The Pennsylvania Department
Pieces of the Past

Archaeology in Pittsburgh -- A Reading List

"Pieces of the Past: Archaeology in Pittsburgh" was a temporary exhibit at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History Gallery (24 March 1987 - June 1988). On display were many nineteenth-century artifacts that Museum of Natural History archaeologists uncovered during excavations at several downtown Pittsburgh construction sites, including what is now PPG Place. In addition to explaining how the excavations were carried out, the exhibit highlighted seven craftspeople who lived and worked in Pittsburgh in the 1850s. Instead of presenting an in-depth cultural study, "Pieces of the Past" offered fragments that provided new insights into Pittsburgh's past. It was designed to stimulate interest in Pittsburgh's past as well as urban archaeology. The following list of books and articles was prepared to encourage additional research in these areas.

Compiled by Dr. Verna L. Cowin, Assistant Curator of Anthropology, Carnegie Museum of Natural History. In conjunction with Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.

Archaeology in Pittsburgh

Cowin, Verna L.

* Pittsburgh Archaeological Resources and National Register Survey.
Pittsburgh and Harrisburg: Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission,
and Pittsburgh Department of City Planning, 1985.

Cowin, Verna L.

* "Urban Archaeology at the PPG Site."
Carnegie Magazine 56 (7), 1983.

Swauger, James L.

* "The Music Bastion at Fort Pitt."
Carnegie Magazine 42, 1968.

Swauger, James L.

* "Digging Up Fort Pitt."
The Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine 6 (2), 1977.

Swauger, James L., and Lang, Richard W.

* "Excavations at the Music Bastion of Fort Pitt."
Annals of Carnegie Museum 39, 1967.

General Histories -- Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania

Reference rooms at Carnegie Library, the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, and the Darlington Room in the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning all have city and county histories, many of which comprise several volumes. Listed below are some of the more popular accounts.

Baldwin, Leland D.

* Pittsburgh: The Story of a City. Museum Commission,
Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1937.

Buck, Solon J. and Elizabeth H.

* The Planting of Civilization in Western Pennsylvania.
Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1939.

Craig, Neville B.

* History of Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh: J. R. Weldin Co., 1917.
A reprint of Craig's 1851 history.

Lorant, Stefan.

* Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City. Museum Commission,
Pittsburgh: J. R. Weldin Co., 1917.

The Great Fire of 1845

Accounts of the fire are contained in most of the standard histories of Pittsburgh. Specific articles about the fire include:

Adams, Marcelin C.

* "Pittsburgh's Great Fire of 1845."
The Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine 25 (1, 2), 1942.

Arensberg, Charles F. C.

* "The Pittsburgh Fire of April 10, 1845."
The Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine 28 (1, 2), 1945.

Montgomery, David.

* "Notes on the Big Fire of 1845."
The Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine 27, 1944.

Native Americans

Lorant, Stefan, ed.

* The New World: The First Pictures of America.
New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1965.
For early engravings of North American Indians by European artists.

Mayer-Oakes, W. J.

* "Prehistory of the Upper Ohio Valley."
Annals of Carnegie Museum 34, 1955.
Although somewhat outdated, the best general reference for Indian cultures in the Upper Ohio Valley.

Wallace, Paul A. W.

* Indian Paths of Pennsylvania.
Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1965.
Complete descriptions of Indian paths, including directions on how to locate them via modern highways.

* The Pennsylvania Archaeologist 1-56, 1930-1986.

For specific site reports and general information about archaeology in the Upper Ohio Valley. Published by the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology.

Military Period

James, Alfred Proctor, and Stotz, Charles Morse.

* Drums in the Forest.
Pittsburgh: Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, 1958.
The best reference on Pittsburgh's forts.

Peterson, Harold L.

* Round Shot and Rammers.
New York: Bonanza Books, 1969.
For information about cannons and military calipers.

Frontier Period

Dahlinger, Charles W.

* Pittsburgh: A Sketch of Its Early Social Life.
New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1916.

Douds, Howard C.

* "Merchants and Merchandising in Pittsburgh, 1759-1800."
The Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine 20 (2), 1937.

Broudy, Eric.

* The Books of Looms.
New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., 1979.
An illustrated book on looms.

Arbor, Marilyn.

* Tools and Trades of America's Past: The Mercer Collection.
Doylestown, PA: Bucks County Historical Society, 1981.
Simple and illustrated descriptions of working with textile fibers and spinning (pages 78-79).

Commercial Period

Consult general Pittsburgh histories for this period. For information on lighting devices see Marilyn Arbor's book.

Reiser, Catherine.

* Pittsburgh's Commercial Development, 1800-1850.
Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1951.

Industrial Workshop

Couvares, Francis G.

* The Remaking of Pittsburgh: Class and Culture in an Industrializing City, 1877-1919.
Albany: State University of New York Press, 1984.
An excellent short account about craftsmen of this period.

Innes, Lowell.

* Pittsburgh Glass, 1797-1891.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1976.
For the history of Pittsburgh's glass industries.

Nineteenth-Century Crafts, Craftspeople and Their Tools

The craftspeople in "Pieces of the Past" include Margaret Bonnaffon, dressmaker and milliner; James Bennett, potter; J. C. Buffum, bottler; John Dunlap and John Fleming, tinners; Eli Edmundson, upholsterer; and William Thorn, druggist. Most of the biographical material in the exhibit came from contemporary newspapers, especially advertisements, and city directories. Tax, credit, and deed records added to the data bank. General information about crafts and colonial artifacts is contained in Marilyn Arbor's book.

Noel-Hume, Ivor.

* A Guide to Artifacts of Colonial America.
New York: Alfred Knopf, 1969.

Sloan, Eric.

* A Museum of Early American Tools.
New York: Ballantine Books, 1974.

Tunis, Edwin.

* Colonial Craftsmen and the Beginnings of American Industry.
Cleveland: World Publishing, 1965.

Clothing

Also see Peterson's Magazines and Godey's Lady's Books for period dress.

Kidwell, Claudia B.

* Cutting a Fashionable Fit.
Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1979.

McClellan, Elisabeth.

* Historic Dress in America, 1607-1870.
New York: Arno Press, 1977.

Waugh, Norah.

* The Cut of Men's Clothes, 1600-1900.
London: Faber & Faber, 1964.

Waugh, Norah.

* The Cut of Women's Clothes, 1600-1930.
New York: Theatre Arts Books, 1968.

Pottery

Leibowitz, Joan.

* Yellow Ware: The Transitional Ceramic.
Exton, PA: Schiffer Publishing Co., 1985.
For photographs and descriptions of yellow ware, one of the ceramics made by Bennett & Bro.

Stradling, Diana, ed.

* The Art of the Potter.
New York: Universe Books, 1977.
For articles on American pottery, including stoneware and redware.

Bottles

A transcription of J. C. Buffum's diary is housed in the Pennsylvania Department (qr92 B862B). Of interest are his detailed explanations, including costs, of his travels to and from California during the mid-nineteenth century.

Tinware

Kauffman, Henry J.

* Early American Copper, Tin, and Brass.
New York: Medill McBride Company, 1950.

Lansansky, Jeannette.

* To Cut, Piece, and Solder: The Work of the Rural Pennsylvania Tinsmith, 1778-1908.
University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1982.

Smith, Elmer L.

* Tinware: Yesterday and Today.
Lebanon, PA: Applied Arts Publishers, 1974.

Upholstery and Furniture

Bealer, A. W.

* The Tools That Built America.
New York: Bonanza Books, 1980.
Discusses the hand tools used in woodworking and furniture-making.

Drugs and Medicine

Devner, Kay.

* At the Sign of the Mortar.
Tucson, AZ: Devner, 1970.

Jackson, W. A.

* The Victorian Chemist and Druggist.
Aylesbury, England: Shire Publications, 1981.





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