Voices of History: Pittsburgh communities share untold stories of resilience and family

story circle participants sit around tables while one gentleman is standing and speakin

PA Humanities’ statewide Voices of History story gathering project, created to help celebrate the organization’s 50th anniversary, is underway. In partnership with the August Wilson House, PA Humanities invited people from three Pittsburgh neighborhoods to participate in traditional story circles this summer and share a story of family that centered around a particular object or memory.

Haikus to hit the street in Johnstown with Rain Poetry

Children and teens participated in Rain Poetry workshops at the Children’s Book Festival, the Cambria County Library and the Bottle Works’ summer cryptid camp. Their poems will be revealed in a public celebration on Sept. 14.

Pittsburgh teens infuse neighborhood sidewalks with cryptid-inspired haiku

A collage that includes teens during a Rain Poetry writing workshop, at the special reveal celebration, a photo of a haiku poem installed on the ground in paint that only appears when wet, and a cryptid designed by one of the students

Cryptids exist in folklore and legends across cultures worldwide, and this spring the teenagers at Pittsburgh’s YMCA Lighthouse program created their own cryptids – creatures such as Bigfoot or the Jersey Devil, that are rumored but never proven to exist – to “roam” the streets of their Homewood neighborhood. They furthered their exploration and creation of the creatures and their role in the community by writing haiku poetry about them in partnership with PA Humanities and the Rain Poetry project. 

Invisible ink, visible impact: Celebrating Rain Poetry in Philadelphia

The public library is a place where imaginative minds can explore new worlds and find opportunities to learn and grow. That’s why the Free Library of Philadelphia was the perfect site to host the launch of PA Humanities’ new book of poems collected from Philadelphia school children as part of 2023’s Rain Poetry pilot project.

Stay Up To Date

Sign up for the PA Humanities newsletter now.