Going to the Archives: The Heinz History Center

By Al Preston

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            The Heinz isn’t even open yet and I’m waiting outside as the odd man out. Between families waiting to go in, there’s me with my notebook and pockets full of pencils. A husband and wife are trying to convince their young kiddo that the big rotating door will be more fun than the normal doors. A bigger family of mostly adults are talking about the sports history section that they’re excited to see.

            The moment the doors open, I hold the door for the dad wheeling in their empty stroller while mom leads the kiddo through the rotating doors. I follow him in and shuffle into line. I catch the eye of one of the front desk workers not yet behind the desk and let her know I’m there for the archive. She gives me a sticker, and I hurry over to the elevators.

            It’s probably the quietest part of the museum. The heavy wooden tables and chairs, the desk to request material, even the way the place smells brings me back to the public library of my childhood. As I approach the desk, ready to look through a bunch of meeting notes and other assorted organizational documents, I can’t help but be excited.

            To completely confirm a belief, historians do spend a lot of time in archives. I have spent many years in them becoming a historian, and I will spend many years more in them.

            Times have changed, I will admit. Some archives are now housed digitally, especially if physical preservation may not be viable. Much of our initial research can be done on computers from home. However, digitizing old documents is a long and tedious process. Some archives just don’t have the manpower to do it all. Occasionally, even if something is digital, it’s only accessible on the archives’ computers, which means we still spend time in those archives, just on their computers instead of my own.

            Because not everything is digital, sometimes a historian has to go to the source. Here in Pittsburgh, there’s a few archives; The University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie-Mellon University, UPMC Mercy, and a few other ones. I have only been to the Detre library and archive at the Heinz History Center at the time of writing.

            For those who’ve never been, the Heinz History Center is named after the late Senator John Heinz not so much of ketchup fame, although they do lean into the association. They’re also much more than that. They hold the history of Allegheny County, but more specifically of Pittsburgh.

            The museum has seven floors, although only six are publicly available. The Detre library and archive is on the sixth floor. Well, that’s where the library and the archivist’s desk is. The archive is spread across the sixth and fifth floors. It’s partially part of one of my favorite exhibits at the Heinz. They have such a large inventory of items that aren’t being presented in any active exhibit. So, they show off their inventory and show the public how they maintain and store their 3D objects like cars, motors, paintings, and furniture.

            When you go to the archives and request items to look at, that’s usually 2D storage. Paper, images that are not paintings, booklets, and…mostly paper. These are the things that are less interesting to look at it. Cars, clothes, and large items are fun to look at, paper items are much more boring. Notably, books are a separate section entirely.

            I went to see what records they had for Pittsburgh’s queer history. I was pleasantly surprised by everything that they did have. They even had some that they’re still processing. At the time of writing, they have papers and records from Thursday Night Live, GLENDA, Lambda, Bet Tikvah (a Jewish congregation for LGBT+ folks), the AIDS task force, and some oral histories. They also have the sign from The Holiday bar and other bits and pieces from other bars.

            The archivists were all amazing to work with. They were helpful and willing to go above what I was expecting to help me get the items I wanted to look at. They even suggested more items than I was aware of. I’ve worked in a few archives before and while it was clear that they were still processing the items they have, everything was well cared for and properly preserved. They had a few items that weren’t fully preserved yet, but they were clearly close to being fully transitioned.

            There are some archival processes that someone out of the field wouldn’t think about. First of all, pencils over pens. It seems kind of obvious once someone says it. Pencil marks can be easily removed if they were to accidentally get on something. The less well known stuff is not using sticky notes or sticky labels.

            To properly preserve paper and photos, their environment has to be dry and have a moderate temperature. Sticky stuff like glue or adhesive that would be on labels will dry out and stop being sticky in those conditions. Labels fall off, sticky notes get lost or lose context. It’s better not to have them. You can also run the risk of the adhesive ruining a document or photo as well.

            Metal is also a big no. Metal paper clips and staples eventually erode or rust. Acid free folders and plastic paper clips are usually used instead. When metal rusts it doesn’t just ruin the document, it’s attached to. It can also stain or erode the other documents around it.

            Now, about this acid free folder thing. Paper and folders made from paper are often made with acids. Nothing dangerous to humans, but these acids are the reason paper yellows and eventually disintegrates over time. Putting the papers in acid free folders can elongate their life. Acid free folders also don’t have fancy colors because the dye can bleed into papers ruining them as well.

            Some archives will also have you wear gloves when handling certain items. That is because of the oils on our fingers and skin. Like how you’re not supposed to touch certain natural habitats because of the oils on our skin, the same is applied to some papers and photos. Older paper materials are a bit more sturdy than newer ones so, unless the material is really damaged, gloves are more often used for pictures.

            The documents I was working with weren’t in dire condition, thankfully. That didn’t make them any less exciting to see and go through! I am surely in the minority with that, but I didn’t become a historian because I hated looking at old documents.

            The Heinz doesn’t only have 2D and 3D items. They also have digital items as well, like news broadcasts and oral histories.

            One of the best parts of most archives is that visiting them and looking at their items is usually free. Use of their items for a project may not be, but just learning from them can be. Reproductions can come with a price tag because of the equipment needed to create them. Plus, depending on the project, an archive may have the copyright to an item and sometimes they do not which means they have a responsibility to abide by the copyright of certain items.

            It’s all part of how it works. I loved going to the archive. It was quiet and very helpful to see what queer history and organizations were in Pittsburgh. Their board meeting minutes, and their advertisements can tell us so much about how they organized themselves and what things they thought were of value to focus on. Pictures of people who would have disappeared into history otherwise are invaluable.

            While some of the documents the Heinz has might not be very exciting to read, they tell us so much about what people were doing. I’ll certainly be using the Heinz and other archives across the city frequently. As new things are donated and old collections are sorted through, I’ll be heading there again.