VIBRANT. DIVERSE. THRIVING. VIOLATED. Archives & Special Collections, University of Library System Library of Pittsburgh University & Special Collections, Archives

5865_TXT.indd 4 12/15/18 12:54 AM JusJuust as this cornernrnerro offC Cenententrer Avenueue ini Pittstttsburbu gh’g s Hili l Districrict has chaangeged overr the decaadesess, so is thee neine ghbghborhrhoodo d being transa sforfo med by crcreatattiveivvev annd comcommitmittedt inndivvidualss ana d orgagag nizationss.

AMBITIOUS. CHANGING. BY LACRETIA WIMBLEY Annie O’Neill

5865_TXT_C1.indd 5 12/19/18 8:20 AM 6 he Hill District of Pittsburgh neighborhood engagement at the Hill House Association, is more than just a place to a social services agency in the Hill District. which Terri Baltimore has “I’ve worked at Hill House since 2007 as an employee, dedicated the last two-and- but from 1992 until 2007, I ran a program here to serve a-half decades of her life. It is women in recovery. From 1985 to 1989, I worked for a place that has always drawn another organization that was based at the Hill House, her, a place that always felt and as a high school student, I came here to participate like home. in other programs.” She can describe the A neighborhood of rolling slopes overlooking Pitts- ground breaking history of burgh’s Downtown, the Hill, as it is informally known, is the neighborhood’s Freedom still a beacon attracting interest locally for its historic legacy 1914 House Ambulance Service and current social and cultural activities, Ms. Baltimore Before public housing was of the 1960s — the city’s fi rst said. built in the Hill District, many lower-income and working-class mobile emergency medicine “I probably do anywhere between 30 and 40 tours residents lived in tenement program, which became a a year for visitors, which consist mostly of people in buildings divided by common national model for emer- Pittsburgh who have never been to the Hill,” she noted. areas. gency medical transport and But it is the Hill District’s future, potentially fore- care. She can share stories about actor Vin shadowed by its prime real estate location and slowly 1932 Based in the Hill District, the Diesel’s grandfather who played for the changing demographics, that has community leaders baseball Pittsburgh Crawfords Negro League base- and philanthropies like The Heinz Endowments and the team was highly regarded in the ball team in the 1930s. Ms. Baltimore recalls McAuley Ministries Foundation partnering to ensure that Negro League and eventually had several National Baseball so much detail about the Hill District it’s as longtime residents are able to participate in and benefi t Hall of Fame inductees, including if she transcended time and lived through from revitalization efforts. Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige and much of its history. “There are 28 acres situated between Downtown and James “Cool Papa” Bell. “I’ve spent half my life here, and for the the Hill District, and depending upon your orientation, last 26 years, I’ve been rooted in this place,” CEOs who see the site from their executive suites see it as 1946 The nightlife in the Hill District said Ms. Baltimore, a native of Pitts burgh’s an opportunity to expand the reach of Downtown,” said was legendary in the middle of East Liberty community and director of Rob Stephany, the Endowments’ director of Community the last century. Several venues, & Economic Development. “Residents vividly including the Roosevelt Theatre, showcased performances by jazz remember the site as an important and inte- artists such as Duke Ellington, gral part of their neighborhood. As parking while restaurants like Stanley’s lots transform into new things, like parks, Tavern provided food late into the evening. offi ce buildings and new housing, people are questioning, ‘Is it built for us, or is it not built 1955 for us?’ ” Wylie Avenue was a bustling Like many Pittsburgh neighborhoods, the thoroughfare in the Hill District Hill District is steeped in a rich cultural history that had thriving businesses

N e i l and often served as the site for that provided a foundation for later genera- neighborhood parades.

A n i e O ’ tions to build on. In the 18th century, people of Chinese, Lebanese, Russian, German, Italian, “I’VE SPENT HALF MY LIFE Jewish and Syrian backgrounds populated the Hill with African Americans migrating from HERE, AND FOR THE the South to the area in the early 19th century. LAST 26 YEARS, I’VE BEEN The resulting ethnic hodgepodge would be a defi ning neighborhood characteristic for over ROOTED IN THIS PLACE.” a century. Terri Baltimore Director of Neighbor Engagement, Hill House Association

Lacretia Wimbley is a Pittsburgh-based freelance writer. This is her first story for h.

5865_TXT_C1.indd 6 12/19/18 2:28 AM s t e m y a r y S

1914 i t s b u r g h L y o f P s i t

e r 7 o l e c t i n s , U v e s & S p c i a l C c h i v A r e p u b l i c d o m a n / t , c h i v 1932 H a r i s o n S t u d e n i ” H a r s A h a r l e s “ T © C a r n e g i M u s m o f A C e c h i v

1946 e n i ” H a r s A h a r l e s “ T t , C © C a r n e g i M u s m o f A e n t r e l o p m n t , v y D e o m u n i t o r C e s , S n a t o r J h H i z y C e f c h i v e n c e r A o n f a r y & A y C g h , P e L i b r i t s b u r D e t r A l e g h n 1955 P

5865_TXT.indd 7 12/15/18 12:54 AM 1960

5865_TXT.indd 8 12/15/18 12:54 AM e p r i n t d w h m s o . e d . R e s r v

1960 e t , 2 0 1 8 a l r i g h s Construction of the Civic - G a z

Arena wiped out much of the o s t

Lower Hill in the late 1950s and g h P early 1960s, displacing hundreds of businesses and 8,000 i t s b u r residents. The arena would later

be demolished, in 2010. y r i g h t © , P o p

1968 e d i t : C

Like many communities across P h o t c r the country, the Hill District experienced major rebellions after the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 1968 The civil unrest devastated the neighborhood’s business district. a B o n c i A s t e

1969 L a Q u t r While still recovering from deep community losses created by Civic Arena construction and the unrest following the murder of Dr. King, Hill District residents took a stand e 1993 against further demolition in the c h i v neighborhood, erecting a billboard to make their point. e n i ” H a r s A

1993 h a r l e s “ T

The Crawford Square residential t , C development was built in the Hill District in the 1990s, beginning a wave of new home construction in the neighborhood. 1969 2010 © C a r n e g i M u s m o f A As the Civic Arena was being torn down, a new sports and entertainment venue was under construction across the street. 2010 Originally the CONSOL Energy Center, it opened in 2010 and was renamed PPG Paints Arena in 2016. The arena hosts a variety of events but is primarily known as home to the hockey team. e t - G a z o s t g h P i t s b u r y o f t h e P t e s o u r C

5865_TXT_C2indd.indd 9 12/20/18 1:04 AM 10 The Hill District’s transition into a base ball team, the Hill also was home to But the Civic Arena’s emergence on predominantly African American com- The Pittsburgh Courier, for a time the the city’s landscape also marked the begin- munity began with the Great Migration nation’s largest black-owned newspaper ning of the Hill District’s decline — and in the early 20th century, when somewhere with a peak circulation of more than the intensifying of community efforts to between 1 million and 6 million African 350,000 copies; the city’s NAACP and Urban protect residents and their interests that Americans fl ed the racial oppression and League chapters; and many black churches. continues today. poor economic conditions in southern The neighborhood’s heyday ended “[The Civic Arena construction] states. The Hill District saw an infl ux of in the 1960s. Like a number of African represented all of what is negative in how thousands. Upon their arrival, many sought American communities across the country, you destroy a community,” said Pittsburgh and obtained jobs in iron and steel mills in the Hill District experienced the impact of Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle, who was the city, and during the ensuing decades, civil unrest, such as major rebellions after raised in the Hill District and now repre- the Hill District became the city’s center for the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin sents the community on City Council. Black Nationalism and political advocacy. Luther King Jr. But the event identifi ed “It’s a lesson on what not to do that By 1950, the population in the Hill as more profoundly devastating by many lingers today. You still have people who District became increasingly African neighborhood residents was an extensive, remember living on that site, people who American, with other ethnic groups moving yet short-sighted, redevelopment project. could tell you where on the Lower Hill to different sections of the city and region. Some 8,000 residents were displaced and they grew up, what businesses they used to While some white-owned businesses and several hundred buildings were demolished frequent there, who their neighbors were… white residents remained in the neighbor- in the late 1950s and early 1960s to make It’s been a devastating shock to the psyche hood, the Hill solidifi ed its place as a black way for a municipal arena in the section of not only the Hill District community but enclave in the mid-20th century, gaining of the neighborhood closest to Downtown also of the African American community national and international attention for its known as the Lower Hill. as a whole to know that your government cultural and entertainment offerings. Many families were moved into public could think so little of you that they would Its jazz scene came alive with well- housing as part of one of the largest urban forcefully take your home, and literally known clubs like the and renewal efforts in the region. In 1962, the cripple and destroy a neighborhood socially Hurri cane Lounge. These venues featured Civic Arena opened as an entertainment and economically.” a vast array of artists, such as Lena Horne, venue hailed for the architectural achieve- In the late 1960s, the fi ght to prevent Billy Eckstine and Mary Lou Williams. ment of having at that time the world’s cultural and demographic loss involved In addition to the Pittsburgh Crawfords, largest retractable stainless-steel roof. Later residents refusing to allow further demo- a premier Negro League professional it became home to the Pittsburgh Penguins lition in the neighborhood, a stand that hockey team. CIVIC DUTY? The large parking lot that currently sits on the former Civic Arena site is an ongoing reminder that the Pittsburgh Penguins have yet to develop the property according to the team’s agreement with the Sports & Exhibition Authority and the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority. So far, the only new construction on the 28 acres for which the Penguins have development rights has been the PPG Paints Arena and its surrounding infrastructure.

5865_TXT_C1.indd 10 12/19/18 2:28 AM While commercial development has been lagging in the Hill District, housing construction has been on the upswing for more than two decades. Townhomes on Dinwiddie Street, top, and the Skyline Terrace development, bottom, refl ect the variety of new housing in the neighborhood.

included erecting a billboard that said “No redevelopment beyond this point.” The Freedom Corner Memorial at the intersec- tion of Centre Avenue and Crawford Street marks that resistance and other civil rights protests that followed. Forty years later, the local Sports & Exhibition Authority and the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority reached an agreement with the Penguins on develop- ment rights to 28 acres of land in the Lower Hill, which included redeveloping the Civic Arena site and constructing a new hockey arena. Hill District community leaders insisted on inclusion in the discussions about the property and negotiated a community benefi ts agreement, the fi rst of its kind in Pittsburgh. The 2008 accord called for $8.3 million in fi nancial resources for neigh- bor hood improvement efforts in the Hill, a number of non-fi nancial benefi ts, and a commitment that residents would have fi rst priority for jobs connected to arena development. Some visible progress has been made. Along with the construction of the PPG Paints Arena and new streets, sidewalks and trigger for the additional tax revenue from led to the construction of a variety of underlying infrastructure, $1 million was the site — and no new funding has been mixed-income housing complexes. provided to help support construction of a generated so far. Although some of those moving into nearby grocery store. Several hundred Hill But even before PPG Paints Arena was these homes have been African Americans District residents were hired for positions built, the Hill District was beginning to who were existing residents as well as new- in the construction and ongoing operations transform. comers, the housing growth has altered the of the new arena. Also, a creative tax sharing In the 1990s, new housing development racial and socioeconomic demographics plan was crafted to set aside 50 percent of began with Crawford Square, a collection in parts of the Hill, forcing a number of all new real estate tax revenue generated by of apartments, townhouses and single- long-term, low-income residents to relo- new development for use in rebuilding a family homes located just above Freedom cate to other parts of the city and county. nearby historic part of the neighborhood. Corner. Residential construction continues Community organizations, neighborhood However, except for the new arena, the to expand deeper into the Hill, and redevel- leaders and current Hill District residents Penguins have yet to develop any other opment over the past two decades of public are now working with developers to ensure buildings on the 28 acres — the needed housing that once defi ned some areas has

5865_TXT_C1.indd 11 12/19/18 2:28 AM 12 that future development allows those living in the rede- Still, Mr. Stephany of the Endowments, veloped areas to stay there. which has invested more than $19.7 mil- As new homes were being built across the Hill, other lion in various Hill District projects and capital projects begun or completed have been more programs over the years, cautions that community-focused, with the primary aim of benefi ting rebuilding the community requires a high those who made the neighborhood their home for years. level of intentionality and tactical action, They include construction of the Thelma Lovette YMCA, even as the process moves slowly. the Jeron X. Grayson Community Center, August Wilson Mr. Lavelle, for example, noted that it Park and the Hill House Senior Services Center. Plans is important for African Americans from also are underway to redevelop the New Granada Theater, the Hill District community to participate another entertainment venue that in recent decades has in the redevelopment of the former Civic fallen into disrepair but once hosted jazz greats of the last Arena site in terms of both construction century. and investment. Since 2008, the McAuley Ministries Foundation has And the Rev. Paul Abernathy, director awarded $12 million to these and other community of FOCUS Pittsburgh and an Orthodox improvement projects as well as out-of-school-time Christian priest, said that while the dif- programs, and health and safety house renovations for ferent construction projects continue in low-income homeowners. the Hill, his organization is working to “We believe that the Hill District is an important and address deeper issues in the community. historic neighborhood that deserves invest ment to build FOCUS — Food, Occupation, Clothing, and restore community assets,” Executive Direc tor Michele Understanding and Shelter — provides ser- Cooper said. “We have also invested in human and social vices designed to heal residents of trauma services because it is equally impor tant to invest in people.” caused by factors such as physical violence, Among the other initiatives intended to preserve the mental health problems or community community’s assets and support its people there is the res- displacement that could make it diffi cult toration of the home of for individuals to fi nd jobs, housing or Pulitzer Prize– winning simply have healthy mental/emotional lives. playwright August If these problems are addressed effec- WE BELIEVE THAT THE HILL DISTRICT Wilson, a Hill District tively, Rev. Abernathy contended, they IS AN IMPORTANT AND HISTORIC native who brought could change community outcomes on a international attention larger scale. NEIGHBORHOOD THAT DESERVES to his former neighbor- Carmen Anderson, the Endowments’ INVESTMENT TO BUILD AND RESTORE hood, where most of his director of Equity and Social Justice, said plays were set. Plans that though the Hill District still faces its COMMUNITY ASSETS. WE HAVE ALSO call for transforming challenges, the good will and enduring the Wilson house into hope that exists stems from the people in INVESTED IN HUMAN AND SOCIAL a cultural center for the community. SERVICES BECAUSE IT IS EQUALLY performances, exhibits “We sometimes struggle with a balance and other activities. between what is, what was and what could IMPORTANT TO INVEST IN PEOPLE.” And the Sports & be,” Ms. Anderson said. “It’s important that Michele Cooper executive director Exhibition Authority public–private partners keep their commit- McAuley Ministries Foundation has proposed an I-579 ments so that progress for the community “Cap” Urban Connector as a whole can be accelerated. Project, connecting the neighborhood to Downtown. Plans “But I believe there have been and include the creation of a park with artistic design elements will always be committed individuals and paying homage to African American culture in the Hill organizations in the black community — District. With a commitment of $19 million in federal wherever we are — who are dedicated to funds, the park would be built between two bridges that ensuring that our children are safe, have cross over the highway adjacent to the neighborhood. places to play, have places to learn and grow, and the Hill is no exception.” h

5865_TXT.indd 12 12/15/18 12:54 AM 13 e c h i t e u r (RE) CONNECTING

a B o n c i A s t e , L d p r TO DOWNTOWN L a q u t r

The proposed I-579 “Cap” Urban Connector Project would connect the Hill District to Downtown and include the creation of a pedestrian park with artistic design elements honoring the neighborhood’s African American cultural heritage. With a commitment of $19 million in federal funds, the park would be built between two bridges that cross over the highway adjacent to the community.

WA SH ING TO N PL.

. E . V D A V E L R B T N E W C O L E G I B

C HAT HAM S I T. - 5 7 9

5865_TXT.indd 13 12/15/18 12:54 AM