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History Sidebar Writings on history and the production of history SearchAbout The History Sidebar Post navigation ← Older posts Today on City Cast Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh’s racist real estate history Posted on May 8, 2024 by David Rotenstein Reply I’m on today’s City Cast Pittsburgh talking about racism and real estate. One of the takeaways from my PublicSource reporting was that unlike other places, so far the only racial and ethnic exclusions that I have identified in Pittsburgh area deeds exclude Black people from buying and renting homes. All of the deeds with racially restrictive deed covenants that I sampled for the PublicSource investigation were limited to people of African descent. Racially restrictive deed covenant filed in 1940 for a Sewickley subdivision. Racially restrictive deed covenant filed in 1929 for a McCandless Township subdivision. These examples from Erie, Pennsylvania, and the DC suburbs show a laundry list of racist, anti-semitic, and xenophobic exclusions. Deed filed in Erie County, Pennsylvania, in 1924 with racial and ethnic exclusions. Deed filed in Montgomery County, Maryland, in 1947 with racial and ethnic exclusions. I make the point in the City Cast podcast that Pittsburgh’s racially restrictive deed covenants underscore the metropolitan area’s historical and contemporary racism that led to Southern Black migrants dubbing Pittsburgh the Mississippi of the North.” Listen to the complete City Cast podcast here: Share this: Email Facebook Print LinkedIn Twitter Reddit Tumblr Pinterest Like this: Like Loading... Posted in Pittsburgh | Tagged deed covenants , History , racism | Leave a reply Incurious and lazy historians Posted on April 26, 2024 by David Rotenstein Reply It’s a thing. One example I’ve been sitting on for a while is the Montgomery County, Maryland, Planning Department’s study of racially restrictive deed covenants and housing discrimination . This screenshot from the agency’s 2023 report shows a discussion of a Black physician’s efforts to buy a home in Silver Spring in the early 1960s. Screenshot, Working Draft of the Mapping Segregation Report,” pp. 27-28. The report’s authors didn’t bother to learn that this home described in their report was still owned by the family and that the doctor’s daughter was married to the son of a Tulsa race massacre survivor and leading voice in Black history: John Hope Franklin. There’s lots more missing from the report, but that’s a story for another day. Share this: Email Facebook Print LinkedIn Twitter Reddit Tumblr Pinterest Like this: Like Loading... Posted in Historic Preservation | Tagged History , Montgomery County (Md.) | Leave a reply Virtue Signaling Posted on April 6, 2024 by David Rotenstein Reply Sundown suburbs where Black Lives Matter in signs. Decatur, Georgia (2021). Silver Spring, Maryland (2017). Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania (2020). Share this: Email Facebook Print LinkedIn Twitter Reddit Tumblr Pinterest Like this: Like Loading... Posted in History | Tagged Decatur (Ga.) , Fox Chapel (Pa.) , Silver Spring (Md.) , sundown suburbs | Leave a reply Mommyblogger Buzz Posted on April 6, 2024 by David Rotenstein If only this photo had been available in 2015 …. I would love to use it in my Decatur book. The image speaks to so many things about Decatur’s gentrified Oakhurst community specifically and the city generally. Source: decaturish.com via Facebook. Share this: Email Facebook Print LinkedIn Twitter Reddit Tumblr Pinterest Like this: Like Loading... Posted in Decatur | Tagged gentrification , mommybloggers , reporterish There is No Basis in the Law for Demolishing this Historic Building Posted on April 2, 2024 by David Rotenstein 2 In 2023, the Pittsburgh Historic Review Commission unanimously approved an application to demolish a historic building in the city’s Uptown neighborhood. The developer took that decision to the Pittsburgh Planning Commission for approval in an April 2, 2024 hearing. The HRC approval had no basis in law and preservation practice. Despite serious questions raised by my testimony and statements submitted by other parties opposed to the project as proposed, the Pittsburgh Planning Commission voted to approve the project (five affirmative votes, one abstention), including the demolition of Joe Tito’s former garage and beer distributorship. Visitors attending the Tito-Mecca-Zizza House pop-up museum in April 2022 read text panels next to Joe Tito’s former garage and beer distributorship. The Pittsburgh Historic Review Commission and Pittsburgh Planning Commission have approved this landmarked building’s demolition. Photo by David S. Rotenstein. Continue reading → Share this: Email Facebook Print LinkedIn Twitter Reddit Tumblr Pinterest Like this: Like Loading... Posted in Pittsburgh | Tagged historic preservation , Tito-Mecca-Zizza House | 2 Replies Historic Preservation Contributes to Black Trauma Posted on March 2, 2024 by David Rotenstein Reply Buried deep inside my recent Pittsburgh City Paper cover story is a little bit about historic preservation: In his 1984 memoir Brothers and Keepers , John Edgar Wideman, the award-winning Pittsburgh-born author, made the prison the setting for his brother’s incarceration and a central character. Western Penitentiary sprouts like a giant wart from the bare, flat stretches of concrete surrounding it,” Wideman wrote. To Wideman, Western Penitentiary punished its inmates and their loved ones by dehumanizing them. Wideman’s take on the prison captures the sentiments held by Black Pittsburghers: revulsion, not nostalgia. Compare that to the efforts by white historic preservationists who sought to protect the landmark which in 2022 was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The conflicting views of the impending demolition underscore the need to better understand history holistically and equitably. They also speak to how Pittsburgh preserves its Black history landmarks: the jail at one end of Wylie Ave. is a tourist attraction with a brass plaque, and the church at the other end is condemned. Former Western Penitentiary (2023). Condemnation notice affixed to the John Wesley AME Church (2020). The Pittsburgh preservationist who was pushing to save the former Western Penitentiary is the same one who fought to preserve the Civic Arena . Constructed in the Lower Hill District, the Civic Arena and its sprawling parking lots replaced hundreds of mostly Black owned and occupied homes, businesses, churches, and recreational spaces. The Pittsburgh Civic Arena and the Lower Hill District. The Changing City: Report of the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh.” Pittsburgh City Archives. Wait, what? Yep, the same white preservationist dude who 15 years ago wanted to force the city to preserve one of the most painful reminders of urban renewal and displacement wanted to keep the hulking reminder of mass incarceration. At best, it’s tone deaf. At worst, it’s a reminder of the white supremacy and classism that continues to dominate historic preservation. © 2024 D.S. Rotenstein Share this: Email Facebook Print LinkedIn Twitter Reddit Tumblr Pinterest Like this: Like Loading... Posted in Pittsburgh | Tagged historic preservation | Leave a reply Black History Month 2024 Posted on February 26, 2024 by David Rotenstein Reply NEXTpittsburgh screen capture, Feb. 26, 2024. Throughout February, NEXTpittsburgh has been featuring my articles about Black history in Pittsburgh. NEXT originally published most of them in 2023: It’s time to remember the landmark clocks for Black Pittsburghers (Feb. 7, 2024) Charles E. Davis built homes for Pittsburgh’s Black middle class that still endure (Nov. 13, 2023) These Pittsburgh-area roadhouses and resorts served Black travelers off the beaten path (Aug. 15, 2023) Historian Ralph Proctor Jr. wants to ensure the Hill District he knew isn’t forgotten (June 29, 2023) Who connects the Harlem Renaissance to...