The first week of educational training at the Washington & Jefferson College is over. Our teachers Corey Young and Cathy Altmeyer did an excellent job and we learned a lot.
This week was dedicated to the past of ‘Steel city’ Pittsburgh. We talked about the counties of Western Pennsylvania and their similarities, differences and development. In small groups we prepared presentations about the three men, that altered the way of living in Pittsburgh and the whole US: Andrew Carnegie, George Westinghouse and Henry Clay Frick.
Furthermore, we talked about the 1948 Donora smog and how this horrible catastrophe caused the city to reduce air pollution and which led to clean air laws.
The first two days of our first long weekend in Pennsylvania was all about exploring the city and its beautiful sights.
On Friday we went to a coal mine (of course!) and experienced first-hand the extreme conditions under which coal miners had to work in the early days. We were stunned, that many old tools and machinery were still working.
Afterwards we went to the Senator John Heinz History Center, where you can discover 250 years of Pittsburgh history and which is Pennsylvania's largest history museum & an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution.
On Saturday we visited Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh. The gardens were founded in 1893 by Henry Phipps as a gift to the City of Pittsburgh. It has fourteen indoor gardens, six outdoor gardens, a Center for Sustainable Landscapes (which is one of the “greenest” buildings on Earth!), a Production Greenhouse and a Tropical Forest Conservatory. One of the main goals of the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is to explore the intersection of the built and natural world and how it relates to both human and environmental wellness. The Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens are very impressive and stunningly beautiful and definitely worth a visit, or two!
To get a better oversight of the city, we took a so called “Duckytour” around Pittsburgh. Our guides were hilarious and made the tour so much fun. It was really special to drive around the city and the river with this kind of vehicle!
After a week filled with historical and yinzer knowledge, we are all looking forward going to Kennywood Park on Sunday and enjoy our leisure time to the fullest!