It’s History! is in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh this week to visit the Clemente Museum. In 1972, Roberto Clemente was tragically killed in a plane accident ending to short a brilliant life. Clemente played 18 season for the Pittsburgh Pirates helping them win 2 World championships. He was the MVP for the Pittsburgh Pirates […]

In this episode of It’s History!, we tour four historic building preserved by the Mechanicsburg Museum Association. Join us as we explore the 1801 Frankenberger Tavern, and three buildings construction for the Cumberland Valley Railroad: the 1866 Stationmaster’s House, 1867 Passenger Station, and the 1886 Freight Station. It’s History! airs Sunday nights at 8. Watch It’s […]

On Sept. 11, 1851, Maryland slave-owner Edward Gorsuch arrived at the farm of William Parker in search of an enslaved person that Parker was hiding. Armed neighbors rushed to the scene and in the ensuing fight against the slave catchers Edward Gorsuch was killed. Thirty-eight men, mostly African American, were arrested, but after the first […]

In the 1850 census four African Americans were documented as residents Scranton, today the community has about 5,000 residents. Over the years African Americans have made important contributions to the city in business, culture, and politics. In this episode of the African American Experience, we talk with Black Scranton Project founder Glynis Johns about the […]

“Bridges…Pittsburgh at the Point…A Journey Through History” tells the stories of the 34 bridges that crossed the Monongahela, Allegheny, and Ohio rivers in Pittsburgh from 1818 to today. Told through the words of engineers, architects, planners, and historians this is a story of the development of technology, the rise of a city, and the progress […]

Historian Richard Godbeer presents a richly layered and intimate account of the American Revolution as experienced by a Philadelphia Quaker couple, Elizabeth Drinker and the merchant Henry Drinker, who barely survived the unique perils that Quakers faced during that conflict. Spanning a half‑century before, during, and after the war, this gripping narrative illuminates the Revolution’s […]

“Stolen” tells the story of five young, free black boys who fall into the clutches of a fearsome gang of kidnappers and slavers in Philadelphia in 1825. Lured onto a small ship with the promise of food and pay, they are instead met with blindfolds, ropes, and knives. Over four long months, their kidnappers drive […]

Harriet Tubman is best known as one of the most famous conductors on the Underground Railroad. As a leading abolitionist, her bravery and selflessness has inspired generations in the continuing struggle for civil rights. Now, National Book Award nominee Erica Armstrong Dunbar presents a fresh take on this American icon blending traditional biography, illustrations, photos, […]

This week on The African American Experience, Samuel Black, the director of African American Programs at the Heinz History Center, joins us to talk about how the Great Migration influenced Pittsburgh. During the Great Migration more than 6 million African Americans moved from the South to the North and West with many thousands settling in […]

Founded in 1907, The Pittsburgh Courier would rise to become one of the most important African American newspapers in the country. Under the leadership of Robert L. Vann, the paper covered politics, sports, business, the Civil Rights Movement, and international affairs in the 1930s. During World War II, it championed the “Double V” campaign to […]