This guide provides an overview of genealogical and other family history resources available at the Archives & Special Collections and Hillman Library.

The God-Sent Grandparents support group was founded in the early 1990s in the Hill District and relocated in 1993 to the Salvation Army Third Street headquarters in downtown Pittsburgh, Pa. This faith-based group provides spiritual guidance, as well as material aid such as clothing and food, to African American women in the community who have devoted their lives to raising their grandchildren while coping with crime, poverty, and various other social problems. This collection is comprised of cassettes containing interviews with participants of the God-Sent Grandparents support group and a final summary of the project.

Bebe Moore Campbell was an award-winning author, journalist, teacher and playwright whose professional works reflected the African-American experience in the United States, including family life. A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Campbell graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1971. Several of her fictional works appeared in New York Times bestsellers lists. The papers document Bebe Moore Campbell’s professional life with specific focus on the creative and administrative process of publishing in the late 20th and early 21st century. Included are many drafts and revisions of her writings as well as contracts, correspondence, reviews, promotional activities and rankings of her works.

August Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-awarded playwright and Pittsburgh Native Son, has penned numerous plays depicting the everyday lives of African American Pittsburghers (including family relationships and legacies). Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle plays are primarily let in Pittsburgh's Hill District neighborhood where Wilson was born and raised. The items within the archive document a wide array of Wilson’s career and interests from the 1960s to 2010s. Included are scripts and production materials of his American Century Cycle plays, Wilson’s personal library and music collection, artwork, poetry, unpublished work including non-Cycle plays, speeches, essays, and interviews. Materials range from audio recordings, awards and degrees, books, correspondence, newspapers and magazines to notebooks, writing tablets, photographs, posters, production designs, props, scripts, and video recordings. The ULS acquired the playwright's personal archives through the help of Wilson’s widow, Constanza Romero, executor of the playwright’s estate. Preparations for research access to the collection will begin in spring 2021.