Pittsburgh Celebrates Black History Month 2024

The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy celebrates and honors Black History Month and the contributions of Black environmentalists, leaders, and visionaries who have shaped our parks and communities. Here’s a little bit of history about August Wilson, for whom August Wilson Park in the Hill District is named after.

Wilson, an American playwright, was born in 1945 in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, and would go on to become the "theater's poet of Black America," chronicling the experiences and heritage of the African-American community in the 20th century. He is best known for a series of 10 plays, collectively called The Pittsburgh Cycle, each set in a different decade, depicting the Black experience in the 20th century.

Visit August Wilson Park today and learn more about Black history from an installation of vintage photographs from Pittsburgh native Charles “Teenie” Harris, and quotations from the great August Wilson.

To promote understanding of the African Diaspora, the Heinz History Center and Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy collaborated to create the From Slavery to Freedom Garden at the Frick Environmental Center. During the antebellum period of the 19th century Pittsburgh became a destination of freedom seekers. The From Slavery to Freedom Garden tells part of that story by showcasing plants used for food and medicinal purposes -- some found in woodlands and fields along the journey to freedom, others cultivated in home gardens of free people of color.

The From Slavery to Freedom garden was developed in partnership with the Heinz History Center as part of a larger exhibit that highlights the enslavement of people from Africa and its impact on the American economy, the history of the anti-slavery movement, the Underground Railroad, and the impact of 19th century activism on the modern quest for civil and human rights in Pittsburgh. ​

Click here to learn more about the From Slavery to Freedom Garden

Black environmentalists have made some of the most significant and long-lasting changes to the parks and recreation field and environmentalist movement by creating a welcoming space for all in nature while educating audiences about the challenges many People of Color face. Click below to learn about three notable environmentalists who have been influential and inspirational changemakers throughout the African American community, or read the full blog here.

Celebrate Black History in the Parks Click here for more information 

The goal of the Hill District Digital History Project (HDDHP) is to be the premier digital access point for sharing stories about the significant people, places, and events that have shaped the Hill throughout its history. These written stories are enhanced by digital images, audio, and video from historical archives or collected by community historians.

Stories are authored by History students from area universities, as well as community members.  

Check out the stories, take a tour and just explore this very important part of Pittsburgh's History. 

Check out the Hill District Digital History, it is very interactive and learn more about Black history in Pittsburgh. 

There's so much more to explore in the history of the Hill District!  Below are some suggested resources to help you learn more.

Want to explore the Hill in person? Contact Hill CDC for recommendations on a personalized tour that will give you a new appreciation for the Hill's past and present.

Cheryl Finley, Laurence Glasco and Joe Trotter, Teenie Harris, Photographer: Image, Memory, History. (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011).

Ralph Proctor, Song of The Hill: Life, Love, Legacy, (Learning Moments Press, 2022).

Mark Whitaker, Smoketown: The Untold Story of the Other Great Black Renaissance, Reprint edition (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2019).

Doyen, Kale. “Representations of the Lower Hill District.” ArcGIS StoryMaps, September 14, 2021.

Homecoming: Hill District USA - a multimedia public art project by artist Njaimeh Njie that documents and celebrates history and culture in the Hill

Want to write for HDDHP? Share your stories

 Please get in touch!

The Smithsonian-affiliated Senator John Heinz History Center interprets and preserves African American history and culture year-round through a variety of events and exhibitions curated by the museum’s African American Program.

In recognition of Black History Month, the African American Program of the Heinz History Center will present a series of programs throughout February:

From Slavery to Freedom Film Series

“Through a Lens Darkly”

Wednesday, Feb. 7 | 5:30-8 p.m.

Virtual Program

Presented as part of the From Slavery to Freedom Film Series, “Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People” explores the role of photography in shaping the identity, aspirations, and social emergence of African Americans, from slavery to today. 

Deborah Willis, photo historian and author of “Reflections in Black,” which the film is based upon, will join the broadcast following the screening to discuss the film. Willis is a professor and chair of the Department of Photography & Imaging at the Tisch School of Art at New York University. She is a recipient of both the MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellowships. The From Slavery to Freedom Film Series is presented by the History Center’s African American Program and is supported by Highmark and Allegheny Health Network. Admission to the virtual program is FREE with advance registration.

10th Annual Black History Month Lecture

“Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration” with Dr. Nicole Fleetwood

Wednesday, Feb. 21 | 5:30-7 p.m.

Heinz History Center

Presented by the History Center’s African American Program, this in-person lecture led by NYU professor and MacArthur Fellow Dr. Nicole Fleetwood will discuss how art can heal and humanize in the age of mass incarceration. More than two million people are currently behind bars in the United States. According to Dr. Fleetwood, incarceration not only separates the imprisoned from their families and communities, but it exposes them to deprivation, abuse, and arbitrary cruelties of the criminal justice system. Despite that, many of America’s prisons are filled with art. Despite the isolation and degradation they may experience, the incarcerated are driven to assert their humanity in the face of a system that dehumanizes them. As a writer, curator, art critic, and author of the award-winning “Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration,” Dr. Fleetwood will reveal her unique perspective on how the imprisoned use art to express the visual culture of incarceration and its current impact on contemporary art. Dr. Fleetwood’s lecture will be followed by a Q&A session with the audience and a book signing. This program is presented with generous support from Carnegie Mellon University. 

To purchase tickets to Black History Month programs, visit heinzhistorycenter.org/events.

Long-Term Exhibits Highlight Black Heritage in Western Pa.

In addition to Black History Month programming, African American history is on display daily within the History Center’s six floors of exhibitions, including the award-winning From Slavery to Freedom exhibition, which explores more than 250 years of African American history in Western Pa. The long-term exhibit highlights the enslavement of Africans and its effect on the American economy, the history of the anti-slavery movement, the Underground Railroad, and the impact of 19th-century activism on the modern quest for civil and human rights in Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh: A Tradition of Innovation exhibition honors several African Americans who made trailblazing breakthroughs, including Dr. Velma Scantlebury, the nation’s first African American woman transplant surgeon and student of UPMC’s late Dr. Thomas Starzl. 

The Senator John Heinz History Center, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution and the largest history museum in Pennsylvania, presents American history with a Western Pennsylvania connection. The History Center and Sports Museum are located at 1212 Smallman Street in the city’s Strip District. The History Center’s family of museums includes the Sports Museum; the Fort Pitt Museum in historic Point State Park; and Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village, a National Historic Landmark located in Avella, Pa., in Washington County. More information is available at www.heinzhistorycenter.org.

Pictured: NYU professor and award-winning author Dr. Nicole Fleetwood will speak at the History Center’s 10th Annual Black History Month Lecture on Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 5:30 p.m. and discuss her book, “Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration.”