Robert Johnson Papers
Robert Johnson was an assistant professor of dance at the University of Pittsburgh in the Black Studies Department and founder of the Pittsburgh Black Theater Dance Ensemble. The collection represents the works of prominent African Americans involved in dance, choreography, and music who went on to build solid careers and make meaningful contributions to the performing arts.

Kuntu Repertory Theatre
The Kuntu Repertory Theatre was the oldest and largest African-American performing arts center in Pittsburgh. Founded in 1974 by Dr. Vernell A. Lillie, Professor Emeritus in the University of Pittsburgh’s school of Africana Studies, Kuntu produced more than 139 main-stage plays, toured with over 2,520 collages and plays and conducted over 530 master classes and workshops until it closed nearly 40 years later. Kuntu became nationally recognized for its development of celebrated playwrights and produced more than 180 plays by playwrights such as Vernell Lillie, James Baldwin, Kathleen Collins, Lorraine Hansberry, and Rob Penny. This collection was recently acquired by the Special Collections Department and hasn’t been inventoried or organized; therefore it is not yet open to the public.

Ramón Gómez de la Serna Papers
Ramón Gómez de la Serna was a prolific Spanish-Argentinian poet, novelist, and essayist, who is especially known for creating a new literary genre he named the “greguería.” His works significantly influenced the avant-garde movement in Europe and Latin America. His personal papers consist of approximately 60,000 handwritten notes and manuscripts, clippings, photographs, and annotated first editions from his library from 1906-1967.

Rose Rand Papers
Rose Rand, one of the earliest celebrated female philosophers, was a student member of the Vienna Circle, a group of philosophers who met on a regular basis for discussions in Vienna, Austria, from 1922 to 1938, and who proposed new philosophical ideas about the conception of scientific knowledge. The papers comprise Rose Rand's personal and professional records, a significant amount of correspondence and working papers, as well as notebooks, research notes, manuscript fragments, and transcriptions from Vienna Circle discussions.

Mary Roberts Rinehart Papers
Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876-1958) was a popular and prolific American author in the first half of the 20th century. Best known for her mysteries, Rinehart published poems, short stories, plays, articles, essays, memoirs, romances, and novels. Some of her works were adapted for stage, film, radio, and television. The Mary Roberts Rinehart Papers document her career as a writer, her life, her family, and her travels and activities. Not only was Rinehart known for her mysteries, but she was one of the first female war correspondents. In early 1915, Rinehart asked her Saturday Evening Post editor to send her to Europe to report on World War I prior to U.S. involvement. Rinehart toured the Belgian front and interviewed Albert I, King of the Belgians, and Queen Mary of England at a time when very few journalists were granted such access. Rinehart returned to Europe in 1918 to report on the war to the War Department and was in Paris on November 11 when the armistice ended the war.

Pittsburgh Gay Periodicals
This collection of periodicals documents the gay experience in Pittsburgh during the 1970’s, 1980’s, and 1990’s including titles such as Pittsburgh Gay News, Gay News Pittsburgh Edition, Gay Life, Planet Queer and Pittsburgh’s Out. These periodicals document national and regional activism, news, and history as reported by the gay press.

Civil Rights Pamphlets
Among these resources are several pamphlets published by the Communist Party promoting racial equality, promotional literature for the Urban League of New York, and publications of other important civil rights organizations.

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United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America
Since 1936, the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) has prided itself on its diverse membership and leadership. The UE has developed a long tradition of fighting for equality in the workplace, as evidenced by their conference for working women and fair practices committee, among other initiatives. The UE was also the first major union in the country to elect a female international officer. The UE archives contain records that detail the work of the union as they were one of the first to address the diversity of the American workforce.

Percival L. Prattis Papers
This collection contains documents relating to the life and career of journalist, Percival L. Prattis, executive editor of the Pittsburgh Courier, the predominate African American newspaper published in Pittsburgh but with a national circulation. Material in the collection includes correspondence, financial reports of the Courier, drafts of articles and stories, scrapbooks, and photographs primarily from the 1930s to 1960s.

Nationality Rooms
The University holds the archives of many of the committees that were formed to create, finance and build the Nationality Rooms in the Cathedral of Learning. These rooms reflect the melting pot of immigrants who flocked to Pittsburgh for work. Many ethnic groups responded to Pitt’s Chancellor Bowman’s call for participation in building the Cathedral. The rooms we have documented in the archives include Chinese, Czechoslovak, English, German, Hungarian, Indian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Armenian, Austrian, Ukrainian, and Welsh.

Jean Witter Papers
This collection documents the activism of Jean Witter, a Pittsburgh lawyer, who was heavily involved with the National Organization for Women (NOW) and an advocate for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. This collection contains correspondence, meeting minutes, promotional material, personal notes and writings, and ephemera related to the women's rights movement.

National Council of Jewish Women, Pittsburgh Chapter
The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), Pittsburgh Section Records, consist of organizational records, including correspondence, memorabilia, reports, minutes, photographs, and oral histories for the period 1894 to 1997. The bulk of the records are from the NCJW Pittsburgh Section, however, there are some materials in the collection regarding NCJW state and national activities. Digital reproductions of the audio component of the oral history project are available online.

Irene Kaufmann Settlement (IKS)
The IKS was established in 1899 as the Columbian Council in a small Hill District home aiding Jewish immigrants; it later became the Irene Kaufmann Settlement House, a neighborhood social welfare agency, in 1909. The IKS was one of the first settlements of its kind in the United States and its highly successful programs served as models for similar institutions. Projects like the Better Neighborhood Contest, the milk well, the fresh air Lillian Kaufmann Camp, and the Better Baby Contest demonstrated the desire to build a strong community through health, education, and collaboration.

Urban League of Pittsburgh
The Urban League of Pittsburgh was founded in 1918 in the Hill District providing social services and resources to a growing African American community. Early board members included Robert L. Vann (editor of the Pittsburgh Courier newspaper) and Walter A. May (founder of May Drug Company). Initial programs included education, job training, health care, social action, and the fresh air camp (Camp James Weldon). The Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh, as it is now known, still focuses on empowering African American men, women, and youth through economic, employment, educational, and heath programs.

Elsie H. Hillman Papers
Elsie Hillman was an advocate for greater inclusion of both African American and women’s involvement in the political arena and specifically in the Republican Party at local, state and national levels. She also worked as a philanthropist to better the lives of all American’s, particularly the poor, inter-city youth, and those affected by the HIV/AIDS crisis.

Neighborhood Centers Association
Established in 1895 as the Woods Run Settlement House to serve the social service needs of the migrant/immigrant communities living in the industrial neighborhoods adjacent to Manchester and Woods Run in Pittsburgh, this organization provided recreational, educational, and health care needs to thousands of African Americans, Slovaks, Lithuanians, Russians, Ukrainians, Italians, and many others.

American Service Institute
The American Service Institute was founded in Pittsburgh in 1941 with the purpose of working through the organized structure of the Pittsburgh community to promote better understanding and appreciation among people of all cultural and national backgrounds. The American Service Institute existed from 1941 through 1961. The Instituted created studies and reports on community projects, immigration and naturalization, the aged population, youth immigration, and customs and traditions of cultural groups.

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