Guide to the Pittsburgh Club Records, 1880-1995 AIS.1971.09
Arrangement
Repository
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Title
Pittsburgh Club Records
Creator
Pittsburgh Club
Collection Number
AIS.1971.09
Extent
3.75 Linear Feet(4 boxes)
Date
1880-1995
Abstract
The Pittsburgh Club began in 1879 as a social club for businessmen in downtown Pittsburgh. This collection consists of several volumes meeting minutes, scrapbooks, club artifacts, and photographs. Digital reproductions of selected material is available online.
Language
English
.
Author
David R. Grinnell
Publisher
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Address
University of Pittsburgh Library System Archives & Special Collections Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections Business Number: 412-648-3232 (Thomas) | 412-648-8190 (Hillman) Contact Us: www.library.pitt.edu/ask-archivist URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
History
The Pittsburgh Club was founded on April 5, 1879 by a group of men who were dissatisfied with their treatment at Pittsburgh's Duquesne Club. They met at the law office of George W. Guthrie, later Mayor of Pittsburgh and United States Ambassador to Japan, to create a constitution, formulate rules of their club house, and build a committee structure. The membership throughout the Club's history included: industrialist, bankers, attorneys, merchants, and a variety of other professionals that dominated the business and professional classes of Pittsburgh.
The first Club house was located at 259 Penn Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh. The Club remained in that location for about a decade when they relocated to 425 Penn Avenue, to a mansion that was formerly the home of the John Schoenberger family. In the pre-Civil War years, Penn Avenue was the residential neighborhood where many of Pittsburgh's affluent citizens lived. Following the end of the war, many of these affluent residents began moving across the Allegheny River to Allegheny City and to Pittsburgh's East End neighborhoods (such as East Liberty, Shadyside and Squirrel Hill) as the downtown district was becoming the center of business and commerce. The Schoenberger house remained the headquarters for the club until 1942, when they relocated to rented space at the William Penn Hotel.
Membership rolls include the names of many well-known individuals, such as: Richard King Mellon, Andrew W. Mellon, William L. Mellon, Arthur Vining Davis, Joseph Horne, George Westinghouse, Charles L. McCune, Benjamin F. Jones, George Laughlin, James Verner Scaife, William B. Scaife, Alan M. Scaife, Roy A. Hunt, Thomas J. Hilliard, James F. Hillman, Howard Heinz, C. B. Shea, Henry O. Rea, and Dr. Stanley Rinehardt.
In 1937, a Women's Committee was formed, marking for the first time the eligibility of women to join the club. In later years as women who held professional positions as attorneys, accountants and corporate officers would be listed as full members of the club.
The Club celebrated it centennial in 1979. A history of the organization was written by members Charles Lockhart and John Creighton and the celebration received lengthy coverage in the newspapers. However, the membership of the organization slowly declined. In 1997, the Pittsburgh Club merged with the Harvard-Yale-Princeton (HYP) Club and moved out of the William Penn Hotel and into the HYP quarters at 619 William Penn Place. The merged organization became known as the HYP-Pittsburgh Club. An additional merger took place in 2004 between the Allegheny Club (formerly located at Three Rivers Stadium) and the HYP-Pittsburgh Club. The organization dropped "Pittsburgh" from its name at that time and is known as the Allegheny-HYP Club.
Scope and Content Notes
The collection includes volumes of meeting minutes from from 1891 to 1936, membership directories, club correspondence, newspaper clippings, annual financial statements, artifacts, and photographs.
Access Restrictions
Membership Applications that dated from the late 20th century often include social security numbers. Researchers accessing these files must complete a CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT form at the Reference Desk.
Acquisition Information
Gift of the Pittsburgh Club in 1971. Additions were made by Mr. Robert Gates (last president of the Pittsburgh Club) in 2002.
Previous Citation
Pittsburgh Club Records, 1880-1995, AIS.1971.09, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
Preferred Citation
Pittsburgh Club Records, 1880-1995, AIS.1971.09, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Processing Information
Preliminary processing was completed by the Archives Service Center staff in 1971. In 2003 Tami Jacques and Kate Colligan made updates.The collection was reprocessed by David R. Grinnell in 2016.
Existence and Location of Copies
Digital reproductions of the membership directories are scanned and available online.
Arrangement
The records are arranged with the following series designations:
Series I: Assorted Records
Series II: Oversized Materials
Series III: Realia [Artifacts]
Copyright
The University of Pittsburgh holds the property rights to the material in this collection, but the copyright may still be held by the original creator/author. Researchers are therefore advised to follow the regulations set forth in the U.S. Copyright Code when publishing, quoting, or reproducing material from this collection without the consent of the creator/author or that go beyond what is allowed by fair use.
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