2013-Spring-DU-Magazine

LIVING hISToRY
Ron Baraff
Director of Museum Collections &
Archives, Rivers of Steel Heritage
Corporation
Ron Baraff, GA’99, lives for the
phone call when he’s offered a public
historian’s dream: the offer to visit
an old industrial building and take
anything he wants.
He usually only has hours to get to
the building before it goes up for sale
or before it’s destroyed. Sometimes,
when he shows up, bulldozers are
already standing by, ready to raze
the building as soon as he emerges,
arms laden with blueprints, employee
records and company files.
While the destruction or sale of
an industrial building of historical
importance is sad, Baraff knows it’s
all part of the changing landscape of
the Pittsburgh region over the last 30
years—a story he knows well.
As director of museum collections
and archives for the Rivers of Steel
Heritage Corporation (RSHC), located
in Homestead, Pa., Baraff works to
preserve and interpret the tragic and
heroic history of the industry that
defined Pittsburgh for more than a
century: steel.
24 DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE Spring ‘13
“What happened in Pittsburgh with
big steel didn’t happen in a vacuum—it
had a huge effect on the entire region
and it’s an important story nationally
and internationally,” says Baraff. “I’m
here to tell a story and to help this
region maintain its sense of self, and
use it for the present and move it to the
future.”
In fact, it was what he calls “the
human element” of the program—the
sense that public historians are the
stewards and interpreters of history for
their communities—that drew him to
Duquesne.
“I wanted to be able to do this work
and disseminate the work for public
programming,” says Baraff. “The
treasure of the region is the people and
the story of the people and traditions of
Pittsburgh.”
Whether he’s working with
historic documents, curating exhibits
or working in the field at the RSHC’s
Carrie Furnace site (where two nonoperative
iron-making blast furnaces
still stand and are part of the Rivers of
Steel National Heritage Area), Baraff
remains close with the University’s
Public History Program.
“The professors and staff were
always extremely approachable mentors
and friends,” says Baraff. “I’m not just a
graduate; I’m part of that family.”
Emily
Hoover
Curator, Fort Pitt Block House
When Emily Hoover, GA’11,
dreamed about working in a
museum, she never envisioned
she would be charged with caring
for 18th-century timbers, finding
ways to ward off destructive
river flooding and coordinating
preservation projects.
As curator of Pittsburgh’s oldest
structure, the Fort Pitt Block House,
Hoover is the expert behind the
preservation and interpretation of a
building that has sat at the heart of
Pittsburgh’s history—in the narrow
strip of land where the city’s three
rivers meet.
Over the last 250 years, the block,
brick and log building has served
as a trading post, candy shop and
residence. But, it’s original purpose
was serving in the defense of Fort
Pitt during the French & Indian War
in the 18th century, and it’s the only
remaining structure of the fort.
“We’re really proud of what we
have,” says Hoover of the structure,
which is owned by the Daughters of
the American Revolution. “The block
house has strong symbolism—it’s
Pittsburgh’s oldest building and
Pittsburgh gets its name from the
fort.”
In addition to her daily duties of
maintaining the building and giving
tours of the structure, Hoover is
working on a book about the history
of the block house to celebrate its
250th anniversary in 2014.
Occasionally, she returns to
campus to speak to students
currently enrolled in the program.
In fact, this past spring, she spoke
to Dr. Michael Cahall’s museum
studies class. In addition to
describing her career and duties as a
curator, she shares her thoughts on
the program.