University of Pittsburgh Library System

Originally driven from a simple understanding that this photographic collection viewed through an art historical lens could provide deeper insight into the early 20th century Black experience in Pittsburgh, in time my research project has developed into a more focused examination of how the relationship between people and space in Urban League photographs can help modern viewers understand the active development of Black community. Since its founding at the height of the Great Migration, the Urban League of Pittsburgh has been one of the biggest local civic engagement powers for African Americans, eventually playing a role in literally transforming the city’s landscape to make room for Black life. Throughout its history, the Urban League has focused on issues such as housing, employment, education, and healthcare to advance the social conditions of Black Americans in a rapidly changing but nonetheless still racially oppressive nation. Looking at media from the first World War through the mainstream Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s, Urban League photographs tell complex stories about Black Pittsburghers’ desires for equal opportunity, dignity, and belonging mapped onto a region that can be both unrecognizable and familiar. The main outcome of this project is an online exhibit that contextualizes a selection of the collection’s hundreds of photos in localized history, but also provides visitors the opportunity to explore for themselves the narratives that emerge visually in both spontaneous snapshots and purposeful documentation. In curating this website, I hope to provide people with a glimpse into the collection’s photographs beyond what is currently publicly available and spark curiosity for future inquiries into the Urban League collection. Furthermore, I will create a list of additional resources for anyone interested in this line of research themselves and write a blog post about my experiences this semester.