One of the most rewarding things about being an amateur historian is researching an unknown person or event successfully and ending up learning a little bit more about life in an earlier era. I recently had an inquiry from a lady named Nancy Komatz with a question regarding her great-grandfather, Richard Biddle Davis. She knows… [Read More]

I have just returned from a delightful week’s vacation at Chautauqua with my daughter Elizabeth and her family. We have visited there off and on for many years; last year we decided to rent a house for a week inside the Institution, a pleasant experience although the pandemic had eliminated nearly all of the regularly… [Read More]

Representing the University of Pittsburgh, my daughter Elizabeth was the co-sponsor of a short course this month in conjunction with Konan University in Kobe, Japan. Its subject was “Global Cities: Pittsburgh and Kobe – Livability, Resilience, and Sustainability”; its objective was to explore the future potential for the two cities. When she first discussed the… [Read More]

It has been thirty years since my last visit to the Arden Trolley Museum. An old friend, Kevin Abt, here for a visit, suggested we remedy that omission. It was particularly appropriate for me; my recent column on trolleys in this area has peaked my interest in them. Kevin was one of my first students… [Read More]