Causes:
Arts & Culture,
Historical Organizations
Mission: The historical society of western pennsylvania (doing business as the senator john heinz history center) is an educational institution that engages and inspires a large and diverse audience with links to the past, understanding in the present, and guidance for the future by preserving regional history and presenting the american experience with a western pennsylvania connection. This work is accomplished in partnership with others through archaeology, archives, artifact collections, conservation, educational programs, exhibitions, library, museums, performance, publication, research, technical assistance, and increasingly, through broadcast media and the internet.
Programs: Exhibition admissions:the historical society of western pennsylvania (dba senator john heinz history center) was founded in 1879 and is the oldest cultural institution in pittsburgh. The historical society operates and does business as the senator john heinz history center, the western pennsylvania sports museum, the meadowcroft rockshelter & historic village, the fort pitt museum, and the museum conservation center. This family of museums is a perennial award-winner for its exhibitions, programs, and publications that draws an audience of some 300,000 visitors a year and reaches in excess of 1 million more via programming on broadcast media and the internet.
public information programs: the history center maintained a dynamic schedule of exhibitions, programs, and initiatives that increased our outreach and formed invaluable partnerships. In 2017, the history center successfully launched, researched, or prepared for more than 10 exhibitions, including: we can do it! Wwi: a traveling exhibition; #pixburgh: a photographic experience; carved powder horns in early america; a very merry pittsburgh; art of facts: uncovering pittsburgh stories; the gift of art: 100 years of art from the pittsburgh public schools' collection, and more. The history center also successfully held its annual public programs and events, including nfl play60, vintage pittsburgh, hometown-homegrown, fort pitt living history program, books in the 'burgh, and many more. A total of 256,875 visitors were reached across our museum system in fy17, including the history center, fort pitt museum, and meadowcroft rockshelter and historic village.
historic life event rentals and commissions:as pennsylvania's largest history museum and the region's oldest cultural institution, the history center is dedicated to preserving and celebrating major events - not just the many ways pittsburgh has shaped the world, but business and personal histories as well. These events are all part of the fabric of what makes pittsburgh an extraordinary city and creates history for many within western pennsylvania.
