E D I TOR’S
NOTE
Collective Memories
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
SUMMER 2018
T
his issue, the Pitt Magazine editorial team dove into campus history for “Beyond Books,” a celebration of Hillman Library’s 50th anniversary through the words of alumni (p. 12). To create the piece, we sifted through dozens of testimonials. As Pitt alumni ourselves, reading them often reignited our own fond memories of the library. So, in honor of Hillman’s big 5-0, I asked my fellow editors to share their favorite memories of the campus staple. Ervin Dyer, Senior Editor: “In 2012, I began researching the extraordinary Thelma Nelson and the aspirations that propelled her to Pitt in 1926. I turned to Hillman to investigate her campus life. The 1930 yearbook and other records revealed a tenacious, achieving sorority sister anxious to participate in a changing world. After years of rejection, she became a Pitt Player, the first Black woman to join an allWhite Pitt student organization. When she graduated in 1930, Nelson became the first of more than 28 family members to earn a Pitt degree. Thanks to the University Archives and Hillman’s staff, I found the history and detail to humanize the pioneering eldest sister who opened the doors for them all.” Susan Wiedel, Assistant Editor: “As an incoming Pitt student, I thought libraries were simply holding places of books. But through events I attended at Hillman Library, I encountered people whose stories I would have never heard had the library not brought us together. People like Julieta Paredes, an Aymara Bolivian women’s and indigenous rights activist who participated in a symposium, and George Reid Andrews, a Pitt history professor whose presentation on Afro-Latin America encouraged me to delve into questions of personal experience and identity. Thanks to events hosted at Hillman, I learned that libraries could be incubators of people and ideas—on and off the page.” As for me, my favorite Hillman memories consist of those quiet moments when, reading away in the library, I noticed that others similarly immersed in their work surrounded me. While I studied nonfiction writing, they explored biology, or engineering, or a foreign language. There was something electrifying about being part of a space where active learning and discovery takes place. These days, working on Pitt Magazine gives me that same feeling of electricity. Like Hillman, the University as a whole is a place that gives rise, over and over again, to vital knowledge and extraordinary outcomes. This issue is filled with stories that exemplify just that.
University of Pittsburgh
Recent Awards 2018
Patrick Gallagher (A&S ’87G, ’91G)
Hermes Creative Awards Publications/Magazine Writing/Publication Article Writing/Publication Overall
Chancellor
Ellen Moran
Vice Chancellor for Strategic Communications and Marketing
Cindy Gill (A&S ’74)
Executive Director Marketing and Magazines (Interim)
Pitt Magazine Laura Clark Rohrer (A&S ’14G) Editor in Chief (Interim) Gary Kohr-Cravener Creative Director
Ervin Dyer (A&S ’11G, ’16G) Senior Editor
Susan Wiedel (A&S ’15) Assistant Editor
Sherry Shrum
Editorial Assistant
Chuck Dinsmore
Production Manager
Platinum Platinum Platinum
Robert L. Vann Media Awards Pittsburgh Black Media Federation Feature Photography
First Place
Press Club of Western Pennsylvania Feature Illustration Education/Magazines Arts and Entertainment/Magazines
First Place Finalist Finalist
Contact Us Send all correspondence to: Pitt Magazine University of Pittsburgh 200 S. Craig St., 400 Craig Hall Pittsburgh, PA 15260 E-mail: pittmag@pitt.edu Visit us on the web: www.pittmag.pitt.edu Telephone: 412-624-4147 Fax: 412-624-1021
Emma Creighton
Student Intern, Fall ’17
Caroline Eddy Thanks for reading,
Student Intern, Spring ’18
Laura Clark Rohrer Editor in Chief (Interim)
Pitt Magazine is published by the University of Pittsburgh, Office of University Communications, 400 Craig Hall, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, pittmag@pitt.edu, 412-624-4147. © 2018 by the University of Pittsburgh. Please send change-of-address correspondence to the above address. Pitt Magazine accepts no responsibility for unsolicited contributions of artwork, photography, or articles. The University is an affirmative action, equal opportunity institution.
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