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Oakland and the Hill District

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Oakland and the Hill District 1 Introduction My assignment was to fully survey Oakland and to begin exploring the Hill District. Initially seen as two neighborhoods, the evolution of this project quickly highlighted a much more complicated task. The report on Oakland moves between two poles. The first is the fascinating and dynamic ethnic communities that sustain a presence in Oakland. The second is the voracious appetite of nonprofit institutions to consume land, resources and public space. Within Oakland are a number of notable nonprofit institutions and hospitals including the University of Pittsburgh. To be clear, Carnegie-Mellon University is not part of this study although many individuals mentioned the academic ties between the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie-Mellon University. Carnegie-Mellon is however just over the border in Shadyside. For the Hill District, the assignment was to characterize the current population of the Hill District with a nod toward the cultural legacy of the past. Thus the Hill District report is broken up into two major sections, in order to reflect the circumstances of this area. The first part emphasizes the rich multiethnic history that characterized the Hill District until the middle of the twentieth-century. It should be emphasized that this cultural life is still recalled by many. Any future research should consider recovering the Jewish-, Syrian- and Italian-American presence in the Hill District. In the second part of the Hill District report, the African-American community is given extensive attention. This history is essential to understanding the current condition of the Hill District and hopefully highlights the dilemma of proceeding with a field survey of the area. The extraordinary vibrancy of cultural expression such as jazz traditions and entertainment venues often masks the much more serious matter that divides Caucasians and African-Americans in America -- discrimination and prejudice. The pain and wounds of this experience are still present. Unlike Oakland, the Hill District has a rich and intertwined social and cultural history that is continuous and discontinuous at the same time. From the earliest period of recorded residential settlement to the present, the Hill District has reflected the various waves of ethnic migration that characterizes much of Pittsburgh and the United States. However, the Hill District has also suffered through a wrenching and destructive urban renewal that has really resulted in a physical as well as cultural leveling of much of the Lower Hill District and parts of the Middle Hill District. When the dust settled from the overly optimistic renewal plans of the 1950s, the Hill District lost its Caucasian population. Those in the African-American community that could leave the Lower Hill District and parts of the Middle Hill District also did. Those that remained in the Lower Hill District and the Middle Hill District are overwhelmingly African-American struggling in difficult economic conditions. The Lower Hill District and the Middle Hill District are dominated by the many housing projects built by the City of Pittsburgh. Today, African-Americans represent 97% of the population in the Hill District. In addition, African-Americans have despite difficulties and prejudice sustained a continuous presence in the Hill District since the mid 1700s. The difficult task of continuing to study the Hill District is rooted in understanding life in the Hill District as defined and understood by the residents themselves. All too often in the past, social reformers, urban planners, as well as cultural conservators such as museum curators have independently determined what is best for this area without recognizing the possibility of self-definition. The folklorists can best succeed in this area by recognizing that life is meaningful and culturally expressive for these residents. 2 More importantly, Hill District residents recognize the need for studying, understanding and preserving the cultural vitality found within the Hill District. One needs to proceed then by asking what residents feel is critical and central to their lives. In addition, the Hill District has absorbed a number of smaller neighborhoods such as Minersville and is closely connected to others such as Soho and Oakland. Several organizational decisions were therefore made. For instance, Minersville was a vital and separate area in the nineteenth century. It is today unknown but contained within the boundaries of the Upper Hill District. Therefore the history of such areas as Minersville, which is now part of the Upper Hill District, are included in the Hill District report. Minersville is particularly suggestive. This neighborhood includes the small Minersville Cemetery which contains a number of fascinating makers from the mid 1850s through 1964 (see photographic logs). The markers reflect a number of ethnic groups including German, Eastern European and Middle Eastern. However, Soho, another nearby area is clearly distinguished by local residents as an existing and separate neighborhood. Therefore, Soho has its own short section. It should be mentioned that this area was not originally assigned to this fieldworker but clearly needed to be included because it contains a residential community as well as businesses and nonprofit organizations. This fieldworker would recommend that a future researcher be assigned to more fully fleshing out the import and cultural character of Soho. Although just an impression, driving through the area a rich industrial and business legacy of Soho appears to linger. It does not appear that Soho suffered the same cataclysmic devastation and destruction that characterizes much of the Lower Hill District. Downtown: An unacknowledged center As the Steel Industry Heritage Corporation continues to study the Pittsburgh region, one area should receive attention and that is the Downtown area. Although a landscape of skyscrapers and businesses, this should not obscure the current and historical residential patterns. Today there are a number of important apartment buildings as well as a number of prestigious churches that cater to an urban elite. This urban elite should be surveyed. Although I was not actively searching for materials on the Downtown and time constraints did not allow for full study of this information, I frequently saw mention of the important historical connection between Downtown and all of Pittsburgh as well as the surrounding counties. A full examination of this history is recommended. It is my impression that through at least the first half of the nineteenth century Downtown was an important first residential site for immigrants that disembarked at the Downtown wharfs. Only later would they move into surrounding neighborhoods such as the Hill District. In addition before the Civil War, successful business tycoons first lived Downtown. It was only with the gradual introduction of public transportation such as the omnibus and later trolley service that the wealthy and subsequently the middle class moved to such areas as Minersville, Oakland and other Pittsburgh neighborhoods. Boundaries, Demographics and Ethnic Identities The neighborhoods of Oakland, the Hill District and Soho are discussed below. These introductory sections discuss the populations of these neighborhoods as well as their boundaries. Although census statistics are used to some degree below, it must be emphasized that they present many problems when trying to determine ethnic and minority populations. The U.S. Census Bureau does not ask people what they consider their ethnic identity or background to be but rather asks what their parents’ country of origin is. 3 Oakland Oakland is located about two miles east of Downtown Pittsburgh. This neighborhood is on a rising bluff that can be clearly seen from the Monongahela River (see photographic logs). On its northern border, Oakland rises to meet the Hill District. In general terms the southeastern border is Schenley Park and the western dividing line is Neville Street (see maps). Based on the April 1991, City of Pittsburgh, Department of City Planning statistics, the total Oakland population in 1990 was 21,073. Since 1960, Oakland has seen a steady population decline of at least 5.6% per decade with the most severe decrease of 16.7% in the 1960 census. The census also shows additional changes in post World War II Oakland. The sharp population decline in Oakland includes a still larger decline in the number of families with children. Until 1970, approximately 20% of the population was under eighteen. By 1990 this figure had plummeted to just under 7%. This data suggests that Oakland was no longer seen as a place to raise a family. As noted in the enclosed report, these changes in overall population as well as the decline in individuals under eighteen should be considered as closely linked to the substantial growth of the University of Pittsburgh and its mushrooming student population living in Oakland (Please see table 1). During this same period of time, the number of minorities substantially increased from a low of 763 in 1940 to a high of 7,309 in 1980. This represents an almost tenfold increase in forty years. Subsequently, the minority population dropped by 23.6% in 1990. Although the statistics on those below the age of eighteen are incomplete, they do suggest that Oakland was increasingly viewed by minorities as an inhospitable place to raise a family (Please see table 1). Although the areas may not be identical to that used by the City of Pittsburgh, a review of US census tracts 402, 403, 404, 405, 406, 407, 409, 411, 507, and 810.98 suggests that Oakland is mostly white. There are 16,022 whites and 3,765 African-Americans in Oakland. The African-American population is approximately 23.5% of the white population. Just under half of the African- Americans (43%) are found in South Oakland tracts 409 and 411 where they number 1,624 (please see census file including the census maps). In the 1990 census, people were asked to self-identify their ancestry. They were asked which ancestry group(s) they most closely identify.
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