The University of Pittsburgh Library System (ULS) has acquired the archive of Pitt trustee emeritus William (Bill) E. Strickland, Jr. (A&S 1970), founder, president, and recently retired CEO of the Manchester Bidwell Corporation. While enrolled at Pitt, Strickland founded the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild (MCG) to offer a free arts program to inspire and mentor disadvantaged and at-risk youth. Later, he established the Bidwell Training Center and Drew Mathieson Horticultural Center to train adults for jobs within key sectors of Pittsburgh, such as medical services, horticulture, chemical laboratories, and culinary arts. His MCG Jazz program is devoted to the music of jazz through concerts and artistry.
Strickland’s archive documents his inspiring personal story and efforts over the last fifty years to turn a fledging arts and workforce training center into a nationally accredited, state-licensed career training institution. Items in the collection, such as letters, awards, photographs, audio/video recordings, books, press kits, programs, and articles, celebrate his accomplishment of creating a place where hundreds of students can learn ceramics, photography, and visual arts tuition free. His archive offers compelling evidence of how a single idea, combined with perseverance and tenacity, can profoundly impact and improve countless lives. His progress—from entering Pitt on academic probation to receiving a MacArthur Fellowship and creating centers globally to replicate his work in Pittsburgh—is documented throughout the collection.
Strickland’s commitment as a consultant, grant evaluator, and mentor in the fields of arts and arts education, community development, and vocational training is evident in his archive. The collection documents his work as Council Member on the President’s [George W. Bush] Committee on the Arts and the Humanities and as a member of the White House Council for Community Solutions, appointed by President Obama. Invitations, correspondence, reports and programs document his service as Chairman of the Expansion Arts Panel of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in Washington, D.C. and his six-year Presidential appointment as a Council Member of the NEA, appointed by George H. W. Bush. The archive comprises material reflecting his work on the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Pennsylvania State Board of Education and a consultant with the British/American Arts Association in London, England.
The collection includes over two dozen honorary degrees from regional universities and colleges. Correspondence with jazz luminaries, such as Nancy Wilson, Poncho Sanchez, Roger Humphries, George Benson, and Ahmad Jamal, who have performed at MCG Jazz, is present.
Strickland's numerous awards are also part of the collection, including his MacArthur “Genius” Grant (1996) for his innovative approach to social change. Other prominent awards in the archive are Pittsburgher of the Year (2007), Skoll Award for Social Innovation (2007), Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year (2007), Goi Peace Award (2011), the first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award from the Pittsburgh Technology Council (2017), and the inaugural Patricia R. Rooney Community Impact Award (2021).
Strickland described his remarkable life’s journey and philosophy in his autobiography Make the Impossible Possible: One Man’s Crusade to Inspire Others to Dream Bigger and Achieve the Extraordinary (2007). Drafts of his writings and notes are present in the collection as are presentations, recognitions, and letters of congratulations.
“I enrolled in Pitt as an academically challenged undergraduate, but spent many hours in Hillman Library, ‘learning how to learn,’” says Bill Strickland. “I graduated with honors from the University and served for two decades as a Board Member and now, Emeritus Trustee. It was an easy decision to donate my papers and summation of my life’s work thus far to the archives at the university that literally saved my life. I hope that this will be an illustration to young incoming students, who will hopefully see by my example that anything is possible.”
The archival collection will open for research use in 2026.
