“Mecca for the Colored People”: Remembering the Demolition of Pittsburgh’s Lower Hill District

Presenter(s)

Avishek Acharya

Abstract or Description

Duquesne sits just some two blocks away from a neighborhood of historical importance. Those two blocks represent a contortion of time and space that makes students resigned to almost never visit “The Hill.” The Hill is a neighborhood of national importance, having hosted jazz legends, nationally renowned newspapers, and artists. However, the Hill of today is much smaller than it has ever been; the destruction of the Lower Hill effectively separated the neighborhood’s access to down and up towns. The destruction of the Hill can be chalked up to a larger trend of “urban renewal,” a series of misguided attempts to undo the effect of white flight. When combing through the historical archives, a story of the Hill as a doomed neighborhood forced to relocate emerges. However, deeper research reveals an era of politicians catering to suburbanites following white flight, rather than a space for those who lived there; a media culture unwilling to question the ideology of ‘urban renewal’; and a neighborhood fighting a losing tide against a political machine. I got this picture by searching the historical archives of the Pittsburgh Courier and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as well as secondary sources by local historians. During this project, I learned about the history of the Hill as well as the factors leading to its destruction. The lower Hill is again changing ownership; the story of its destruction is important to advocate for the future of the area today. 

Mentor

Jennifer Taylor