The
August Wilson House
In the nineteenth century, the Hill District included a large percentage of people who had emigrated from Haiti following that country’s slave rebellion. ("Message from State of Pennsylvania") The early twentieth century saw a significant increase in the neighborhood’s population with many people coming from the rural South as part of what is known as the “Great Migration.” Through the first half of the twentieth century, the Hill District was known for its music and as a center of African American culture, full of diverse and talented individuals. This was a period when black entrepreneurs started a number of entertainment businesses in the neighborhood, including bars, restaurants, night clubs and more. These venues attracted top acts from across the nation as well as local artists. It is after playing at one of these venues that Duke Ellington was proclaimed the “King of Jazz,” by local newspaper, “The Pittsburgh Courier,” at the time one of the leading black newspapers in the nation.
During its heydays between 1910 and 1950, while some parts of the Hill were flourishing with various entertainment businesses and restaurants, others were not. As one of Pittsburgh’s oldest neighborhoods, much of the Hill’s housing and infrastructure was outdated, lacking running water, toilets, and central heating. Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) proposed a plan to “revitalize” the poorer areas and rid the district of older properties in order to make room for the Civic Arena, which was presented as a new potential attraction to the Hill. These redevelopment projects eventually displaced around 8,000 individuals and over 400 businesses. (Trotter) As a result, what used to be a thriving cultural center was soon diminished to a shell of its former self.
Razing of the Lower Hill District buildings, Pittsburgh, City Photographer 2 Jan. 1957
“Freedom is heavy. You got to put your shoulder to freedom. Put your shoulder to it and hope your back hold up.”
Two Trains Running, 40 - August Wilson
Following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., protests erupted around the country including in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. “Hundreds of businesses were destroyed, a thousand arrests were made, and at least one person died” (Simon, 145). This wreaked havoc upon the already razed area. August Wilson’s Two Trains Running–the sixth installment within his Pittsburgh Cycle–is set during the rise of the Black Power Movement just as the Hill District was hit by significant economic decline. This was a time of resistance as residents were ready to protect their properties after they saw what happened to the Lower Hill with the construction of the Civic Arena and surrounding parking lots. In 1969, eight years after the construction of the Civic Arena, Black Hill District residents expressed their discontent by erecting a billboard that read: “No Redevelopment Beyond This Point!” The initiative clearly displayed the sentiment of the community at the time, which also gained the support of the NAACP.
Billboard reading: “No Redevelopment Beyond This Point!”, Hill District, Charles “Teenie” Harris 1969
“Black is beautiful”
Two Trains Running, 53 - August Wilson
The Black Power Movement is at the center of Two Trains Running as Wilson highlights racial pride and economic empowerment for characters living in the Hill. Many of his characters are average people facing racial segregation and urban “renewal”. In Two Trains Running, Memphis Lee, the owner of a restaurant at 1621 Wylie Avenue in the Hill District, and his customers try to overcome a broken and unjust society by fighting for their rights. Memphis, a “self-made man who values hard work, diligence, persistence, and honesty,” believes that “Black is Beautiful” is a misguided mantra and one that sounds unconvincing to black people. He believes that the only power that whites understand is one that comes with violence. Another character, by the name of Hambone represents the constant struggles of the oppressed black man. He has been shortchanged by a white man in the past and has been driven crazy in his constant efforts to obtain justice and his fair share.
“If you around here looking for justice, you got a long wait. Ain’t no justice. That’s why they got that statue of her and got her blindfolded.”
Two Trains Running, 40 - August Wilson
As is related by August Wilson in his play, “urban renewal” construction projects were the cause of the Hill’s downfall. This theme remains current in our world today with similar patterns repeating themselves in other parts of Pittsburgh as well as in other cities. The Civil Rights Movement lives on today through the Black Lives Matter movement. The fight against systemic racism and social-political injustices remains as relevant as ever. Today, the Hill is slowly recovering from its decline over the past several decades, hoping for many of its population to emerge from poverty and for the eventual rebirth and restoration of the neighborhood’s vibrant past.
Through preserving Wilson’s home, the space will not only be a space “to celebrate the literary and personal legacy of August Wilson…[but also] serve as an arts center to nurture the historic Hill District community…and [those] influenced by his work” (AWH). While walking through this predominantly African American district, visitors are encouraged to keep the Hill’s history in mind and possibly have a discussion with family and friends about the continued impact of race on current events in our country.
Works Cited
City Photographer. Razing of the Lower Hill District. 1957, Pittsburgh, PA https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt%3A715.57990881.CP.
Harper, Colter. "The Crossroads of the World": A Social and Cultural History of Jazz in Pittsburgh's Hill District, 1920-1970." PhD Diss., The University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh: 2011. D-scholarship.
Harris, Charles "Teenie". Billboard inscribed “Attention: City Hall and U.R.A. No Redevelopment Beyond This Point! We Demand Low Income Housing for the Lower Hill, C.C.H.D.R., N.A.A.C.P., Poor People’s Campaign, Model Cities,” at Crawford Street near intersection of Centre Avenue, Hill District. 1969, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh. https://collection.cmoa.org/objects/48e8a97d-8992-45ed-a473-e12e16c83d2c.
"Message from State of Pennsylvania". windowsonhaiti.com.
Simon, Ed. An Alternative History of Pittsburgh. Belt Publishing, 2021.
“The Greater Hill District Master Plan.” City of Pittsburgh., https://pittsburghpa.gov/dcp/hill-district.
“The King of Jazz". The Pittsburgh Courier. 9 Jul 1932. p. 16.
Trotter, Joe W. & Day, Jared N. Race and Renaissance: African-Americans in Pittsburgh Since World War II
Wilson, August. Two Trains Running. New York: Plume, 1993.