East Liberty Valley Historical Society

10/13/2026

Wednesday, Nov. 11, 7 p.m.
“The Mellons and Their Mansions"
For a century and a half, the Mellons were the most influential family in the Pittsburgh area; the Mellon name adorns landmarks across the region, and their wealth has funded countless public and private initiatives. But on a personal level, the family often has shunned the limelight. Nolan Grimes' illustrated talk will explore the Mellons' extensive family tree and the numerous mansions they once owned across Pittsburgh's East End, from Highland Park to Shadyside to Squirrel Hill, as well as the grand estates they still occupy in the Ligonier Valley. Mr. Grimes is Carnegie Mellon University's Facilities Archives and GIS Manager.

All talks are free to the public and held in the Parish Hall of Calvary Episcopal Church, 315 Shady Ave., 15206. (Use Marchand Street entrance.) Free parking in church lot.

10/10/2026

Big thanks to Sherrie Flick for reading from and interpreting a few of her essays and short stories on Wednesday. Her place-based writing is inspired by the neighborhoods she has passed through and settled in, the latter currently on the South Side Slopes, where the city steps “are an escape hatch. I step up and up and I’m out of the city fray. It feels like the country in the city up here, and the country is where my people come from,” she writes in “Homing: Instincts of a Rustbelt Feminist.”

This year, through East Liberty's Shiftworks, the non-profit public art facilitator, she has collaborated with six artists to develop neighborhood tours inspired by psychogeography, which studies how urban spaces and their many layers of history affect human behavior and emotions. It also celebrates walking as a creative, observational practice, often in marginalized, hidden or forgotten places. Tours are held on Saturday mornings through Oct. 24, advance registration required.

Thanks for all your good work, Sherrie, and to all who came.

10/07/2026

TONIGHT at 7...

Wednesday, Oct. 7, 7 p.m.
“Homing: Instincts of a Rustbelt Feminist"
Pittsburgh author Sherrie Flick will read from and discuss her recent memoir, which explores her Beaver Falls childhood, her coming of age as a writer in the 1990s, and how place and geography shaped her experience of sexism and formed her feminism. Flick lived on the East Coast, West Coast and Great Plains before circling back to Pittsburgh. Road trips, eight-ball pool, Andy Warhol, Gen-X, food, faith, longing and loss are strung together across the 13 essays in “Homing,” published in 2024 by the University of Nebraska Press.

All talks are free to the public and held in the Parish Hall of Calvary Episcopal Church, 315 Shady Ave., 15206. (Use Marchand Street entrance.) Free parking in church lot.

10/07/2026

TONIGHT at 7.....

ELVHS@Calvary
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 7 p.m.
“Homing: Instincts of a Rustbelt Feminist"
The East Liberty Valley Historical Society presents Pittsburgh author Sherrie Flick, who will read from and discuss her recent memoir exploring her Beaver Falls childhood, her coming of age as a writer in the 1990s, and how place and geography shaped her experience of sexism and formed her feminism. Flick lived on the East Coast, West Coast and Great Plains before circling back to Pittsburgh. Road trips, eight-ball pool, Andy Warhol, Gen-X, food, faith, longing and loss are strung together across the 13 essays in “Homing,” published in 2024 by the University of Nebraska Press.
All talks are free to the public and held in the Parish Hall of Calvary Episcopal Church, 315 Shady Ave., 15206. (Use Marchand Street entrance.) Free parking in church lot.

09/24/2026

ELVHS@Calvary
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 7 p.m.
“Homing: Instincts of a Rustbelt Feminist"
The East Liberty Valley Historical Society presents Pittsburgh author Sherrie Flick, who will read from and discuss her recent memoir exploring her Beaver Falls childhood, her coming of age as a writer in the 1990s, and how place and geography shaped her experience of sexism and formed her feminism. Flick lived on the East Coast, West Coast and Great Plains before circling back to Pittsburgh. Road trips, eight-ball pool, Andy Warhol, Gen-X, food, faith, longing and loss are strung together across the 13 essays in “Homing,” published in 2024 by the University of Nebraska Press.
All talks are free to the public and held in the Parish Hall of Calvary Episcopal Church, 315 Shady Ave., 15206. (Use Marchand Street entrance.) Free parking in church lot.

09/08/2026

Wednesday, Oct. 7, 7 p.m.
“Homing: Instincts of a Rustbelt Feminist"
Pittsburgh author Sherrie Flick will read from and discuss her recent memoir, which explores her Beaver Falls childhood, her coming of age as a writer in the 1990s, and how place and geography shaped her experience of sexism and formed her feminism. Flick lived on the East Coast, West Coast and Great Plains before circling back to Pittsburgh. Road trips, eight-ball pool, Andy Warhol, Gen-X, food, faith, longing and loss are strung together across the 13 essays in “Homing,” published in 2024 by the University of Nebraska Press.

All talks are free to the public and held in the Parish Hall of Calvary Episcopal Church, 315 Shady Ave., 15206. (Use Marchand Street entrance.) Free parking in church lot.

09/07/2026

If you missed ELVHS board member Frank Kurtik's talk on Greenlawn last fall, here is another chance to catch it, Tuesday morning in Fox Chapel....10 a.m. Sept. 8. It's free.

Sharpsburg’s most famous son, H.J. Heinz, and his historic Point Breeze mansion, Greenlawn, will be highlighted during a free presentation by a former Heinz family staffer. Historian Frank Kurtik will take audience members on a nostalgic journey that depicts the Heinz family’s time at th...

09/04/2026

In front of a rapt audience Wednesday night, architectural historian and Pitt professor Christopher Drew Armstrong showed how the design of the Cathedral of Learning evolved in the context of other 1920s skyscrapers and the landmark 1916 New York City zoning law that required tapering setbacks for tall buildings, allowing more light to reach the streets below.
In a masterful talk showcasing his new research, Dr. Armstrong explored the complementary and sometimes conflicting roles of Pitt chancellor John Bowman, Philadelphia architect Charles Klauder and financiers Andrew and R.B. Mellon, who preferred the commission go to their architect nephew, Edward Purcell Mellon.
Drew also discussed how the decision to call the tower a cathedral reflects that building type's unique role as the focal point and spiritual heart of a community, symbolized here by the academic building's prominence on the landscape today. While many 1920s and 1930s skyscrapers have been obscured and overshadowed by other tall buildings, Pitt's Cathedral stands as a beacon and as the soaring terminus of Forbes Avenue for those traveling east.
“The Cathedral of Learning: Building in a Transformative Age” continues with a second lecture at 3 p.m. on Sept. 25, third floor of Hillman Library. (Photos by E.J. Donnelly, Sue Morris and Mike Staresinic.)

09/02/2026

BE COOL...join us tonight. Calvary's Parish Hall is air-conditioned.

Wednesday, Sept. 2, 7 p.m.
“The Cathedral of Learning at 100”
Drew Armstrong has some thoughts about Charles Klauder's iconic 1926 Neo-Gothic design for what is still the tallest educational building in the Western Hemisphere. Dr. Armstrong is Director of Architectural Studies in the University of Pittsburgh’s history of art and architecture department, where he has taught for more than 20 years.

Wednesday, Sept. 2, 7 p.m.
“The Cathedral of Learning at 100”
Drew Armstrong has some thoughts about Charles Klauder's iconic 1926 Neo-Gothic design for what is still the tallest educational building in the Western Hemisphere. Dr. Armstrong is Director of Architectural Studies in the University of Pittsburgh’s history of art and architecture department, where he has taught for more than 20 years.
Parish Hall, Calvary Episcopal Church, 315 Shady Ave., 15206. (Use Marchand Street entrance.) Free admission and free parking in church lot.

08/19/2026

Wednesday, Sept. 2, 7 p.m.
“The Cathedral of Learning at 100”
Drew Armstrong has some thoughts about Charles Klauder's iconic 1926 Neo-Gothic design for what is still the tallest educational building in the Western Hemisphere. Dr. Armstrong is Director of Architectural Studies in the University of Pittsburgh’s history of art and architecture department, where he has taught for more than 20 years.
Parish Hall, Calvary Episcopal Church, 315 Shady Ave., 15206. (Use Marchand Street entrance.) Free admission and free parking in church lot.