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The independent student newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh | PIttnews.com | October 10, 2016 | Volume 107 | Issue 53
TWO HOMES ROBBED IN OAKLAND Lauren Rosenblatt
THE MEN BEHIND THE STREETS From smallpox to slavery to duels, some campus streets and buildings are named after Pittsburghers who shaped the city’s history through their influence — for better or worse. by David Robinson | Staff Writer
News Editor
Pitt and city police responded to calls within one hour of each other Sunday morning that two South Oakland homes –– one on Semple Street and one on Meyran Avenue –– had been robbed. No one was injured in either incident, which occurred about a block away from one another, but residents of each home told police that some of their valuables had been stolen. Pitt and city police officers responded to a report of a burglary on the 300 block of Semple Street at 3:57 a.m. on Oct. 9. The residents who were home at the time told police they heard noise and saw an unknown man fleeing the house. They said the man ran in the direction of Meyran Avenue. Both police departments responded to a second report of a burglary on the 300 block of Meyran less than an hour later, at about 4:37 a.m. Those residents told police that an unknown person entered the residence sometime between 11 p.m. on Oct. 8, and 2 a.m. It was not immediately clear from the reports if the same person committed both burglaries. Police do not have any description of the suspect for the burglary on Meyran. For the incident on Semple, police only describe the suspect as male. A spokesperson for the city police did not return a request for more information about the two incidents. The police departments are asking that anyone with information regarding the incident call the Pittsburgh Police Department at 412422-6520 or Pitt police at 412-624-2121.
Maj. Isaac Craig, the man who the street is named for, was one of the largest slave owners in western Pennsylvania. Courtesy of Univeristy Library System
T
he historical reporting in this story is from information found in the University’s Special Collections at Hillman Library, unless otherwise noted. Every day, Pitt students wake up in bedrooms on Neville Street or dine at restaurants on Craig Street or head to class by way of Bates or Bouquet streets. Those roadways — which city planners named about 150 years ago — are as integral a part of Pitt’s extended campus as the Cathedral of Learning. And they’re named after men with varied histories. Some of those histories are darker than others. Bouquet Street, for example, is named for Col. Henry Bouquet, who was connected with the distribution of blankets infected with smallpox to Native Americans in the 1760s. Just outside of campus, Neville and Craig streets were
named in honor of the largest slave owners in western Pennsylvania at the turn of the 1800s. The University buildings which share names with these streets — including the Bouquet Gardens apartments and Craig Hall — were named for their location on the street rather than the men in question, according to University spokesperson John Fedele. Fedele did not answer questions via email or by phone about whether the history of the street names affected Pitt’s decision to name the buildings or if administrators would consider that history now. The Neville and Craig families owned numerous properties and a large amount of wealth, which allowed Pittsburgh to grow and establish itself prior to and throughout its founding as a city in 1816. Bouquet defended the land that eventually became Pittsburgh for the British dur-
ing the French and Indian War, which ran from 1754 to 1763. In January 1806, Tarleton Bates was the last man in Pennsylvania to be killed in a duel when Thomas Stewart shot him at the far end of what is now Bates Street. Georgetown University came under fire earlier this year for benefiting financially from the sale of nearly 300 slaves in the 1800s, raising a debate about whether or not public institutions should make reparations for the history of their namesakes. Aminata Kamara, president of Pitt’s Black Action Society, said she understands that Pittsburgh is trying to stay connected with its history by naming streets after influential characters. “This is their history,” Kamara said. “It’s messed up, and I don’t agree with it, but it’s their history. And if Pittsburgh wants to continue See Street Names on page 3