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The History of Urban America: Historical Research

A course guide for History 470W/570, taught by Dr. Drew Simpson.

The Pittsburgh Survey

The Pittsburgh Survey was a sociological study undertaken by the Russell Sage Foundation in 1907-1908. It describes urban conditions in Pittsburgh during the heavy industrial period of the early 1900s. The findings were published progressively in magazines such as Colliers, but were ultimately combined into six volumes between 1909 and 1914. These volumes have been made freely available online by the Russell Sage Foundation:

Butler, Elizabeth Beardsley. (1911). The Pittsburgh Survey: Vol. 1. Women and the Trades. New York, NY: Charities Publication Committee.

Eastman, Crystal. (1910). The Pittsburgh Survey: Vol. 2. Work-Accidents and the Law. New York, NY: Charities Publication Committee.

Fitch, John A. (1910). The Pittsburgh Survey: Vol. 3. The Steel Workers. New York, NY: Charities Publication Committee.

Byington, Margaret F. (1910). The Pittsburgh Survey: Vol. 4. Homestead: The Households of a Mill Town. New York, NY: Charities Publication Committee.

Kellogg, Paul Underwood (Ed.). (1914). The Pittsburgh Survey: Vol. 5. The Pittsburgh District: Civic Frontage. New York, NY: Survey Associates, Inc.

Kellogg, Paul Underwood (Ed.). (1914). The Pittsburgh Survey: Vol. 6. Wage-Earning Pittsburgh. New York, NY: Survey Associates, Inc.

Local Resources

Working in Pittsburgh

Historical Maps

The downtown section of a 1937 Pittsburgh Homeowners' Loan Corporation map, showing the Bluff and facing Hill area colored in red

1937 HOLC Map, Pittsburgh, Downtown detail (LaDale Winling, www.urbanoasis.org)