A website launched Monday aims to be a source of historical information and personal narratives about Pittsburgh’s storied Hill District.
The Hill District Digital History Project is an online venture intended to create a “living collection of stories,” an educational resource, and a way to digitally tour the neighborhood, according to the Hill Community Development Corporation, which led the project in partnership with Professor Aaron Cowan of Slippery Rock University.
The entities worked with two community historians to gather personal accounts about spaces, places, and life in the neighborhood. One of the historians, Renee Wilson, said having a hub for that history is critical, because “fragmented history is like having no history.”
Though the website’s initial focus has been on the neighborhood’s older history, the partners plan to move into more recent history, as well. They envision the site as a place where residents can tell their own stories, rather than having them told by someone else.
Project members plan to work with K-12 students to engage with the material, and community historians will continue to gather personal histories.
