Marie on Halloween on the Northside
Marie carves a pumpkin for the Fort Faulsey Cat Colony while reflecting on Northside Halloweens in the 50s and 60s.
Category: History
The three worst August 27s of my life
Today, August 27, marks three of the worst days of my life. August 1992 In August 1992, I had just moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana for graduate school. A Hurricane named Andrew was coming our way. I was terrified. My roommate, a lifelong Louisiana resident, left me to go to her sister’s apartment, saying there […]
Did the Thin Blue Line distinguish German Police Officers from Nazis?
CN: Nazis, ICE, police, family stories This pops into my head quite often when we see police officers supporting ICE. They claim a fine line divides them from ICE and other immigration officers. They are there to protect the public. But that often looks like manhandling citizens protesting to keep ICE safe. Preserving public safety […]
Corporate sponsors pivot away from Pittsburgh Pride, creating challenges and opportunities for LGBTQIA+ community
Pittsburgh Pridefest has announced a budget shortfall due mainly to a lack of corporate sponsorship. This does have the immediate impact on events, but it also reflects a disturbing pattern of distancing themselves from our community. There is a difference between the impact of these. institutions. Pittsburgh Pride is scheduled for June 5-7 in Allegheny Commons Park […]
Things to Watch During Native History Month
My friend, Lee Dingus, is a Seneca artist and educator who has contributed to this blog in the past. I asked her to specifically share television shows and movies that do a solid job with representation. Indigenous created content is so much more accessible now, but I don’t think people know that. I certainly didn’t, until […]
We’ve documented the election of more than 100 out LGBTQ+ folx in Pennsylvania from 1992-2025
The firsts include over a dozen bisexual individuals, two pansexual folx, a dozen who identify as nonbinary, nearly a dozen trans folx, and several dozen people of color. When I began blogging in 2005, there were no out elected officials in Pennsylvania (that I knew of.) Now there are so many that keeping track is […]
‘Tis The Season: Seneca Educator Lenora Dingus on New Challenges of Indigenous People’s Day
“it also seems that this is the only time of year Indigenous people and cultures are thought of to any extent by a large part of the population.“ ‘Tis The Season Football; both local and National, INDIGENOUS people’s day – aka Columbus Day, Halloween and Thanksgiving and all the fall harvest festivals which often portray negative Indigenous […]
Did Hill’s Department Store Blow Up Your Sky Every Fourth of July? Don’t Read This Post.
In 2014, I wrote a blog post about the Fourth of July, focusing on things we saw in movies but didn’t experience in real life. The thing most people take away from that post is my reference to the annual firework displays hosted by Hill’s Department Stores around the region. Something about that simple experience […]
Designating Pitt Men’s Study as a Historic Location Would Put the Narrative in the Hands of the Pittsburgh LGBTQ+ Community
First, do no harm. I don’t think Donny’s Place, a former gay bar in the Polish Hill neighborhood, should be designated as a historic designation. And it certainly shouldn’t be the first place so designated. Back in 2021, I was contacted by Preservation Pittsburgh to support their efforts to designate the site of the former […]
Video: 1986 Short Film Focused on Three Lesbians
This brief film featuring three lesbians discussing their lives in 1986 has been one of the most well received posts on my Instagram feed. Everyone want to know what happened to these three women. I hope to find out! Lesbians (1986) has been digitally preserved by UCLA Film & Televsion Archive in conjunction with Outfest […]