The Battle of Homestead Foundation

02/22/2026

This video is a recording of our recent event at the Bost Building/Rivers of Steel on Feb 11, 2026 as part of the “Labor and Art: Off Our Walls” exhibit.

Immigration and the Making of the American Working Class:

Dr. Lou Martin of the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum and Chatham University speaks on immigrant workers, the UMWA, and the way they're reflected in the "Art of Labor: Off Our Walls" art exhibit.

In a program that mirrors current events, Dr. Lou Martin addresses the 19th century demonization of new immigrants working in our region’s coal fields. Throughout the 1800s, waves of immigrants made up the American working class, digging coal and toiling in factories. In reaction to the nativism and violence dividing workers, the United Mineworkers recognized the need to include immigrants in their organizing efforts.

Featuring introductions by Joe White, PhD, and Chris Mark, PhD mining engineer.

Dr. Lou Martin of the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum and Chatham University speaks on immigrant workers, the UMWA, and the way they're reflected in the "Art ...

11/25/2025

THE LATEST BOOK by longtime BHF member *Dr. Louis A. Picard* has been published by Cambridge Scholars Press UK.

"The Hidden People of Uganda: Beyond Survival" weaves historical analysis with harrowing personal testimony, uncovering the hidden realities of Uganda's brutal civil war — from child abduction and mass displacement to the lasting shadows of violence still cast today.

MORE INFO: https://cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-0364-6016-7/

Dr. Picard has been a professor in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at University of Pittsburgh since 1987 and has served as a consultant to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the World Bank, the U.S. Information Agency, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the U.S. Department of State.

11/07/2025

AN EXCELLENT, INSIGHTFUL article by BHF member Ron Schatz on the recent "Art of Labor: Off Our Walls" exhibit featuring over 130 paintings, photographs, artifacts and ephemera from the collections of historians Joe and Delsa White, Steffi Domike and Rivers of Steel —

I am a historian who studied with David Montgomery at the University of Pittsburgh in the mid-1970s, a tumultuous time in labor and working-class history. After teaching at Wesleyan University for many years, I returned to the once-mighty steel city. I recently saw a remarkable exhibit entitled “L...

11/02/2025

RIVERS OF STEEL holds a public community meeting about the Carrie Furnace Development Plan.

• Date: Wednesday, November 12
• Time: 5:00–7:00 p.m.
• Location: Dickson STEAM Academy, 7301 Schoyer Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15218

Featured is an early look at the proposed plans for the Carrie Furnace site including upcoming infrastructure and building projects supporting workforce development, the arts and education.

** More Information – email [email protected]

10/30/2025

ON SEPT. 25, 2025 labor singer/songwriter Mike Stout gave a concert titled "Songs of the Working Class" at the historic Bost Building in Homestead PA, accompanied by Laura Daniels (keyboard/vocals) and Bill Purse (guitar, bass, mandolin).

Weren't able to make it in person?

Here it is on video, from start to finish –

ON SEPT. 25, 2025 labor singer/songwriter Mike Stout gave a concert titled "Songs of the Working Class" at the historic Bost Building in Homestead PA, which ...

10/28/2025

THUR. NOV. 13, 4:30-6 p.m. SEIU International Executive Vice President Neal Bisno delivers a talk titled “The Nurses Are Leading the Parade: Eds-and-Meds Unionism and the Future of Pittsburgh".

* LOCATION: Barco Law Building-Room 109, 3900 Forbes Ave. on Univ. of Pittburgh Oakland campus

Mr. Bisno will be joined by *Tyler Bickford*, a Literature Professor at Pitt and President of Pitt Faculty Union (USW) and *Lucy Ruccio*, a Nurse Practitioner at UPMC-Magee and a leader of the recent successful SEIU organizing campaign there.

The program is part of the Alice and Staughton Lynd Working Class History Seminar and looks at the growth of the eds-and-meds economy in Pittsburgh, its implications for workers, and the opportunities created by the upsurge in worker organizing across the city — especially at Pitt and UPMC in recent years.

* The event is free and open to the public. More Info – https://www.history.pitt.edu/event/nurses-are-leading-parade-eds-and-meds-unionism-and-future-pittsburgh

10/20/2025

WEDNESDAY OCT. 22 @ 6:00 p.m. – Great Public Schools Coalition (GPS) is hosting a community screening of the documentary AMERICAN AGITATORS, a 2025 documentary exploring the legacy of labor and community organizers Fred Ross, Sr., Dolores Huerta, Cesar Chavez and Larry Itliong.

* AT Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers hall, 10 S. 19th Street, South Side.

* RSVP – https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdySVbzU7nQZLcHJWAcnLrOuHL5wiLKGBiFr95Kd2-p5KDJpg/viewform

10/13/2025

The PITTSBURGH LABOR HISTORY TRAIL is open for visitors — on the web and on the trail!

Visit this website – https://pittsburghlaborhistorytrail.org/ – and find information about 48 state historical markers in and around Pittsburgh, plus other nearby labor history sites of interest.

They're just a few of the locations listed in “Labor History Sites in the Pittsburgh Region” by Charles McCollester and Howard Scott published in 2016 by Battle of Homestead Foundation and Allegheny County Labor Council. This past spring, 3 student programmer teams from Carnegie Mellon University's School of Information Systems put together the first website.

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The site is designed so you can create a self-guided tour taking you to key locations and themes.

** NOTE: More locations are being added, and more tour brochures are being developed ... as you peruse the site, if you see something requiring revision, please let us know at [email protected]. ... your input is greatly appreciated!

Gather some friends and take a few moments to explore the rich labor history of southwestern Pennsylvania, where generations of workers built industries, organized for better conditions and shaped the American labor movement.

* Plan your tour today at https://pittsburghlaborhistorytrail.org/

>>> VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO United SteelworkersDistrict 10 (https://usw.org/) for their $1,000 Trailblazer Kickoff Sponsorship!

A program of the Battle of Homestead Foundation

09/27/2025

HERE'S THE video of the presentation given Sept. 10 by Univ. of Pittsburgh archivist Zach Brodt as he shared insights from his recent book "From the Steel City to the White City" at the Pump House in Homestead PA —

ON SEPT. 10, 2025, Univ. of Pittsburgh archivist Zach Brodt shared insights from his recent book "From the Steel City to the White City" at the Pump House in...

09/27/2025

SUNDAY Oct. 5 @ 2 p.m. join filmmaker Pauline Greenlick for a showing of her film "A Hobo in the Great Depression" at the historic Casino Theater, 145 Lincoln St. Vandergrift, PA.

09/18/2025

09/08/2025

BASED on his recent book "From the Steel City to the White City", Univ. of Pittsburgh archivist *Zach Brodt* will explore Western Pennsylvania’s representation at Chicago’s Columbian Exposition, the first major step in demonstrating that Pittsburgh was more than simply America’s manufacturing crucible — it was also a region of developing culture and innovation.

* THIS Wed. Sept. 10, 2025, 7:00 p.m. at the Pump House, 880 E. Waterfront Drive, Munhall PA 15120

WHILE Pittsburgh’s most famous contributions to the 1893 World’s Fair — alternating current electricity and the Ferris wheel— had a lasting impact on the United States and the world, other exhibits provided a snapshot of the area’s industries, natural resources and inventions.

* FREE but register here – https://tinyurl.com/3kwexwrc

“A must-read for all historians of the Steel City.” — Thomas White, Duquesne University