University of Pittsburgh Library System

Late playwright and Pittsburgh native son August Wilson is best known for his unprecedented American Century Cycle- ten plays that convey the Black experience in each decade of the 20th Century. Materials on display in this exhibit will rotate periodically to showcase the breadth of the August Wilson Archive.

During the summer of 1892, Carnegie Steel battled with its employees over whether the skilled workforce of the Homestead Steel Works could collectively bargain with the company as a local union of the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers. On July 6 tensions came to a head in the Battle of Homestead, which saw the townspeople engage in a firefight with company-hired guards from the Pinkerton Detective Agency, leaving ten dead and dozens more wounded.

While the 1892 Homestead Steel Strike only lasted about four months, it created a lasting impact on how the nation viewed the relationship between labor and management. It also cemented the reputations of two of America’s most infamous industrialists – Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick. This exhibit highlights personal experiences of the strike and its aftermath.

This exhibit coincides with The Homestead Steel Strike and the Growth of America as an Industrial Power- an NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture workshop for K-12 educators, museum educators, and librarians hosted in Pittsburgh the summer of 2024.

Eleonora Duse (b. 1858-d. 1924) is considered one of the early 20th century's preeminent performers. After a long retirement, the Italian actress returned to the stage in 1921 to tour Europe and America. Her April 5th, 1924, performance of Marco Prage’s La Porta Chiusa at Pittsburgh’s Syria Mosque was tragically her final appearance on stage. In the days following, she developed pneumonia and died in her suite at the Schenley Hotel on April 21, 1924. The University of Pittsburgh Library System (ULS) is contributing to several events celebrating this legend of the stage on the centennial of her final performance and passing.

This display features materials from the ULS Archive & Special Collection’s Ford E. and Harriet R. Curtis Theatre Collection.

Pittsburgh's Hungarian community dates to the 19th century when ethnic Hungarians emigrated from the Habsburg Empire to southwestern Pennsylvania seeking employment in the region's mines and steel mills. This exhibit celebrates the traditions and contributions of Hungarian Pittsburghers with an exploration of steel industry through the iconic Joes Magarac in popular culture and the creation of the Hungarian Nationality Room.

Noh, a form of theater that originated in the fourteenth century, was historically supported by the ruling samurai class. On the other hand, Kabuki, another form of theater, has been popular among the common people since the seventeenth century. In contrast to Noh, which consists of quiet dances and chants with simple props, Kabuki captivated audiences with its livelier stage and music, large sets, and decorative costumes.

Since the late 17th century, when Japanese woodblock printing was born, both Noh and Kabuki have been popular subjects for prints. In the Archive & Special Collection of the Library we have 1,391 Japanese woodblock prints. Of these prints, we have 975 Noh prints in the Kōgyo Collection, 116 Kabuki prints in the Barry Rosensteel Japanese Print Collection, and 80 Kabuki prints in the Japanese Theater Print Collection. The total number of Japanese theater prints in our possession is 1,171. This exhibition features prints depicting the front and backstage of Noh and Kabuki theaters.

The University of Pittsburgh Library System’s Latin American Postcard collection offers a rich historical and visual record of 20th-century life and culture in South America and Cuba. The collection contains nine hundred postcards printed before 1918 and into the 1950s. Primarily, these were originally purchased by European and American tourists to send back home, including handwriting in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Later, Dr. Anton (Tony) Rosenthal collected and taught themes of urban public space, popular culture, and visual history of Latin America with this collection at the University of Kansas before donating them to the University of Pittsburgh.

An artists’ book, as opposed to an art book, is a work of art in and of itself. Their forms are variable and wide-ranging. Some resemble traditional books or zines, while others challenge the very definition of “What is a book?” Unlike a painting or sculpture in a museum, which often can only be experienced visually, artists’ books intentions are to be physically handled and interacted with. Although you currently cannot explore these books hands-on, we hope this exhibit gives a taste of the diversity of this medium.

All the books on display deal with the imagination of the future. Their creative, ambitious approaches to the idea of the future mirror their manifold approaches to the format of the book. From Julie Chen’s Space-Time Geometry, where the accordion fold structure of the book reflects its thesis that time is constantly collapsing in on itself, to Anne de Vries’ Deep Scroll, a traditionally bound book simulating a partly-AI-generated doomscroll session out of a fever dream, whose very description and design inspired the title of this exhibit.

Thanks to the generous donation of Pitt alumni Barry and Elizabeth Rosensteel, this collection is now home to 300 Ukiyo-e woodblock prints. This exhibit presents a series of prints by famous Edo period artists such as Utagawa, Ichirakutei, Katsukawa, and Totoya depicting portraits of Kabuki actors (yakusha-e) and women (bijinga). It also includes a set of privately published prints (sumimono), which were popular among wealthy merchants.

This display illuminates the legacy of communist political artists and the roles that they served during the 1930s through the 1950s and how their careers evolved. It features materials from the Adolphe E. Forbes Communist Collection and American Left Ephemera Collection.

Selections from the George A. Romero Archival Collection features props, publicity, and production materials from across the career of George A. Romero, an independent horror filmmaker best known for Night of the Living Dead. Materials document both some of his most famous films as well as unrealized projects. Materials from the Horror Scripts and Ephemera Collection, Joe Kane “Phantom of the Movies” Collection, and periodicals collection are also on display.

In honor of 2024's National U.S. Black History Month theme, “African Americans and the Arts,” Archives & Special Collections is excited to highlight the work and life of Black artists from or connected to Pittsburgh. We hope you are inspired to learn more about these individuals and collectives, whose lives stretch from the latter part of the 19th century into the present day, as you also celebrate contemporary Black history makers!

Many of the featured artists have worked in a multitude of media and artistic genres. We have arranged this display into four overall categories - visual artists, including arts educators, painters, and fiber artists; musicians, including gospel and jazz composers, performers, and publishers; authors, including those who write fiction, horror, and poetry; and theatre workers and dancers including choreographers, performers, playwrights, directors, and more.

This is a work of cultural and spatial studies; visit the living map at https://arcg.is/0STDvH. View this exhibit in the mindset of Dr. Kimberly C. Ellis: "Our places are important to us because they are what we have, at any given time, as human beings grappling with meaning for ourselves, our lives, and each other. We build community with our wants, our needs, and our imaginations." (August Wilson: Pittsburgh Places in His Life and Plays, eds. Laurence A. Glasco and Christopher Rawson, xiii).

This exhibit shows the interconnections between ULS's archival holdings and rare and unique collections. Selected categories represent the ways that different holdings interact with the horror genre. The examples here are particularly interesting for their visual interpretations of textual work, but also include hidden histories and treasures available to explore with ULS!

This exhibit introduces woodblock prints by Tsukioka Kōgyo (1869-1927), who was an outstanding modern graphic artist of the Noh and Kyōgen theatres, found in our special collections. Noh and Kyōgen, originating in the fourteenth century, were associated with samurai culture. Users can explore Kōgyo's prints depicting different scenes from the same Noh plays by interacting with the digital wall.

This exhibit results from 8 months of research into how to construct a French court gown. You will learn about the pieces that make up the ensemble and the birth of the modern fashion industry in the 1700s, including micro trends and a thriving 2nd hand clothing industry. You will also learn about the misconceptions and realities surrounding Marie-Antoinette's notorious overconsumption. Holdings from ULS & European cultural heritage institutions and Jones' work are included.

See the replica Versailles Court Gown constructed by Jones in person! Location: Hillam 3rd floor (outside elevators)

The Voice of the Adult Student – ASL Alpha Chi: Celebrating 50 Years of Academic Excellence is a digital exhibit tracing the first years of Alpha Chi, the 45th Chapter of the Alpha Sigma Lambda National Honor Society for Non-Traditional and Adult students at Pitt. The exhibit showcases photos, newspaper clippings, and archival documents chronicling events through the 1970s, with special emphasis on the period between 1971-1975.

The exhibit tells the story of the chapter's founding members, highlighting their efforts that led to establishing a strong student cabinet and the Alpha Chi chapter, as well as the many individuals (students, staff, and faculty) who advocated for the non-traditional student at Pitt.

The Cathedral of Learning has captivated the Pitt community from its inception and has become a focal point of university and student activity. This exhibit highlights some of the building's milestones.