Community Spotlight

Community Spotlight—Gledaj! The Gaze of Maxo Vanka

The Community Spotlight series features the efforts of Rivers of Steel’s partner organizations, along with collaborative partnerships, that reflect the diversity and vibrancy of the communities within the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area.

By Gita Michulka, Contributing Writer

Gledaj! Looking at Pittsburgh through Maxo Vanka’s Eyes

“His youthful fire, as an observer of social injustice and human brutality, is never extinguished. For most of his artistic career, Maxo mixes together his classical training and highly developed drawing skills with the anger of a reformer and the didactic narrative of a classical painter.” Bruce Katsiff, Former Director, James A. Michener Museum, 2001

When Croatian artist Maxo Vanka visited Pittsburgh in 1935 and again in 1937, he saw a city entrenched in industry, steeped in a laborer’s Depression-era anguish, and budding with marvels that included countless churches and bridges and the recently completed Cathedral of Learning.

His sketches from his travels through the region showcase just how keenly he saw the beauty and the bereavement, observations that shine through in the murals he later created in St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church in Millvale.

Thanks in part to funding from Rivers of Steel’s Mini-Grant Program and the LIGHT Education Initiative, longstanding partners Rivers of Steel and the Society to Preserve the Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka (SPMMMV) have collaborated to showcase an exhibition of works by Maxo Vanka. The gallery exhibit brings together private works on loan from the Vanka family and private collectors, paired with SPMMMV’s The Vanka Collection—a gift of more than 130 drawings, sketches, and preparatory drawings for the murals by Maxo Vanka’s granddaughter, Marya Halderman and her husband John. The exhibition is on display now at the Bost Building in Homestead.

Titled Gledaj! The Gaze of Maxo Vanka—in Croatian “Gledaj!” translates to “Look! See!”—this collection brings to life Maxo Vanka’s passion and purpose. Though his focus while he was in Pittsburgh was on completing a series of twenty-five murals to adorn the interior of the church, he also spent time exploring the region, expanding his observation of the plight of immigrant communities and the laborers of that time.

Christie Clayton and Dr. Sylvia Rhor Samaniego lead a group through the exhibition during a gallery talk in May.

“We thought that the Bost Building was an ideal location for Gledaj!, reinforcing the murals’ connection to the region’s history and not just Millvale,” said Anna Doering, executive director of SPMMMV. “Vanka celebrated Pittsburgh’s industrial heritage through his sketches, and they seem at home at Bost. But we also wanted to raise awareness about the Vanka Murals among the Rivers of Steel audiences who might be interested in exploring a related aspect of Pittsburgh’s history.”

“I have always felt that our two sites, The Vanka Murals at the St. Nicholas Croatian Church in Millvale, and the Carrie Furnaces in Swissvale / Rankin, are the two ‘can’t miss’ tourist sites in the region,” agrees Ron Baraff, Rivers of Steel’s director of historic resources and facilities. “The legacy of industry and the ‘culture of steel’ are woven into the fabric of both our stories. The steel industry was the draw factor and economic driver of the region’s growth, while the church and the immigrant experience were central to the social and cultural lives of those who left behind everything they knew to create a new life in this country. Their triumphs and tragedies, and wealth of culture and experience, are central to our themes. Nowhere else can you find such unique and genuine immersive forays into the makeup and vitality of the region.”

Themes displayed in the Vanka Murals are foreshadowed in earlier artworks by Vanka.

Though not native to Western Pennsylvania or its steel mills and industry, Vanka’s lived experience in Croatia and travels through the established and emerging industrial centers of America in the 1930s had a unifying thread—the plights of the laborer and of the immigrant. His murals are prominent works of art for their style and imagery, but it is the underlying story behind each piece that stands out. The images on display in the Gledaj! collective offers glimpses into the movements and the monuments that struck him—labor disputes, striking workers, cities under the fog of industry. In the series of work from his time in Pittsburgh, viewers see the newly constructed Cathedral of Learning in Oakland, the iconic Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Polish Hill, views of downtown and the Point, and of course, bridges. His travels also took him to the Johnstown Mill, where he captured the essence of a working steel mill.

Landmarks like the Cathedral of Learning and bridges captured Maxo Vanka’s gaze.

“We think the exhibit fills in some important areas of knowledge about Vanka and the genesis of the Murals,” continues Doering. “Visitors can appreciate influential highlights in his personal story, artistic training, and many forms of inspiration. It challenges the myth that Vanka was simply inspired to paint these images once he entered St. Nicholas. The availability of loaned items allowed us to tell a more complete story by showing works that were completed before and during his time in Pittsburgh.”

Gledaj! offers viewers a glimpse of the other influential arts movements from the early twentieth century, on display in Vanka’s oil paintings, watercolor portraits, graphite sketches, and sepia studies. But the works themselves, particularly as a collective, showcase a unique and distinctive talent made stronger by his desire to highlight the marginalized immigrants, workers, and Black Americans.

The range of Maxo Vanka’s influences are shown through this collection of artworks.

For exhibit curator Steffi Domike, “Vanka employed all of the tools of his training as a portrait artist, his lifelong practice of figure drawing, and his keen sensitivity to the burdens of poverty to his work at St. Nicholas Church. He is particularly gifted in painting personality and emotion in the bodies of his subjects, as well as in the facial expressions. Vanka’s workers are muscled and strong and express pride, but also fragility, exhaustion, and death. Their joy lies with community, faith, and family.”

“The exhibit reinforces his artistic talent and ability to tell a compelling story through his art. In many ways, it shows that he was uniquely qualified to paint the Murals in St. Nicholas through the circumstance of his birth, lived experiences, talent, and temperament,” notes Doering. “The artist, the murals and the opportunity for the commission in a historic Croatian Church in Millvale, PA, are all truly one of a kind.”

Gledaj! The Gaze of Maxo Vanka will be on display at the Bost Building through August 25, 2023, and is open to the public for a suggested donation of $5 per person. Public tours of the Vanka Murals are offered at the historic St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church in Millvale on Saturdays at 11:00 a.m. or 12:30 p.m. and Mondays at 6:30 p.m.

In conjunction with the Gledaj! exhibition, SPMMMV will also be offering expanded community engagement opportunities through the summer, including sketching sessions in the South Side, Carrie Blast Furnaces, and Polish Hill. Inspired by Maxo Vanka’s views of Pittsburgh, sketched in 1935 and 1937, these three-hour outdoor sessions will help participants learn how to use their sketchbooks to observe, experience, and celebrate unique spaces here in Pittsburgh and beyond.

Registration is $20 per person and includes water, snacks, and a gift from the Vanka Murals. Spaces are limited. Participants must bring sketching supplies and portable seating if desired. Sketch with the Vanka Murals! South Side (Sunday, 6/25) with session leader John Martine; Carrie Blast Furnaces (Sunday 8/6) with session leaders Rick Landesberg and Ron Donoughe; and Polish Hill (Sunday 10/1) with session leader Ron Donoughe.

The exhibition includes some photographs of the artist.

Curated by Steffi Domike, Gledaj! is presented in partnership with the Rivers of Steel Heritage Area. Funding was provided in part by a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Additional support comes from 2023 Paint the Town Maxo Sponsor Dentons Cohen & Grigsby.

About the Mini-Grant Program

Rivers of Steel’s Mini-Grant Program assists heritage-related sites and organizations as well as municipalities within the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area to develop new and innovative programs, partnerships, exhibits, tours, and other initiatives. Funded projects support heritage tourism, enhance preservation efforts, involve the stewardship of natural resources, encourage outdoor recreation, and include collaborative partnerships. Through these efforts, Rivers of Steel seeks to identify, conserve, promote, and interpret the industrial and cultural heritage that defines southwestern Pennsylvania.

The Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area is one of twelve supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). Funding is provided via DCNR’s Community Conservation Partnerships Program and the Environmental Stewardship Fund to Rivers of Steel, which administers the Mini-Grant Program.

Gita Michulka is a Pittsburgh-based marketing and communications consultant with over 15 years of experience promoting our region’s arts, recreation, and nonprofit assets.  

If you’d like to know more about community projects supported by the Mini-Grant Program, check out the latest round of awards.

Volunteers Asriel Barnabei, Tom Higgs, and Rebecca Carter join program administration Ashley Kyber (center, right) in painting the pavement for a new parklet outside the Mon Valley Alliance building in Monongahela, PA.

Community Spotlight—Monongahela

The Community Spotlight series features the efforts of Rivers of Steel’s partner organizations, along with collaborative partnerships, that reflect the diversity and vibrancy of the communities within the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area.

By Carly V. McCoy

Progress is made on the new pavement mural outside of the Mon Valley Alliance building.

New Parklet Debuts in Mon City

Rivers of Steel is excited to partner with the Mon Valley Alliance and Monongahela Chamber of Commerce to celebrate the opening of a new pocket park during the City of Monongahela’s annual 4^th of July Celebration. Join us at 235 West Main Street in Monongahela between 6:00 and 9:00 p.m. on July 4, 2023, to see this colorfully reimagined downtown space!

A time-lapse video featuring the painting of the pavement mural.

Unveiling New Artworks

Covering the grounds of the entire Mon Valley Alliance property, the space is designed from the ground up! A bright-blue pavement mural provides the foundation for new public sculptures that were inspired by columns from early twentieth-century street fairs in Mon City. New planters featuring sustainable plants and greenspace will be complemented by orange sun sail installations that offer shade as well.

Nearby, be sure to check out a new vinyl mural measuring 100 feet wide mounted on the Aquatorium fence line. This massive mural is based on an Appalachian Cranky, a traditional story scroll, and was created with students at Ringgold Elementary and seniors from the Mon Valley Senior Center in collaboration with artist Katy DeMent.

Ashley Kyber, right, collaborates with women at the Mon Valley Senior Center on an artwork that will be incorporated into a new mural near the city’s Aquatorium.

These public artworks and design interventions are part of Rivers of Steel’s Creative Leadership Program, which helps heritage partners throughout southwestern Pennsylvania develop and implement long-term placemaking strategies for their communities. Realized over a nine-month period, this new pocket park was the culmination of an action planning process led by Ashley Kyber, who oversees the Creative Leadership Program.

A Celebration in Monongahela

This exciting event coincides with the city of Monongahela’s annual 4th of July celebration downtown that includes food trucks, vendors, games, and live music followed by a spectacular fireworks display over the Monongahela River. The event is hosted by the Monongahela Area Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Mon Valley Academy for the Arts.

About the Creative Leadership Program

The Creative Leadership Program is one of four key strategies in Rivers of Steel’s Partners for Creative Economy initiative. Presenting a long-term vision for the future of the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area, the program fosters transformational opportunities for communities left out of recent economic growth and prosperity as seen nearby in the city of Pittsburgh. This initiative unites Rivers of Steel’s approach to placemaking by investing in the future success of the region’s cultural and heritage assets and building up local leaders through a range of promotional and professional development strategies, including workforce development, technical assistance, and funding. Support for Partners for Creative Economy is made possible by a grant from the National Park Foundation and the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.

If you’d like to know more about community projects supported by Rivers of Steel, check out other stories in the Community Spotlight series.

Loralyn Fabian, program manager for the tree adoption event at the Pump House on April 1, 2023.

Community Spotlight—Tree Pittsburgh

The Community Spotlight series features the efforts of Rivers of Steel’s partner organizations, along with collaborative partnerships, that reflect the diversity and vibrancy of the communities within the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area.

By Carly V. McCoy

Mon Valley Tree Adoption Event

“Fun, high energy, and well-received by our partners and the public!” is how Loralyn Fabian described a typical tree adoption in advance of last Saturday’s pickup event at the Pump House in Munhall. As the Tree Adoption Program Manager for Tree Pittsburgh, Loralyn appreciates the enthusiasm of the Allegheny County residents who register to adopt free trees—and she and the Tree Pittsburgh team have a system in place for these giveaways to run smoothly.

In fact, the process starts months in advance, when Tree Pittsburgh reaches out to community partners to host the tree adoption event and to help inform locals about the opportunity to increase the region’s tree canopy, a role that Rivers of Steel was happy to assist with for this event.

Next up is preregistration: interested residents can sign up in advance for up to two trees from a varied selection of offerings. Invariably, these events sell out. For Saturday’s two-hour session, there were 150 trees and shrubs on hand and three additional Tree Pittsburgh staffers to support Loralyn, who checked in each registered person, shared information about planting and care, and handed out vouchers for their selected trees. Those vouchers were then handed over to Mel and Cedar, who accepted them in exchange for the saplings and then helped folks who needed assistance to get the trees into their cars. Maura O’Neill, the organization’s director of development and communications, was also on hand to help with check-in, tree distribution, and tree education as needed.

After an initial rush, the pace steadied, and Loralyn acknowledged that it did not end up being as fast-paced as it could have been. The weather cooperated, too; the high winds and rains held off until just after the event ended.

Sean Mooney of Braddock picked up two redbuds for his yard and was assisted by Cedar.

Throughout the morning, several folks stopped by to see if there were any extra trees. At the end of these events, there usually are a number of trees that remain unclaimed, which creates an opportunity for those who missed out on preregistration. Other folks sought an additional tree or two beyond their two initial trees. Ten minutes before the official end time, these hopefuls were instructed to queue in a line, and then promptly at 1:00 p.m., the tree adopters began to thin out what was left of the supply. Fifteen minutes later, only a few American sycamores remained, along with a bur oak or two. By all standards, it was a successful event.

Bethany Fullwood of Lincoln Place brought along some help to assist with carrying their American sycamore and bur oak back to the car.

The Tree Adoption Program

Tree Pittsburgh’s tree adoption program has grown over the years. The first time they offered trees to the public, it was a singular event in a large park and open to residents from across Allegheny County. Since then, data on tree canopy loss has helped Loralyn and other staff to identify the particular spaces within the county most in need of tree cover.

“One of the things we learned from the data is that residential areas are currently experiencing the most tree canopy loss,” said Loralyn Fabian. She went on to explain the variety of reasons that are currently contributing to situation, from pests and diseases or improper pruning to the life cycle of trees in established communities and the choice to remove large trees for fear of them falling on homes. The latter is a concern that is increasingly valid in an era of more frequent high-wind events and microbursts.

This spring Tree Pittsburgh is hosting seven events throughout the county as part of the tree adoption program. Like the Mon River Valley event on Saturday, the remaining dates are sold out. However, interested residents in those communities can stop by at the end to pick up the trees that go unclaimed. Another option is to check back in the fall; adoption events are timed for spring and fall to go with the planting seasons.

Virginia pines were among the trees offered last Saturday. They require full sun and mature to a height of 15 to 40 feet.

The Selection of Trees

Like the communities that were targeted to receive tree adoption events, the selection of trees is tailored to fit the needs of the community as well. While large trees like the American sycamore and the bur oak were offered for residents who have enough space to accommodate them, other trees including Allegheny serviceberry, Sweetbay magnolias, and Virginia pines offered more moderately sized options. The offerings also vary by location for each event.

“We recognized the need for medium and smaller trees within the diverse mix of tree species, like the Eastern redbuds and the Red osier dogwood,” said Loralyn. “The shrubs and smaller trees provide an understory to the canopy.”

Loralyn went on to explain that the selection of trees also vary by sun and soil needs, but that the organization is careful to avoid overly complicated language when describing the tree care to make the process more accessible to residents. Instead, they rely on water quality terms, like soil moisture and drainage needs, and by offering trees that are resilient and hardy. Additionally, they offer planting education via information sheets and online videos.

Kenya of East Pittsburgh carried out her family’s Sweetbay magnolia.

Sourcing the Trees

Each of the thousand-plus trees that are scheduled to be given away and planted this spring were grown at Tree Pittsburgh’s Heritage Nursery, a nonprofit wholesale nursery specializing in native plants grown from seed for forest restoration. Currently the nursery has more than 14,000 seedlings, all grown from seeds of mother trees. These locally harvested seeds come from trees that have already proven to be hardy in our local climate and resilient to modern conditions, thus the heritage descriptor.

In addition to supporting the tree adoption program, the nursery provides trees for Tree Pittsburgh’s other initiatives, including its ReLeaf Neighborhoods program and its TreeVitalize Pittsburgh program. Whereas the tree adoption program targets individuals, these other efforts happen in partnership with communities, parks, and local governments.

The Heritage Nursery also works with professionals, from local environmental groups, contractors, and designers to individuals to provide locally adapted trees for planting projects and supply trees at the wholesale level.

Mr. Kane of Munhall, assisted here by Mel, found out about the event through his borough’s Facebook page.

Supporting Tree Pittsburgh

Throughout the event on Saturday, people added to the donation jar on the check-in table, and the staff warmly thanked them. If you are looking to support these efforts, too, there are several ways to give beyond donations, including by volunteering or purchasing merchandise.

For individuals seeking to support Tree Pittsburgh through the purchase of trees, there will be an opportunity to shop at Phipps May Market, where trees from the nursery will be available to the public.

If you’d like to know more about community projects supported by Rivers of Steel, check out other stories in the Community Spotlight series.

By Gita Michulka, Contributing Writer   |   Image: The Sunstar Festival is among the upcoming community events at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater.

Community Spotlight—Kelly Strayhorn Theater

The Community Spotlight series features the efforts of Rivers of Steel’s partner organizations, along with collaborative partnerships, that reflect the diversity and vibrancy of the communities within the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area.

By Gita Michulka, Contributing Writer

Tech Upgrades Create Enhanced Experiences for Community Partners

Since its inception, the Kelly Strayhorn Theater (KST) has always been more than just a performance space. They hold true to their mission of offering some of the most bold, unique, and inclusive events found in the city, but it is the organization’s dedication to its location that makes it exceptional. To call KST “neighborly” would be an understatement. Everything KST offers is infused with care for the community—from creating a safe and welcoming atmosphere for all who enter to highlighting and elevating the longstanding East Liberty community.

The Producing Partners program at the theater allows for a broad range of associates to rent the theater space for public shows, and in turn, KST staff support the renters with equipment and technical support.

“Different organizations are using the theater for multifaceted purposes, from presenting performances to presenting awards shows to recitals to full theatrical productions—all sorts of different kinds of engagements,” says Ben Pryor, Programming Director at KST. “And we really work with the producing partners to flesh out the details of their event. There’ll be a range of different folks that come through the program, some who are really well versed in producing their own work and some producing an event for the first time and really maybe coming in with not a lot of experience in doing that. So we work really closely with them to figure out what they’re going to need and how we can accommodate that.”

The Fully Expressed performance at the KST, September, 2022.

Kelly Strayhorn Theater recently received a Rivers of Steel Mini-Grant that supported equipment upgrades for the Producing Partners program.

“The mission of Kelly Strayhorn Theater is to be accessible to the community. But it’s hard to say that we’re helping if our equipment isn’t up to par,” says J. R. Shaw with a laugh. Shaw serves as Production Manager at KST, where he works to ensure partners have the equipment and setup they need.

“When our existing microphone system was purchased, there was a certain radio wavelength that we could use, but over time that has been opened up to more general use,” Shaw explains. “Which has meant that as development and more people move into the area, we’ve run into more issues with interference, with static, with the equipment being not as reliable. And so being able to upgrade this equipment is great.”

The theater has purchased new wireless lavalier microphones, handheld microphones, and headsets as part of their robust sound system to allow for a broader range of performances including more movement-based shows or more conversational settings.

Both Pryor and Shaw are quick to point out the significance of something as seemingly mundane as an equipment upgrade. “For a lot of our partners, in many cases, this is their first time ever producing a show,” says Shaw. “And so they don’t necessarily have the resources for an additional outside rental or they may not know initially that this might be an issue that they need to work with. So being able to have high-quality equipment on hand that our partners can use is really going towards the experience and to the service that we provide and how we can serve people as they are making their voices heard.”

The Marking this Moment in Time exhbition at the KST, September, 2022.

Programming at KST includes public events, classes and workshops, artist fellowships, family programming, and so much more. The lobby space has also been updated as a gallery and exhibition space offering multiple showcases for guests.

Upcoming features include Neighbor to Neighbor, a group exhibition that challenges artists and patrons to visualize ideas around equitable and active neighboring, and R.E.S.P.E.C.T. An Aretha Franklin Tribute Concert, both of which open on February 11, 2023.

To learn more about the mission and programming at Kelly Strayhorn Theater visit kelly-strayhorn.org.

About the Mini-Grant Program

Rivers of Steel’s Mini-Grant Program assists heritage-related sites and organizations as well as municipalities within the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area to develop new and innovative programs, partnerships, exhibits, tours, and other initiatives. Funded projects support heritage tourism, enhance preservation efforts, involve the stewardship of natural resources, encourage outdoor recreation, and include collaborative partnerships. Through these efforts, Rivers of Steel seeks to identify, conserve, promote, and interpret the industrial and cultural heritage that defines southwestern Pennsylvania.

The Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area is one of twelve supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). Funding is provided via DCNR’s Community Conservation Partnerships Program and the Environmental Stewardship Fund to Rivers of Steel, which administers the Mini-Grant Program. The Kelly Strayhorn Theater is one of eight organizations who received Mini-Grant funding through this program in 2022.

All photos are courtesy of the Kelly Strayhorn Theater.

Gita Michulka is a Pittsburgh-based marketing and communications consultant with over 15 years of experience promoting our region’s arts, recreation, and nonprofit assets.  

If you’d like to know more about community projects supported by the Mini-Grant Program, read Gita’s recent article about the Battle of Homestead Foundation.

A worker’s gear from the Battle of Homestead Archives & Special Collections.

Community Spotlight—Battle of Homestead Foundation

The Community Spotlight series features the efforts of Rivers of Steel’s partner organizations, along with collaborative partnerships, that reflect the diversity and vibrancy of the communities within the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area.

By Gita Michulka, Contributing Writer

Battle of Homestead Foundation Expands Reach with Digital Archive

A core tenet of the Battle of Homestead Foundation’s mission is to promote “a people’s history” of southwestern Pennsylvania’s labor movements and in particular to memorialize the 1892 Battle of Homestead. Though the organization has rich reserves of memorabilia from the past century and a diverse program series to share these stories and collections, they do not yet have a physical museum in which to showcase the collection of workers’ ephemera.

Thanks to funding from a Rivers of Steel Mini-Grant, the Battle of Homestead Foundation (BHF) Archives team is working on expanding their reach another way—a digitized version of the organization’s collections.

“We have a lot of information that we want the public to be aware of and want them to be able to use for research,” says Cassidee Knott, archives administrator at BHF and the lead on the Mini-Grant-funded digitization project. “Being able to put these things on the internet really makes us more accessible not only to our local community, but on a national scale as well.”

“Right now, we’re housing a lot of union-based items,” she continues. “Our three primary collections belong to Mike Stout, Charlie McCollester, and Mark Fallon, and really vary from material items like t-shirts, union banners, union buttons, photograph slides, and then of course a lot more paper items. Charlie’s collection especially is full of paper items in relation to some of the books that he’s written.”

Items from the BHF Archives & Special Collections on display at the Pump House.

BHF is an organization that is about as grass roots as the labor movements that inspired it. It was founded and is run by citizens, workers, educators, and historians, all of whom share a passion for preserving the history of Western Pennsylvania’s laborers. McCollester is a founding member of the Battle of Homestead Foundation; McCollester, Stout, and Fallon all currently serve as board members there and have direct ties to Homestead, its steel mills, and unions.

“Homestead was home to a steel mill that is extremely important in the larger scope of American history—that is certainly true,” says Dr. Jacqueline Cavalier, BHF Archives and Special Collections Committee Chair. “However, Homestead also has a story to tell because of people from many different backgrounds who lived here, who worshipped here, who ate and drank here, who were educated here, who engaged in public service here, and the list goes on. Those stories are equally important, and our organization is committed to preserving and sharing those stories as well.”

Knott is eager for the collections to be ready, but is quick to point out the care that is going into the digital conservation of each item. “It’s been slow and steady—it is a big undertaking. Right now, we’re currently working with three people: myself and two of our interns. [We are] just scanning these items and making sure they are processed correctly. So it’s very nitty-gritty work, but it’s going to have a big payoff.”

The BHF Archives team has partnered with PA Power Library to create the final full digital collection, which will be accessible through the BHF website.

Items from the Mike Stout collection.

“Something that’s big for me, especially having a master’s in public history, is that public element of having the community know and be involved and having access to these items,” Knott notes. “Because it’s wonderful to have these collections, and we have these rare buttons and we have, you know, political banners and union items. And that’s all well and dandy to say yes we have it. But then sharing it, getting it out there—these items really do belong to the community, and I know our donors have that in mind when they’re donating these collections.”

“The Battle of Homestead Foundation is committed to preserving those stories and experiences that are available to all of us as an inheritance from those who came before us,” Cavalier agrees. “We utilize these experiences in hopes of having a better understanding not only of the past but of the future as well, particularly with respect to work. Our goal with the archives project is to tell the important story of work and the worker and to share the experiences of those individuals and groups who shaped the community in many, many ways.”

The BHF Archives & Special Collections currently provide ongoing labor education to students and citizens, research opportunities for scholars, and public history programs for the larger community, among other resources. To learn more about the BHF Archives and Special Collections visit battleofhomestead.org/board_committee/archives.

About the Mini-Grant Program

Rivers of Steel’s Mini-Grant Program assists heritage-related sites and organizations as well as municipalities within the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area to develop new and innovative programs, partnerships, exhibits, tours, and other initiatives. Funded projects support heritage tourism, enhance preservation efforts, involve the stewardship of natural resources, encourage outdoor recreation, and include collaborative partnerships. Through these efforts, Rivers of Steel seeks to identify, conserve, promote, and interpret the industrial and cultural heritage that defines southwestern Pennsylvania.

The Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area is one of twelve supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). Funding is provided via DCNR’s Community Conservation Partnerships Program and the Environmental Stewardship Fund to Rivers of Steel, which administers the Mini-Grant Program. The Battle of Homestead Foundation is one of eight organizations who received Mini-Grant funding through this program in 2022.

Gita Michulka is a Pittsburgh-based marketing and communications consultant with over 15 years of experience promoting our region’s arts, recreation, and nonprofit assets.  

If you’d like to know more about community projects supported by the Mini-Grant Program, read Gita’s recent article about Dragon’s Den.

Homestead youth engage in a group activity across from Dragon’s Den, which occupies the space that was formerly the St. Mary Magdalene church.

Community Spotlight—Dragon’s Den

The Community Spotlight series features the efforts of Rivers of Steel’s partner organizations, along with collaborative partnerships, that reflect the diversity and vibrancy of the communities within the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area.

By Gita Michulka, Contributing Writer

The two-story ropes course at Dragon’s Den.

Helping Homestead Youth Reach Great Heights

When Giulia and Bill Petrucci purchased the former St. Mary Magdalene church in Homestead, Pennsylvania, in 2015, they knew they wanted to create a space where the community, especially its children, could come together. At the time, they never imagined the space would be centered around a two-story ropes course and a zip line that ran from the old choir loft to the altar.

While the couple was working out how to restore such a large, open space in a way that was financially feasible, they considered closing off the top half of the cathedral to make heating and cooling more practical.

“We knew we wanted to do something for children, but the issue was that in a part of our church, we have the ceiling that is more than fifty feet high. So the challenge was how are we going to heat this big, open space,” says Giulia Lozza Petrucci, Executive Director of Dragon’s Den. “And so the initial idea was to build a second floor because this way you could heat one floor and not the other one, but then that would mean having to cover all the beautiful details of this church. The ceiling is absolutely stunning. We have terracotta medallions with different faces on top of each window, and everything would have been, you know, hidden.”

Since a key piece of their mission was also to preserve the history of the space, installing a second floor that would cut off visitors from the church’s grandeur was not an option. Luckily, a trip to Italy provided unexpected inspiration.

“When my kids and I went to Italy that summer, my kids went to tour a ropes course with my aunt. They came home and they started talking about being terrorized and walking in the air and thinking that they were going to die,” says Petrucci with a laugh. “But then actually they didn’t. And they loved it so much, and I could see a difference in self-confidence and joy from my own children.”

Curious about their experience, Petrucci visited the ropes course the following day to learn more.

“In Italy, field trips must be educational. But I really didn’t understand what was educational about moving from one platform on a tree to another,” she says with another laugh. “To me it looked more like a physical thing, like a gym or something. I really didn’t see the connection until I talked to the teachers, and they told me that it’s part of the curriculum because there are so many studies that support how doing ropes courses helps team building and working together among participants, and also following directions, problem solving, and an increase in self-efficacy, self-control, focus, and self-confidence.”

After doing some more research into the benefits of participating in a ropes course, the Petruccis had made up their minds.

“So that is when the decision was made,” Petrucci continues. “We realized that we could do a second floor without covering the beauty, because our ropes courses would allow people to move on two different levels as if there were two floors. But it’s open, so you see all the beautiful details while walking next to it. Imagine when you go to a cathedral, you see things that are, what, thirty feet away, right? Well, in our case, you walk next to it.”

A youth on the ropes course at Dragon’s Den.

A neighborhood Oratorio in Homestead

Beyond the benefits a ropes course would add to their programming, Petrucci saw potential in the location of St. Mary Magdalene to recreate a space familiar to her from growing up in Italy.

“We have one little church in every little town in Italy, and next to each church is a safe space called an oratorio, where children are free to walk to after school,” explains Petrucci. “And there are structured and unstructured activities, a space to run, a space to do homework there.”

A desire to create an oratorio for the Homestead community solidified the concept of Dragon’s Den.

“The position of St. Mary Magdalene being across the street from Propel Charter School and a block and a half from Barrett Elementary school and across the street from a park makes it very, very easy for the kids to just walk to us independently,” says Petrucci.

Dragon’s Den has been deeply embedded in the community from the start. The Petruccis were drawn to St. Mary Magdalene not only for its beauty, but also because of the stories they had heard about how hard the neighborhood rallied to keep its doors open. The organization’s name—a nod to the church’s former school whose mascot was a dragon—was chosen through a large community-wide naming contest.

“One of the people that submitted a name, actually I remember that email because it was a turning point, like a light bulb went off,” says Petrucci. “This person was saying, ‘You want to preserve our church? Please also preserve our past.’”

Recently the Petruccis were afforded a unique opportunity to do just that. Thanks in part to funding from a Rivers of Steel Mini-Grant, the organization will be able to restore an original model of the church that was found in the rectory.

“It’s an historic model because it’s assumed that it was built in 1895 by architect Frederick Sauer, who is the architect that built St. Mary Magdalene,” says Petrucci. “But what happened at that time, there was a huge fire in 1934 that destroyed completely the old St. Mary Magdalene. So what you see now, the building we are in, it was rebuilt—but that model, it’s the only remaining evidence of what the historic building looked like before its destruction.”

Removing the model for restoration.

Mary Wilcop, an object conservator at the Carnegie Museum of Art, will clean the model, which provides a unique architectural glimpse into the Steel Valley’s past. Once the restoration is complete, the model will provide an invaluable tourist attraction as part of the area’s heritage.

This attention to the site’s history and the neighboring community, along with the distinctive programming a ropes course offers, has endeared Dragon’s Den to the Homestead families it serves. Despite opening at the onset of a pandemic, the programs at Dragon’s Den have been wildly popular out of the gate. The ropes courses and open space of the church naturally lent to social distancing while offering a chance for physical activity and social interactions. Since then, the programs at Dragon’s Den have grown to include after-school programs, summer camps, community events, and facility rentals for corporate retreats and team building.

Giulia Petrucci is eager to point out that beyond reading about it and seeing pictures, you really need to see the space to appreciate all that it has to offer. She recalls how even a colleague of the ropes course designer, who had seen hundreds of photos of the space, marveled during his first in-person visit. “He said, ‘Well, I believe that Dragon’s Den is like the pyramids in Egypt. It doesn’t matter how many pictures you’ve seen, it doesn’t matter how many words you have read—you don’t fully appreciate them until you are there.”

Learn more about the history, programs, and ropes course opportunities at Dragon’s Den at dragonsdenpgh.org.

About the Mini-Grant Program

Rivers of Steel’s Mini-Grant Program assists heritage-related sites and organizations as well as municipalities within the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area to develop new and innovative programs, partnerships, exhibits, tours, and other initiatives. Funded projects support heritage tourism, enhance preservation efforts, involve the stewardship of natural resources, encourage outdoor recreation, and include collaborative partnerships. Through these efforts, Rivers of Steel seeks to identify, conserve, promote, and interpret the industrial and cultural heritage that defines southwestern Pennsylvania.

The Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area is one of twelve supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). Funding is provided via DCNR’s Community Conservation Partnerships Program and the Environmental Stewardship Fund to Rivers of Steel, which administers the Mini-Grant Program. Dragon’s Den is one of eight organizations who received Mini-Grant funding through this program in 2022.

Gita Michulka is a Pittsburgh-based marketing and communications consultant with over 15 years of experience promoting our region’s arts, recreation, and nonprofit assets.  

If you’d like to know more about community projects supported by the Mini-Grant Program, read Gita’s recent article about Meadowcroft Rockshelter.

“Life with a Shawnee Family” at Meadowcroft.

Community Spotlight—Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village and Fort Pitt Museum

The Community Spotlight series features the efforts Rivers of Steel’s partner organizations, along with collaborative partnerships, that reflect the diversity and vibrancy of the communities within the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area.

By Gita Michulka, Contributing Writer

The Meadowcroft Rockshelter

Amplifying Historic Voices of Western Pennsylvania

Taking an authentic look back in time over 400 years has a deeper meaning when you can hear directly from descendants of the people who lived in this region during that time. New fall programming at Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village and the Fort Pitt Museum aims to amplify the perspectives of native tribes within the historic stories that shape western Pennsylvania.

Meadowcroft recently hosted Life with a Shawnee Family, a two-day event where ten members of federally recognized American Indian tribes traveled to western Pennsylvania to participate in recreations throughout the site.

Visitors at Meadowcroft, a 275-acre site in Washington County, have a unique ability to travel through several distinct periods of time. The Rockshelter, a National Historic Landmark, houses the earliest known campsite in North America, with signs of life dating from 19,000 years ago. Nearby, there are three other outdoor historic areas: a sixteenth-century Monongahela Indian Village that looks at life after agriculture but prior to European settlement; an eighteenth-century frontier trading post; and a nineteenth-century rural village, which includes a single-family home, a one-room schoolhouse, a blacksmith shop, and a covered bridge.

The “Life with a Shawnee Family” event.

For the Life with a Shawnee Family event, the focus in each of these areas across Meadowcroft was a historical interpretation from an American Indian tribe’s perspective. Tribal members were located in the Monongahela Indian Village to talk about pre-contact life and in the eighteenth century frontier area to talk about life during that period. The program also aimed to offer a native perspective on the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and the effect it had on the indigenous people. Across the site, members of the tribe also offered visitors a chance to see how tasks were performed by their ancestors in the early days of agriculture and how Ohio Valley tribes lived off the land.

“One of the major initiatives that we’re partnering with the Fort Pitt staff on is what we’re calling our American Indian initiative,” says David Scofield, Director of Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village. “We’re developing relationships with the tribes that were here historically but were forcibly removed and pushed west to reservations in Kansas and Oklahoma or north to New York. The Shawnee tribes, the Delaware tribes, Seneca, and the Seneca-Cayuga.”

Scofield continues, “Our goal is to involve those tribes that were here historically as we develop programming and we develop exhibits so that they can have a voice here once again in a place where they no longer have a physical presence but were a major part of our region’s history.”

At the Fort Pitt Museum, the timeline picks up where Meadowcroft leaves off, highlighting the mid-to-late eighteenth-century wars that further shaped our region. Displays in the museum showcase Pittsburgh’s pivotal role in the French and Indian War and the American Revolution and also what life was like in the early days as the city was developing.

Cooking demonstration at the Fort Pitt Museum.

A recent program at Fort Pitt also highlighted the interactions between the historic tribes that once called Pittsburgh home, including a cooking demonstration from Shideezhi Emarthla, a citizen of the Seneca-Cayuga Nation. The program was held on the museum lawn in Point State Park and was free to the public.

Additionally, the Fort Pitt Museum has opened a new exhibit titled Guyasuta: The Life & Legend of a Seneca Chief. The exhibit looks at the life of one of Pittsburgh’s eighteenth-century leaders and includes the bronze scale model for the “Points of View” sculpture on Mount Washington by local sculptor Jim West.

Point of View sculpture on Mount Washington, courtesy of Jim West.

The effect of physically being at these historical sites is never lost on Justin Meinert, education and living history manager at the Fort Pitt Museum. “At Fort Pitt you get to experience the historical significance of Point State Park and be in the atmosphere of downtown Pittsburgh,” he says. “While at Meadowcroft, you are standing in a historically significant spot of 19,000 years of human inhabitation, and for a slight moment may be able to feel as if you are in a 1620s Monongahela Indian Village or eighteenth-century town—and all the while you are surrounded by the best views Western Pennsylvania’s countryside has to offer.”

“By implementing American Indian Programing—mainly living history programs—at both sites, it allows not only a large, diverse visitor base to experience the programs, but our presenters themselves,” says Meinert.

Scofield agrees. “Because of our American Indian initiative, we have cooperated in both directions where, you know, Fort Pitt staff will come here and help us with programming, and then we’ve participated in programs there as well,” he says. “So we’ve been doing that a little bit, but this is a growing initiative, and I expect a lot more of that over time.”

Life with a Shawnee Family and these recent programs at Fort Pitt were funded in part by the Rivers of Steel Mini-Grant Program. Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village and the Fort Pitt Museum are part of the Senator John Heinz History Center, a Smithsonian affiliate that also houses the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum and the Detre Library and Archives.

Upcoming fall programming at Meadowcroft includes Archaeology Day, in partnership with the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology; Insider Tours of the Rockshelter with James M. Adovasio, Ph.D., lead archaeologist on the site; and a Taffy Pull and Fall Finale. Visit heinzhistorycenter.org/Meadowcroft for details. The Fort Pitt Museum offers both guided and self-guided tours that meet the needs of a variety of audiences. For a listing of exhibits and events, visit heinzhistorycenter.org/fort-pitt.

All images courtesy of Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village and Fort Pitt Museum, except where noted.

About the Mini-Grant Program

Rivers of Steel’s Mini-Grant Program assists heritage-related sites and organizations as well as municipalities within the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area to develop new and innovative programs, partnerships, exhibits, tours, and other initiatives. Funded projects support heritage tourism, enhance preservation efforts, involve the stewardship of natural resources, encourage outdoor recreation, and include collaborative partnerships. Through these efforts, Rivers of Steel seeks to identify, conserve, promote, and interpret the industrial and cultural heritage that defines southwestern Pennsylvania.

The Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area is one of twelve supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). Funding is provided via DCNR’s Community Conservation Partnerships Program and the Environmental Stewardship Fund to Rivers of Steel, which administers the Mini-Grant Program. Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village and Fort Pitt Museum is one of eight organizations who received Mini-Grant funding through this program in 2022.

Gita Michulka is a Pittsburgh-based marketing and communications consultant with over 15 years of experience promoting our region’s arts, recreation, and nonprofit assets.  

If you’d like to know more about community projects supported by the Mini-Grant Program, read Gita’s recent article about the West Overton Village and Museums.

The West Overton Distilling Company, part of the West Overton Village and Museums

Community Spotlight—West Overton Village and Museums

The Community Spotlight series features the efforts Rivers of Steel’s partner organizations, along with collaborative partnerships, that reflect the diversity and vibrancy of the communities within the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area.

By Gita Michulka, Contributing Writer

Finding Your Way to West Overton—New Exhibits and Wayfinding to Tell a Broader Story of the Overholt Homestead

In a nutshell, the West Overton Village and Museums (WOVM) is a collection of nineteen historic buildings nestled amongst thirty acres—the homestead of Abraham Overholt and birthplace of his grandson, Henry Clay Frick. The German Mennonite village was established in the early 1800s and soon blossomed into a hub of industry. And though the story of the Overholts is fairly well known, new exhibits and wayfinding are helping guests of the village explore how much more there is to the site’s history.

“This started as a family farm in 1803, but by 1880 it had just blossomed into this industrial community, built around a rye whiskey distillery, a grist mill, a coal mine, a coverlet weaving business, and all the auxiliary businesses needed to make all of this operate,” says Aaron Hollis, co-executive director of WOVM.

A lot is known, documented, and celebrated about the Overholt family. Visitors to West Overton can tour a museum dedicated to the industrial enterprises of the family, as well as walk through preserved rooms in the 1838 Overholt Homestead and tour the springhouse where Frick was born. But WOVM wanted to dig deeper and has recently unveiled a new exhibit that shines a light on the hundreds of residents who made a living as mill workers, coal miners, coopers, rail workers, and store clerks.

“You know, the Overholts are a wealthy, prolific, large family. Fricks, even more so. So people found their stories, their images, everything worth preserving. We have our museum, we have websites, we have photo albums—we even have albums of hair of the Overholts,” says Hollis with a laugh.

Hollis is eager to share more about the lesser-known residents of West Overton. “We were able to go through ledgers of the Overholt company store and pick out names. And as best we could, we researched these residents through tax records, through census records, what they bought and sold in the store—just trying to scrape together details of these people’s lives to try to tell stories of this community through their eyes and see how they were impacted and also impacted the industrialization happening around them.”

This new exhibit is now part of the permanent exhibitions at West Overton Village and Museums, and museum staff are hopeful that over the years, as people come to tour the site, they will recognize their ancestors on display and reach out to share more.

West Overton Distilling Company Products

Rye Whiskey at West Overton

The rebirth of an Overholt legacy is also on display these days at WOVM.

“We started making whiskey here on site in our new education distillery for the first time since prohibition,” says Hollis. “It had been a hundred years, almost exactly, from when the stills last ran here and when we were able to reopen a distillery here on site.”

Visitors can now tour the pre-Civil War stock barn that WOVM renovated to become the West Overton Distilling Company. And even though it is outfitted with brand new equipment, the style of whiskey that is being produced is a similar product to what Abraham Overholt and family would have enjoyed at the height of the region’s industrial era.

“It’s not like we could turn on a hundred-year-old still,” laughs Hollis. “But we are making a very similar style product—Monongahela Rye. And visitors can tour the distillery as part of their museum experience, sample the product, and buy cocktails and bottles as well.”

Wayfinding at West Overton

Hollis notes that guests are welcome to tour the grounds even when WOVM staff are not present. “If you come here on a day that we are closed, you can still walk around, read signs about the buildings, and still have a valuable experience, even if you’re not in person with a tour guide.”

A self-guided walking tour booklet is available for the site, which includes historical notes about the land and settlement along with particular attractions.

Thanks in part to funding from a Rivers of Steel Mini-Grant, WOVM has begun to implement the first phase of a wayfinding project that will enhance guest experiences both during and outside of museum hours. Signs will be installed to aid with parking and site directions, as well as signage on the main attractions for a more interactive and educational experience. Over time, the museum hopes to add more interpretive signs throughout the village that will highlight the key aspects of West Overton from a century ago for a more thorough understanding of WOVM, its history, and its relevance to the region.

No matter how you experience the attractions at West Overton Village and Museums, Hollis hopes you’ll take a minute to reflect on the spaces themselves. “The beautiful thing about this settlement is that these buildings—they’re all original, they’re all authentic. I think that’s what, in part, makes West Overton so unique—all the buildings that we have here are the original structures, and the site is in its original layout. When you tour the Homestead, you are sharing the floor with Abraham Overholt and Henry Clay Frick and people of the 19th century, and that really offers such a unique connection to our region’s past.”

West Overton Village and Museums is located in Scottdale, PA, and is open Thursdays through Sundays from 10am to 4pm (the last tour begins at 3pm). Visit westovertonvillage.org for more details and seasonal events. 

All images courtesy of West Overton Village and Museums.

About the Mini-Grant Program

Rivers of Steel’s Mini-Grant Program assists heritage-related sites and organizations as well as municipalities within the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area to develop new and innovative programs, partnerships, exhibits, tours, and other initiatives. Funded projects support heritage tourism, enhance preservation efforts, involve the stewardship of natural resources, encourage outdoor recreation, and include collaborative partnerships. Through these efforts, Rivers of Steel seeks to identify, conserve, promote, and interpret the industrial and cultural heritage that defines southwestern Pennsylvania.

The Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area is one of twelve supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). Funding is provided via DCNR’s Community Conservation Partnerships Program and the Environmental Stewardship Fund to Rivers of Steel, which administers the Mini-Grant Program. The Great Allegheny Passage Conservancy is one of eight organizations who received Mini-Grant funding through this program in 2022.

Gita Michulka is a Pittsburgh-based marketing and communications consultant with over 15 years of experience promoting our region’s arts, recreation, and nonprofit assets.  

If you’d like to know more about community projects supported by the Mini-Grant Program, read Gita’s recent article about the Great Allegheny Passage Conservancy.

A ride on the Riverton Bridge with the Veterns Leadership Project.

Community Spotlight—Great Allegheny Passage Conservancy

The Community Spotlight series features the efforts Rivers of Steel’s partner organizations, along with collaborative partnerships, that reflect the diversity and vibrancy of the communities within the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area.

By Gita Michulka, Contributing Writer

Riders on the Hot Metal Bridge.

Great Allegheny Passage’s People of the Trail

The name “Humans of New York” might already be taken, but “People of the Great Allegheny Passage” has a nice ring to it.

Utilizing the power of a good story, the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) Conservancy hopes to highlight the essence of the trail towns along the GAP in a way that draws the attention of locals and tourists alike and shines a light on the living history of our region.

“This beautiful trail, the Great Allegheny Passage, took thirty-five years to build. But moreover, it has been built and maintained by local hands, and it is local entrepreneurs and risk takers who have started businesses in the trail towns along the way—folks who are tied to the land and have a deep appreciation for the history of the landscape through which the GAP runs,” says Bryan Perry, executive director of the Great Allegheny Passage Conservancy.

“I want our audiences, especially folks new to the GAP—tourists, out of towners, folks who are really just coming to have a great bicycle adventure—to get to know the people who have built this trail, who have put down a stake in the health of its towns, those who are protecting natural areas, and those who are preserving and interpreting the region’s history. There are so many wonderful stories to tell, and this project will begin to tell just a few of the diverse stories of folks who’ve been committed to the land and its features for such a long time.”

A rider crosses the Whitaker Bridge.

This storytelling project began in 2020 as an outlet for human connection during the beginning of the pandemic. Since then, nearly twenty stories of GAP trail stakeholders have been captured, along with inspiration for a new angle to share the narratives with an even broader audience.

Thanks to funding from Rivers of Steel’s Mini-Grant Program, the Laurel Highlands Conservation Landscape, and Westmoreland, Fayette, and Somerset Tourism Grants, as well as the Great Allegheny Passage Conservancy itself, these static vignettes will be turned into ninety-second videos, even as the Conservancy is working to capture additional stories.

The GAP, which is open year-round, attracts about a million and a half visits a year, with people traveling from all fifty states and over thirty-five countries to experience the trails. Perry notes that these stories will be shared “as a way to alert tourists and folks coming to bike that this is a place of rich history and beauty and risk taking and deep love among constituents, and that it’s well worth their overnight stay and their appreciation for all that’s been built ahead of them.”

Cyclists on the Port Perry flyover.

The Living History of Western Pennsylvania’s “Industrial Might”

Along its 150-mile path, the GAP follows the paths of decommissioned railroad lines from Cumberland, Maryland continuously up to Pittsburgh.

“The GAP really traces a significant section of our country’s industrial development. The railroads themselves, both the Western Maryland Railway and the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad are the corridors on which the GAP is now built,” adds Perry. “And those railroads, in addition to carrying passengers, carried coal and coke into Pittsburgh and steel products back out in other directions. These railroads were commodities that were part of the region’s industrial heritage.”

But Perry is quick to note that the patch towns along these corridors are not a thing of the past, despite the region’s decline after the steel mills closed.

“You’re riding across from the Carrie Furnaces, and of course you’re passing by the Pump House and through the old grounds of the Homestead Steel Works. The region’s industries were dependent upon the rivers and the railroads. So you’re really riding through history in one sense, yet it is living history. People are still earning a living and supporting their families in the Mon and Yough valleys.”

In fact, thanks to the work of local businesses along the trail, tourism had a staggering impact of 121 million dollars in the five counties through which the GAP runs, according to Fourth Economy’s recent economic impact analysis, a study commissioned by the GAP Conservancy in 2020 and published in 2021.

“In Allegheny, Westmoreland, Fayette, and Somerset counties in Pennsylvania and Allegany county in Maryland, 75 million of that 121 is direct tourism spending in a very narrow band right along the Great Allegheny Passage—most of this in trail towns, including Homestead, including McKeesport and West Newton, Connellsville, and then further on out,” explains Perry.

“Entrepreneurs have started up bed and breakfasts, and distilleries and cafes, and inns and ice cream shops, and shuttle services and bike shops. And while these jobs won’t replace the industrial jobs that built those towns, it’s making a significant difference in the health and well-being of those towns along the way. So, you know, prosperity is aided by tourism, and really tourism serves local folks first. The very restaurants and bike shops and cafes that tourists are using, they need to be sustained throughout the year. And if those new businesses are focused first on local residents who frequent them and buy meals and supplies there, then they’re good for those towns, and the tourism dollar is just icing on the cake.”

Perry is hopeful that by sharing the stories of the region’s residents, greater attention will be paid to their labors of love.

“We’re hoping that tourists, as they come through, might say, ‘Hey, I recognize that volunteer or I recognize that business owner from the website—let’s spend a night at their bed and breakfast, let’s hear more of their story.’”

“Truly, the GAP is locally beloved,” continues Perry. “And so local folks are the ones working to, you know, cut grass and take care of fallen trees and take care of public art in those towns and promote walking tours and local bike routes within those towns. So local folks have the best stories. They’ve been at it the longest. And our goal with this project is to really bring the narratives and stories, at least pieces and slices anyway, to the forefront.”

Visit gaptrail.org for more information, and be sure to check out The Great Ride: Landmarks Along the Trail, a new documentary by WQED Pittsburgh featuring twenty-one historic, geologic, and human interest vignettes between Cumberland and Pittsburgh along the Great Allegheny Passage. Head to www.wqed.org/ride for details.

All images courtesy of Great Allegheny Passage Conservancy.

About the Mini-Grant Program

Rivers of Steel’s Mini-Grant Program assists heritage-related sites and organizations as well as municipalities within the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area to develop new and innovative programs, partnerships, exhibits, tours, and other initiatives. Funded projects support heritage tourism, enhance preservation efforts, involve the stewardship of natural resources, encourage outdoor recreation, and include collaborative partnerships. Through these efforts, Rivers of Steel seeks to identify, conserve, promote, and interpret the industrial and cultural heritage that defines southwestern Pennsylvania.

The Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area is one of twelve supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). Funding is provided via DCNR’s Community Conservation Partnerships Program and the Environmental Stewardship Fund to Rivers of Steel, which administers the Mini-Grant Program. The Great Allegheny Passage Conservancy is one of eight organizations who received Mini-Grant funding through this program in 2022.

Gita Michulka is a Pittsburgh-based marketing and communications consultant with over 15 years of experience promoting our region’s arts, recreation, and nonprofit assets.  

If you’d like to know more about community projects supported by the Mini-Grant Program, read Gita’s recent article about Brownsville’s Perennial Project.

Youth volunteers help plant flowers in the new Hope Park in Brownsville.

Community Spotlight—Brownsville’s Perennial Project

The Community Spotlight series features the efforts Rivers of Steel’s partner organizations, along with collaborative partnerships, that reflect the diversity and vibrancy of the communities within the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area.

By Gita Michulka, Contributing Writer

Flowers are delivered to Hope Park.

Redefining a Community Through Art and Education

Before its Big Steel era, Pittsburgh was a center for commerce and transportation. However, it wasn’t the region’s only significant thoroughfare for travel and industry. The town of Brownsville, Pennsylvania, a one-square-mile borough located about 40 miles south of Pittsburgh, rivaled Pittsburgh as an important travel hub. Originally a trading post, Brownsville’s location along the Monongahela River gained importance when it became a stop on the historic National Road, the nation’s first federally funded interstate highway. (Learn more about how to experience it locally through the National Road Heritage Corridor.)

The National Road—today known as U.S. Route 40—connected travelers coming from the East to connect with steamboat and rail travel to the West that occurred between 1811–1837. As Brownsville became a hub for steamboat manufacturing, the borough also developed a high-end downtown business corridor that became a destination for shoppers from Pittsburgh and beyond.

Learn more about Brownsville’s place in history in this video.

“If you go back far enough, Brownsville was the place to be!” says Joe Barantovich, with a laugh. “It was once said that Pittsburgh wouldn’t be anything because it was too close to Brownsville.”

Barantovich grew up in the Brownsville area, then left to pursue a teaching and coaching career in Florida. While he was away, an ebb of industrial jobs led to population decline, shuttered businesses, and vacant lots. Brownsville Borough and adjacent Brownsville Township and West Brownsville shrunk in size from 10,000 residents to a little over 2,000.

Returning to a nearly desolate downtown didn’t sit right with Barantovich. Inspired by a group of high school students who initiated a school project to develop an outdoor performance stage in one of the vacant lots, he decided one day that he wanted to plant some flowers around town.

“I said, ‘I only want to plant some flowers,’ because it was something that I knew that I could do myself,” says Barantovich. “I could pay for it myself, and if nobody else cared, at least when I drove through town, I’d feel better.”

But people around town did care. One day of planting three years ago led to the creation of The Perennial Project, a 501(c)3 founded by Barantovich and run by a small team and a whole lot of community buy-in. Each year, The Perennial Project hosts community beautification events, design workshops, and art installations, and the groundswell of volunteer support the projects attract has not waned.

“It’s really, you know, not about me or my organization,” notes Barantovich. “It’s about all the people in town who love their community. The school district and the borough council and the township supervisors and the local business owners, I mean, everybody just kind of jumped in and started doing a piece.”

The organization is supported by more than a dozen partners, including the Greater Brownsville Chamber of Commerce, the Borough of Brownsville, Fayette County Chamber of Commerce, Go Laurel Highlands, Brownsville Area School District, the Brownsville Free Public Library, the Rotary Club of Brownsville, the Brownsville Sons of Italy, and Pennsylvania American Water, EQT, and the University of Pittsburgh School of Engineering.

Joe Barantovich hands off flowers from the delivery truck.

Hope Park

After a grouping of buildings was condemned and removed last year, an unobscured viewpoint of the Monongahela River from downtown opened up a big opportunity for the group.

“At that point we had a view that we’ve never had before. Or at least not, you know, for a couple hundred years. You could stand in town and actually see the other side of the river. It became a nice piece of ground after those buildings were torn down,” says Barantovich.

Recognizing the work The Perennial Project had already been doing, the Fayette County Commissioners offered to fund a mini master plan for the downtown area using tourism dollars, so the group could find out how the community wanted to utilize the new space and make the area attractive to both residents and visitors alike. After a series of community input sessions, the concept of Hope Park was established.

Barantovich was quickly able to secure funding for the project through grants from Giant Food Stores, EQT Corporation, the National Road Heritage Foundation, and Rivers of Steel’s Mini-Grant Program, which only added to the momentum the community had already spurred for the development of the lot.

The goal for Hope Park is to create a public greenspace that will serve as a year-round destination. Once completed, the space will offer active and passive recreation, community gathering, and a strengthened connection to businesses, historic tourist sites, and riverfront amenities.

An exciting key feature of the project is an outdoor movie screen, paired with public art banners, a multipurpose sport and recreation surface, a walkway that will lead visitors throughout, and amenities like new benches, trash receptacles, and a fence.

A rendering of what Hope Park may look like after its completion.

The (Virtual) Rebirth of Union Station

Beyond the work The Perennial Project does to breathe new life into Brownsville, Barantovich has also combined his passion for teaching with the ongoing historical preservation around town, to inspire Brownsville’s youth to join in in groundbreaking ways. Utilizing 3-D scans of historic structures, including the iconic Union Station, students are now creating virtual reality programs that allow a viewer to feel as though they are walking through the station in its heyday.

As he discusses the work that is happening through The Perennial Project and around town, Barantovich is quick to note that what is occurring in Brownsville is more than just revitalization.

“I keep saying ‘revitalization’ is the wrong word, because we’re not bringing back to life what used to be here. You know, the coal mines, the steel mills, the steamboats—that’s all part of the past. What’s happening now in Brownsville is a renaissance.”

A group of local merchants and residents will be hosting the first annual Riverfest in August 2022, where you can check out the progress of Hope Park and other downtown beautification projects. To learn more about The Perennial Project visit brownsvilleperennialproject.org.

About the Mini-Grant Program

Rivers of Steel’s Mini-Grant Program assists heritage-related sites and organizations as well as municipalities within the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area to develop new and innovative programs, partnerships, exhibits, tours, and other initiatives. Funded projects support heritage tourism, enhance preservation efforts, involve the stewardship of natural resources, encourage outdoor recreation, and include collaborative partnerships. Through these efforts, Rivers of Steel seeks to identify, conserve, promote, and interpret the industrial and cultural heritage that defines southwestern Pennsylvania.

The Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area is one of twelve supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). Funding is provided via DCNR’s Community Conservation Partnerships Program and the Environmental Stewardship Fund to Rivers of Steel, which administers the Mini-Grant Program. The Perennial Project is one of eight organizations who received Mini-Grant funding through this program in 2022.

Gita Michulka is a Pittsburgh-based marketing and communications consultant with over 15 years of experience promoting our region’s arts, recreation, and nonprofit assets.  

If you’d like to know more about community projects supported by the Mini-Grant Program, read Gita’s recent article about the Murals of Maxo Vanka.

Photos are courtesy of The Perennial Project.