his first experience of being singled out: Lahr, “Been Here,” p. 56.
The one subject that held his attention: Livingston, “Cool August,” pp. 43–44.
“Unless you call everybody in here”: Lahr, “Been Here,” pp. 56–57.
Freddy had run out of places to go—except one: Wilson, “Feed Your Mind.”
she was furious: Lahr, “Been Here,” p. 57.
he learned that his father was gravely ill: Ibid., p. 57.
finally marrying him and taking his name: Research by University of Pittsburgh historian Laurence Glasco for a forthcoming book on August Wilson
Freda, the oldest of his sisters: Lahr, “Been Here,” p. 57.
Richard King Mellon liked to say: “Pennsylvania: Mr. Mellon’s Patch,” Time, Oct. 3, 1949, accessed on time.com/vault.
“Is Pittsburgh Civilized?”: Harper’s, Oct. 1930.
approached Mellon with a bold proposal: Dan Fitzpatrick, “A Story of Renewal,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 21, 2000, p. C2.
Richards convened a meeting: Roy Lubove, Twentieth Century Pittsburgh: Government, Business and Environmental Change (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1995), p. 109.
Mellon gained an unlikely partner: Fitzpatrick, “A Story of Renewal,” p. 30.
his face on the cover: “Pittsburgh’s Richard Mellon: For the Golden Triangle, a New Sidewalk Superintendent,” Time, Oct. 3, 1949.
he had a novel vision: “CLO Names 50 to Hall of Fame,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 4, 1996, p. 46.
Kaufmann agreed to put up $1.5 million: “Assuring the Arena,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dec. 5, 1953, p. 6.
King made a dramatic appearance: Fitzpatrick, “A Story of Renewal,” p. C3.
black leaders welcomed the proposal: Cheryl A. Dudley, “Homer S. Brown Biography,” biography.jrank.org.
At the Courier, editors had been upset: “Housing Authority Omits Hill from Post-war Plans,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 14, 1945.
“Is the Hill District Doomed?”: Pittsburgh Courier, April 22, p. 32, April 29, p. 14, May 6, p. 31, May 13, 1950, p. 35.
“Hell with the lid taken off”: Matthew Newton, “Hell with the Lid Taken Off,” Oxford American, Spring 2017, oxfordamerican.org.
“that will be all to the good”: “Hill Housing Future, What Will It Mean?,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 6, 1950, p. 31.
they appealed repeatedly for a reprieve: “Bethel Acts to Stay in Same Area,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 26, 1951, p. 1.
the Loendi Club also sought to be spared: “Loendi Members Must Plan for New Location,” Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 16, 1957, p. A3.
The real powers behind the Pittsburgh Renaissance: Fitzpatrick, “A Story of Renewal,” p. C1.
Two local architects: “Biography/History” in description of Mitchell & Ritchey Collection, Carnegie Mellon University, andrew.cmu.edu.
a patented engineering scheme: “Case Studies: Moveable Civic Arena Roof Rolls on Wheels Designed by Heyl & Patterson,” heylpatterson.com.
“Swish!”: “Toki Types,” Pittsburgh Courier, Dec. 11, 1954, p 8.
the beginning of the end of the Lower Hill: “Razing of Old Homestead Starts ‘New Hill’ Project,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 20, 1956, p. 32.
the city agencies hadn’t adequately prepared: “Lower Hill Resettlement Progresses on Schedule,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Aug. 15, 1956, p. 15.
A wrecking crew arrived: Robert Voelker, “How Goes the Renaissance: Was It Business Before People,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 16, 1971, p. 6.
the city was still taking bids: “Bulldozers to Begin Clearing 20 Acres in Lower Hill March 1,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan. 9, 1957, p. 17.
In an ironic twist: “Smoke Control Snags Project,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Aug. 23, 1957, p. 17.
the Hill’s most storied gathering places disappeared: “Progress Demands These Lower Hill Landmarks,” Pittsburgh Courier, Aug. 27, 1955, p. 3.
the last hours of the Bethel AME Church: Teenie Harris photograph no. 2001.35.4127 in Cheryl Finley, Laurence Glasco, and Joe W. Trotter, Teenie Harris Photographer: Image, Memory History (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011), p. 27.
the groundbreaking for the Civic Arena: Teenie Harris photograph no. 2001.35.9140 in Ibid., p. 144.
But the following year: “City’s Auditorium Opens Its Doors Today,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sep. 17, 1961, p. 1.
When the roof was opened: Sharon Eberson, “The Stars Came Out,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 25, 2010, p. E1.
the arena had not lived up to the grandiose expectations: “City’s Public Auditorium Now Is a Dream Fulfilled,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sep. 17, 1961, p. 38.
black Pittsburgh had its own reasons: Laurence Glasco, “That Arena on the Hill: The Complex Legacy for Black Pittsburghers,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 4, 2010, p. B7.
As an emblem of their defiance: Teenie Harris photograph no. 2001.35.9463 in Finley et al., Teenie Harris, p. 166.
a three-part series: New Pittsburgh Courier, March 2, 9, 16, 1968.
As darkness descended: “Guard, State Troopers Sent in to Quell Hill District Disorder,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 8, 1968, pp. 1, 8.
Reverend LeRoy Patrick: Joe W. Trotter and Jared N. Day, Race and Renaissance: African Americans in Pittsburgh Since World War II (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2010), pp. 105–6.
Then the engineer shrugged it off: Voelker, “How Goes the Renaissance,” p. 6.
When Freddy Kittel moved to Crawford Street: Moyers, “August Wilson,” in Bryer and Hartig, eds., Conversations, pp. 63–64.
every night at the Hurricane Club: “Hurricane Club: Birdie Dunlop’s Organ Soul Jazz Mecca Where the ‘In-Crowd’ Mingled,” Pittsburgh Music History, sites.google.com/site/pittsburghmusichistory.
So, too, was, the Penn Incline: Bob Hoover, “The 17th Street (Penn) Incline,” in “Lost Pittsburgh,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Magazine, July 11, 1993, pp. 4–5.
Searching for a new business partner: “S.B. Fuller Changes Editorial Format,” New Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 17–23, 2010, p. 11.
Hill residents watched as a “For Sale” sign: Teenie Harris Archive, Carnegie Museum of Art, teenie.cmoa.org., accession no. 2001.35.3232.
In a turn of fate: “Taxes Owed, U.S. Claims,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Nov. 21, 1967, p. 4.
P.L. Prattis retired: P. L. Prattis, “Days of The Courier Past . . . ,” Henry G. La Brie III, ed., Perspectives of the Black Press: 1974 (Kennebunkport, Maine: Mercer House, 1974), p. 69.
Bill Nunn stepped down: “William G. Nunn, Ex-Courier Editor, Buried in Pittsburgh,” New Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 22, 1969, p. 1.
shortly after Maybelle: “Toki Types,” Pittsburgh Courier, Sep. 20, 1969, p. 11.
Their son, Bill Nunn Jr.: “Bill Nunn Jr., Football Pioneer Who Scouted Steelers Legends, Dies at 89,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 7, 2014.
she suffered a stroke: “Mrs. Vann of Pittsburgh Courier Fame Dies at 82,” Jet, June 22, 1967, p. 25.
Wilson sat for hours in a booth: Glasco and Rawson, Pittsburgh Places, p. 89; August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand, PBS.
He hung out at Pat’s Place: Vera Sheppard, “August Wilson: An Interview,” in Bryer and Hartig, eds., Conversations, pp. 101–2.
August came to be known as “Youngblood”: Lahr, “Been Here,” p. 59.
he ate lunch at a diner called Pan Fried Fish: “ ‘Jitney’ Captures Drama Behind Hill Substitute Taxi-Cab Service,” New Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 20, 1982, p. 7.
a community of struggling black artists: Recollections of Wilson and friends in August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand, PBS.
They founded a journal: Lahr, “Been Here,” p. 59.
his idol Dylan Thomas: Research by University of Pittsburgh historian Laurence Glasco for a forthcoming book on August Wilson.
“Muhammad Ali is a lion”: Sandra G. Shannon, “August Wilson Explains His Dramatic Vision: An Interview,” in Bry
er and Hartig, eds., Conversations, pp. 118–19.
Wilson tried his own hand at playwriting: David Savran, “August Wilson,” in Bryer and Hartig, eds., Conversations, p. 21.
his troubled marriage: Lahr, “Been Here,” p. 59.
unexpected change of scenery: Ibid.; Research by University of Pittsburgh historian Laurence Glasco for a forthcoming book on August Wilson.
he made a stirring discovery: Savran, “August Wilson,” p. 23; Lahr, “Been Here,” p. 62.
When Wilson arrived in Waterford: Lahr, “Been Here,” pp. 62–63; J. Wynn Rousuck, “August Wilson’s Plays Shepherded by His Collaborator Lloyd Richards,” Baltimore Sun, May 10, 1992, baltimoresun.com.
using the blues as a metaphor: Samuel G. Freedman, “A Playwright Talks About the Blues,” New York Times, April 13, 1984, p. 3.
He took to calling Richards “Pop”: Shannon, “Dramatic Vision,” in Bryer and Hartig, eds., Conversations, p. 134.
a workshop criticism of Ma Rainey that had stung him: Wilson interview in August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand, PBS.
a proper burial: Photo of gravesite for “Daisy Kittel: March 12, 1920–March 15, 1983,” Greenwood Cemetery, Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania, FindaGrave.com.
That summer, Lloyd Richards invited Wilson back: Chronology of Wilson plays, productions, and awards, in Bryer and Hartig, eds., Conversations, pp. xix–xxii.
he recorded a song called “Seabreeze”: Ruth E. Fine, The Art of Romare Bearden (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2003), pp. 24, 214.
Purdy introduced him to a book: Ladrica Menson-Furr, August Wilson’s Fences (London: Bloomsbury, 2009), p. 7.
A Bearden collage: Sheppard, “Interview,” in Bryer and Hartig, eds., Conversations, pp. 111–12.
compared to that of America’s greatest playwrights: Richard Hornby, “New Life on Broadway,” The Hudson Review, Autumn 1988, p. 518.
the most memorable depictions: Christopher Rawson, “Charting 20th-Century Black America,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sep. 5, 1999, p. 14 of Sunday supplement.
“America offers blacks a contract”: Bonnie Lyons, “An Interview with August Wilson,” in Bryer and Hartig, eds., Conversations, p. 206.
Wilson made a special trip to Pittsburgh: Wilson, “Feed Your Mind,” p. B1.
“The basic difference in worldview”: Sheppard, “Interview,” in Bryer and Hartig, eds., Conversations, p. 106.
It was also why Wilson preferred: Sandra G. Shannon and Dana A. Williams, “A Conversation with August Wilson,” in Bryer and Hartig, eds., Conversations, p. 251.
almost thirty years to return the book: Wilson, “Feed Your Mind.”
Wilson understood that about himself: Savran, “August Wilson,” in Bryer and Hartig, eds., Conversations, p. 23; Lyons, “Interview,” in Bryer and Hartig, eds., Conversations, p. 213.
Throughout the 1990s: Chronology in Bryer and Hartig, eds., Conversations, pp. xxi–xxii.
While Wilson was working on Radio Golf: Interviews with Constanza Romero, Todd Kreidler, and Dwight Andrews in August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand, PBS.
he wanted to be buried in Pittsburgh: “August Wilson’s Final Act,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Oct. 9, 2005, p. 1.
As the ceremony drew to a close: Udin interview in August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand, PBS.
A hard rain was falling: Footage in August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand, PBS.
IINDEX
A note about the index: The pages referenced in this index refer to the page numbers in the print edition. Clicking on a page number will take you to the ebook location that corresponds to the beginning of that page in the print edition. For a comprehensive list of locations of any word or phrase, use your reading system’s search function.
Page numbers in italics refer to map and illustrations.
Abbott, Robert, 69–70, 153, 159, 165, 176
abolitionists, 39–43, 46, 49, 57, 325
“Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery” (Pennsylvania; 1780), 39
Adams, Johnny, 187
Addis Ababa, 158
African American Newspaper, 176
African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, 25–26
Aged Women’s House, 47
“Air Mail Special” (song), 222
Akerman, Alex, 291
Alabama (Los Angeles nightclub), 150
Alexander, Jane Pattoddn, 134
All-American football team (Courier), 70
Allegheny Airlines, 314
Allegheny City, Pa., 32, 39, 58, 59
“Allegheny Conference on Post-War Community Development” (ACCD), 313, 317–18
Allegheny County, Pa., 84, 273
Allegheny River, xiii, 12, 30
All-Star Games (major leagues):
of 1937, 111
of 1965
“All the Way” (song), 220
Almond, Edward “Ned,” 182, 183
Alpha Kappa Alpha, 128
Alpha Phi Alpha, 179
Alsop, Joseph, 85
Alston, Ga., 282–84
Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers, 35–36
American Federation of Labor, 177
American Federation of Musicians, 205, 210
American Jewish Congress, 276
American League, 111
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), 147
Ammons, Gene, 212
Amos ’n’ Andy (radio show), 7
Amsterdam News, 285
Anderson, Ivie, 138, 146
Anderson, Marian, 171, 294
Andrews, Douglas, 339
“Ann, Wonderful One” (song), 199, 200, 201
Apollo Theater (Harlem), 140, 194, 195, 197, 201, 206, 209, 212
Appalachian Mountains, xiii
Aragon Ballroom (Pittsburgh), 194, 210
Argrett, Leroy, 288
Aristotle, 338
Armstrong, Louis, 129, 131, 203, 216
Armstrong High School (Washington, D.C.), 197
Army, U.S., all-black units in, 176
Arthurs, William, 42, 44, 318
Arthursville (neighborhood), 41–42, 46, 59, 318
Askew, C. E., 166
Askew, John, 53
Associated Negro Press (ANP), 153, 154, 166
Associated Press, 255
Athens Messenger, 28
Athens, Ohio, 27
“A-Tisket, A-Tasket” (song), 221
Aurora Reading Club, 46
Austria, Nazi occupation of, 19
Autobiography of Malcolm X, The (Malcolm X and Haley), 328
Avakian, George, 225–26, 227
Avery, Charles, 39–40, 57
Avery Trade School for Colored Youth, 39–40
Aybar, José Enrique, 118
Baer, Max, 8, 11, 155
Baird, Tom, 244
Baker, Chet, 220
Baker, Vernon, 183
Baltimore Afro-American, 9, 73
Baltimore Black Sox, 103
Bankhead, Sammy, 255
Baraka, Amiri (LeRoi Jones), 328
Barnet, Charlie, 149
Barnett, Claude, 153, 154, 155, 163, 166
Barr, Joseph, 320, 322
Barrow, Lillie, 7, 18, 21
Barrow, Munroe, 7
baseball, integration of, xv, 22, 120–21
Landis and, 235–37
Negro Leagues and, 243–44, 245
Wendell Smith’s crusade for, 233–35, 243–44, 246
see also Rickey, Branch; Robinson, Jackie
Baseball Writers Association of America, 235, 266
Robinson as target of roast by, 245–46
Basie, Count, 219, 220, 221, 222
Bass, Charlotta, 174, 272
“Battle of Monticello Street,” 68
Bearden, Romare, 149, 333–34, 335
bebop, xvi, 202, 206–12, 221, 225, 228, 325
Beckwith, John, 101
Bedford, David, 306–7, 311, 332
Bedford Avenue, 89, 121, 302, 304
, 305, 308, 319, 323, 326, 340
Bedford Dwellings, 316, 318, 321
Bedford Land Company, 107
Belafonte, Harry, 215, 217, 219
Bell, “Cool Papa,” xv, 109–10, 111, 112, 113, 115, 117
with Crawfords, 112–13
Bella Siger’s Market, 302, 305, 323
Belmont Hotel (Pittsburgh), 96, 137, 139
Belpre, Ohio, 26
Beltzhoover (neighborhood), xxiii, 45
Benedum, Michael Late, 86
Courier printing plant financed by, 76, 78
as FDR supporter, 78
as oil wildcatter, 77–78
Bennett, Tony, 218
Benson, George, 325
Benswanger, William, 120, 238, 256
Bergman, Ingrid, 172
Berkman, Alexander, 37
Berlin, Irving, 130
Berlin Olympics (1936), 19, 158–59, 193
Bessemer, Henry, 31
Bethel AME Church, 128, 317
demolition of, 319–20
Bethune, Mary McLeod, 164, 175, 247
Bethune-Cookman College, 247
Bibb, Joseph D., 168, 177
Biddle, Francis, 174
in meeting with Sengstacke, 175–76
Billboard, 213, 215
Billy Eckstine Orchestra, 194, 195, 210
Billy Eckstine’s Imagination (album), 220
“Birdland All-Stars” concert, 220
Birkie, Hans, 5–6
Birmingham, Ala., 300
Birmingham, England, 58
Black, Hugo, 160, 161
Black, Julian, 4, 5, 6–7, 8, 10, 12, 21, 166
Blackbirds of 1938 (musical revue), 142
Blackburn, Jack “Chappie,” 4, 5–6, 9–10, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20
Black Harlem Theater, 328–29
black nationalism, 41
Black Power, 328, 335
Black Press, The: Soldiers Without Swords (film), 176
Black Sox scandal, 136, 236
black veterans:
blue discharges of, 278–79
Courier’s crusade for, 277–78
Jim Crow laws and, 276–79, 316
Blake, Eubie, 131
Blakely, Art, 194
in Billy Eckstine Orchestra, 210–11
Blanton, Jimmy, 150, 222
Bluebird Records, 200, 201
blues, 200, 202, 206, 213
Wilson and, 323–24, 325, 328, 330–31, 335, 336, 340
“Blue Suede Shoes” (song), 220
Bogart, Humphrey, 172
Bolden, Frank, 174, 178, 191, 282
Smoketown Page 45