in the spirit of embracing the history around me, more info on the conference can be found here!
The Heinz History Center contains several exhibits on Pittsburgh's past and is worth a Saturday visit. Later this year, it will also host a traveling Civil War exhibit. One can easily make a day of it, as the museum is located near the Strip District. (Good food selections, including the original Primanti Brothers Sandwich Shop.)
I make it no secret that I don't plan to make Pittsburgh my forever home. While I was born here, we moved to central Pennsylvania when I was three. Ten years later, we followed my dad's job to South Carolina. The family ended up back in Pittsburgh where I completed high school, then left as soon as possible for college. With no job prospects lined up after school, I moved back to the nest to job hunt and try to figure out next steps. My first job had me moving East again, only to have the bottom drop out two months later. Back to Pittsburgh and Mom and Dad's basement. After years of scorning the city, I've grudgingly accepted that it is home for now; instead of ignoring all the city has to offer, I need to embrace it as I've done with other homes, however temporary they were. The fact of the matter is, being Pittsburgh was synonymous with steel and its blue collar work ethic, it was on the edge of the known world. Just as the French and Indian/Seven Years' War is often overlooked, Pittsburgh's role is often forgotten or ignored. Its role in the Gilded Age, with its self-made men of steel and textbook melting pot population, is what seems to be most readily acknowledged as its historical heritage. Indeed, the stories I learned of at my grandparents' knees were that of the sooty air, blackened buildings, and life of a mill worker. And being that three branches of the family emigrated after (or close to) 1900, that makes sense. There is no family branch dating back to Pittsburgh's frontier days. And on that note, I wonder if any Pittsburgh family can trace roots beyond 1800 to this area--my thought would be that many of Pittsburgh's inhabitants kept moving West into the Ohio River Valley and beyond.
Anyway, in the spirit of embracing the history around me, more info on the conference can be found here!
The Heinz History Center contains several exhibits on Pittsburgh's past and is worth a Saturday visit. Later this year, it will also host a traveling Civil War exhibit. One can easily make a day of it, as the museum is located near the Strip District. (Good food selections, including the original Primanti Brothers Sandwich Shop.)
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