Background:
Politics
Pittsburgh politics during the time period were dominated by David Lawrence, who served four terms as the city's mayor and was eventually elected governor of the state of Pennsylvania in November of 1958. It was Lawrence who proposed the ban on racial discrimination in the lease and sale of housing. As of 1959, Pittsburgh was just the second city in the nation to adopt the, "Fair Housing Practices Ordinance."
Nationally, President Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected to his second term in office. He was the winner in Allegheny County, but Democrat Adlai Stevenson received more votes in the city of Pittsburgh. The county's endorsement of Eisenhower was the first for a Republican since 1928.
Development
This was a fairly active period in the city's development. A new housing code was instituted in an attempt to improve the city's residential property. It was soon discovered that 90% of the houses on the North Side were in violation of this code. The Bell Telephone Company began construction of its new headquarters in Gateway Center. The city built its first heliport for such traffic from Downtown to the airports. There were plans to commit money to the development of the Lower Hill District, but these plans didn't materialize. The Pittsburgh Coke and Chemical Company announced plans for a chemical plant on Neville Island.
In April of 1957, ground was broken for construction of the Fort Pitt Tunnels. The Fort Pitt Bridge was opened in June of 1959. In 1958, University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Edward Litchfield announced plans for the development of Pitt that would include the eviction of the Pittsburgh Pirates from Forbes Field. Although they were supposed to leave in five years, the team stayed for another twelve before their new stadium was finished in 1970 on the North Side.
Labor
The period witnessed a relatively great deal of labor unrest. In July of 1956 there was a 27-day nationwide steel strike. During these years there were multiple steel strikes, strikes at Westinghouse, in construction, and at the Pittsburgh Railways Company.
Another major steel strike began in July of 1959. It lasted 116 days, before President Eisenhower was forced to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act to bring an end to the standoff between the steelworkers and management. The steelworkers returned to work a month later.
Entertainment
In July of 1956 Pittsburgh was host to the last canvas tent performance of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows. In September of the following year, WIIC, Pittsburgh's Channel 4, began to broadcast and was the country's most modern and powerful VHF television station. On July 7, 1959, Pittsburgh hosted Major League Baseball's All-Star Game at Forbes Field. President Richard Nixon threw out the first pitch and the National League defeated the American League by a score of 5 to 4.
Miscellaneous
Two of Pittsburgh's most notable citizens, department store founder Henry Kaufmann and his son Edgar, died within little more than a month of each other between March and April of 1955. Henry was 94 years old. Edgar, for whom world-renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright had built the famous house Falling Water, was 69. In 1956, twenty-two people were killed when a TWA plane crashed shortly after take off at Greater Pittsburgh Airport. This was the airport's first crash and the worst in local history at that time.
On November 27, 1958, thousands of spectators gathered in Point State Park on the former site of Fort Duquesne to witness the celebration of Pittsburgh's bicentennial. Mayor David Lawrence and General Matthew B. Ridgway were on hand to commence the celebration. This was in honor of the victory of General Forbes on November 24, 1758, which forced the French to abandon Fort Duquesne.
All of the above information can be found in Historic Pittsburgh's Chronology section at: http://digital.library.pitt.edu/chronology/
TG 26 Mar 2008
Notes from 1955-1960
Observations:
In the beginning of 1956, I noticed that there were a lot of murders of blacks that are supposedly commited by "persons unknown". These files don't have anything in them to show that there was any type of investigation into the murders. Two black women were stabbed in their homes on the same night, 195601_199 and 195601_200, both were stabbed in the neck, chest and arms. Then a few weeks later a man was shot, 195602_66 and another man was stabbed repeatedly in the chest, 195602_25. I think this may show the beginning of hate crimes and racism in Pittsburgh because before this I hadn't noticed any of these 'suspicious' murders.
NM 19 Jan 2008
In late December 1955 and early January 1956, I noticed for the first time men dying from Prostate Cancer. This is the first time I have seen this cause of death. It makes sense that this would begin to emerge as a cause of death now that life expectancy is going up. Prostate cancer was only identified for the first time about 100 years ago and identification techniques still were not great up until the 1960s, so I expect to see more Prostate Cancer deaths as we get into the late 1950s and early 1960s.
AP 21 Jan 2008
In the files I've read from 1955 to 1958 occupational deaths are a regular occurrence. Most frequently occurring are accidents in coal mines, steel mills, and construction work. I regularly consider how easily these deaths could've been avoided by heightened safety measures. Many deaths related to construction work are simply falls from roofs. Coal mining is naturally dangerous because of the risk of falling slate, but there are also deaths related to the trains running through the mines. Steel mill accidents are usually the result of human error or equipment failure.
TG 29 Jan 2008
Beginning in late 1957, early 1958 coroners begin using the U.S.B.M. (blood) test to confirm Carbon Monoxide Poisoning via automobile exhaust. A percentage is used to determine the amount of carbon monoxide in the person's blood; it is usually between 85%-95%.
AP 29 Jan 2008
Noticed the test changed in June of 1959 to the P.M.A. Test that seems to serve the same function the U.S.B.M. Test served.
AP 05 Feb 2008
Starting in mid-1958, the coroner begins including the coroner's bail bond for the accused in Manslaughter cases in the deceased's case file. The accused was typically held for either $1,000 or $5,000 depending on the severity of the accident, number of people hurt or killed, and how at fault the accused was. (Drunk or reckless driving)
AP 05 Jan 2008
It seems to me that during both the early and late 1950's, a lot of teenage boys drown in the rivers while swimming. One example happened when a boy was swimming in the Monongahela River and drowned because he was swept away by a sewage that was pumped into the river nearby. (195505_150) Two boys drowned in the Monongahela when the log they were floating on tipped over. They would have been fine, except they couldn't swim. Luckily, a friend saved one of the boys in the group, or else three would have died. (195507_120 & 121) It seems as if the boys who drown always drown near their house, and they are always with friends, but the friends rarely are able to save them. (195808_129 & 195808_142) I don't really hear about that many kids drowining in the rivers today. Maybe swimming in the rivers was a 1950's thing, before they knew how polluted they are.
BF 30 Jan 2008
I have come across deaths to due to cancer and alcoholism for the first time in the period of 1958 to 1960. The alcoholism death was actually referred to as a case of "wet brain." So far, I've only encountered three deaths due to cancer, two being stomach cancer and the third being liver cancer. I expect to see cancer become a more and more prominent cause of death as doctors become more familiar with diagnosing it. Coronary Occlusion is still responsible for a large proportion of the deaths during the time period. This seems to be the cause of death for around a quarter of the files I process on any given day.
TG 11 Feb 2008
In the late 1950s and into the 60s, the coroner was putting a copy of the death certificate in with most of the files (on yellow paper.) I think this gives more insight into the life of the deceased. For example, many middle aged or elderly African-Americans were born in the deep south. Apparently there was a large migration of blacks to the north in the 1930s to look for jobs in manufacturing. Aside from the death certificates, I see a lot more black babies die than white babies. Most are listed as "natural causes" but there are some that are due to either neglect or just bad luck, such as strangulation from bed clothing. This doesn't only happen to black babies, but it seems as if they have a higher mortality rate than whites.
BF 12 Feb 2008
I find the number of occupational deaths to be noteworthy, as well as how they are regarded. Deaths in construction from broken scaffolding or carbon monoxide poisoning in coal plants as a result of poor circulation and faulty valves seem to be rarely if ever attributed to negligence. Considering how easily these types of deaths could've been avoided, I find it somewhat shocking that they could be regarded as simply accidental. It appears that there were lower standards of accountability during this time period.
TG 15 Feb 2008
First time I noticed this, but if anyone else has seen it earlier, please let me know, on the press report where it asks for color (Color..........) all that is filled in is "ed." In other words instead of writing out the word "Colored," this coroner's assisted simply wrote "ed" to indicate this person was colored. Somewhat clever in a very racist way.
AP 15 Feb 2008
Of all the automobile deaths from the 1950s, it seems as if most of the young people in car accidents who die are normally between 20 and 25. I am kind of surprised that there are not more teenage drivers dying than the low 20s crowd. Maybe people back in the 50s weren't as obsessed with getting their driver's licenses right away like so many teenagers are now. Maybe they waited five years. But what do I know... There was one very young driver who died, a girl who had just turned 16 and got her driver's license the very same day. She was so excited to get it, she wanted to cruise around with friends. On one street, she got stuck on the streetcar tracks and somehow went out of control, and a collision with a pole killed her. None of her friends were very badly hurt though. 196012_61
BF 18 Feb 2008
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