Archives & Special Collections at Pitt

09/23/2026

Join the the University of Pittsburgh Library System for a variety of fun Homecoming activities this Friday September 25th! We'll be there! 💙🐾💛

Join us for a variety of Homecoming activities on Friday, September 25. Explore Hillman Library, now a vibrant, modern hub of learning and innovation.

• The Transformed Hillman Library Open House - 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• University Archives Open House - 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Cathedral of Learning Centennial Archive & Special Collection Exhibit Gallery Talk - 3:15 p.m. to 4 p.m.

We hope to see you there!

Learn more and register here: https://library.pitt.edu/hillman-library-homecoming-2026-events

09/08/2026

Get inspired at the University of Pittsburgh Library System's Hillman Library, tomorrow 9/9, 4-7 pm! Join us for an open house and learn more about the 2026 Envisioning a Just Pittsburgh Call for Art!

For more information and registration, visit https://calendar.pitt.edu/event/envisioning-a-just-pittsburgh-hillman-library-artist-open-house

🌟View rare collections from Archives & Special Collections and the Frick Fine Arts Library. (3rd floor)
🌟View exhibits in the Hyland Gallery on Pittsburgh photographers, horror literature, August Wilson, and more! (3rd floor)
🌟Experiment with letterpress printmaking and collage as you create postcards to and from home in the Text & conText Lab. (3rd floor)
🌟Make buttons in the Open Lab. (1st floor)

09/01/2026

🍂Happy September and the start of the Fall 2026 semester!🍂
Looking for more ways to engage with Archives & Special Collections at the University of Pittsburgh Library System? Join us for an outreach event this month. All events are free!

9/2 Hillman Library Open House- Visit us on the 3rd floor!
View calendar listing: https://pitt.libcal.com/event/17414875

9/9 Envisioning a Just Pittsburgh Artist Open House @ Hillman Library
View calendar listing: https://pitt.libcal.com/calendar/today/EJPOpenHouse

9/25 Pitt Homecoming:
Showcasing Spaces: The Transformed Hillman Library Open House
View calendar listing: https://pitt.libcal.com/event/17416132

University Archives Open House
View calendar listing: https://pitt.libcal.com/event/17416208

Hyland Gallery Talk for Cathedral of Learning Building in a Transformative Age
View calendar listing: https://pitt.libcal.com/event/17416584

06/26/2026

The University of Pittsburgh Library System is deeply saddened by the news of the passing of Suzanne Desrocher Romero. Suz was an essential force in establishing the George A. Romero Archival Collection, which serves as the foundation on which the horror studies collections have grown. Through working with her to build horror studies at the ULS, she became both a partner and a friend to many of us in the library. She is in our thoughts and we send our condolences to her family and friends. We will miss you, Suz!

Pictured: Suzanne Desrocher Romero (left) and Dr. Kornelia Tancheva (right), Hillman University Librarian and Director of the University Library System at the University of Pittsburgh, establishing the George A. Romero Archival Collection in 2019.

06/16/2026

Did you know that the first copies of the Declaration of Independence distributed to the public were printed in 1776 as broadsides? Join the University of Pittsburgh Library System and the Center for Creativity at Pitt to learn more about this popular communication format in early America, explore themes of freedom and democracy in print, and typeset and print your own broadside in the Text & conText Lab!

Freedom on the Press: Build a Broadside
Tuesday, July 7, 2026
4-5:30 pm
3rd Floor Hillman Library

No library, type setting, or printing experience required!

Registration is required: https://calendar.pitt.edu/event/freedom-on-the-press-build-a-broadside

06/12/2026

🌈Happy LGBTQIA+ Pride Month!🌈 As celebrations continue throughout Pittsburgh this year, we are looking back at Gay Pride Week in 1974.

Before digital platforms, the Pittsburgh Gay News (published by Gay Alternatives Pittsburgh or GAP) kept the community informed and engaged. This issue from March 1947 shares the planning process for possible pride events that year, including a march, picnic, trolley party, a "gay-in" at Point Park, and more!

Want to learn more about q***r publications in our holdings? Visit our guide: https://pitt.libguides.com/undergroundpress/gaypress

All are welcome to make an appointment to see any issues in person at one of our reading rooms! 📚

🌈

06/01/2026

Joe Negri, who passed away this past weekend, was so much more than Mr. Roger’s “Handy Man” Negri. He was also a talented jazz musician, an award-winning music teacher, and a prolific composer who wrote, among other things, the original Pittsburgh Pirates song, “Beat ‘em Bucs.” The University of Pittsburgh Library System is honored to be the home of the Joe Negri Collection, which documents his career from his beginnings as a child star in vaudeville to the present.

Learn more about Joe Negri and the Joe Negri Collection in the collection guide: https://bit.ly/3RYwUol

05/13/2026

🎉Congratulations to horror writer Dan Kraus, winner of the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for his novel Angel Down!🎉You can check out the Daniel Kraus Papers at the University of Pittsburgh Library System to learn more about Kraus’ career as a novelist as well as his early childhood fiction, with manuscripts of published novels and notebooks of unpublished juvenilia. View the collection guide: https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt%3AUS-PPiU-SC202001/viewer

This image features short stories and school work created by Dan Kraus in high school- all part of the Daniel Kraus Papers.

05/01/2026

Taking pictures in front of the Cathedral of Learning's fountain is a graduation week tradition! Enjoy these pre-smartphone era "selfies" of University of Pittsburgh students posed there (from the 1979 The Owl Yearbook) and congratulations to the class of 2026!! 📸🎓

04/27/2026

🎉Happy Birthday, August Wilson! The legendary Pittsburgh-born playwright and poet would have been 81 today.🎉

This portrait photograph and birthday card are part of the August Wilson Archive at the University of Pittsburgh Library System. The birthday card was given to Wilson by the Broadway cast of Fences in 1987! If you look closely, you can see well-wishes from actors like James Earl Jones (who played Troy), Courtney B. Vance (who played Corey), and Charles Brown (who played Lyons).

You can learn more about Wilson's Archive by visiting https://augustwilson.library.pitt.edu/.