About the Project

Pittsburgh has a long history of producing entrepreneurs, philanthropists, artists, and musicians. What is less well known is that the region was also the birthplace of some influential leaders of the women's movement and was home to several pioneering feminist organizations during the latter part of the 1900s. In Sisterhood: The Women's Movement in Pittsburgh is an oral history project designed to promote a deeper understanding and appreciation of this inspiring aspect of the region's history and to highlight how progress was achieved through the hard work and determination of a diverse group of local grassroots activists.

Our collection of digitally recorded interviews will provide a new source of data for scholars studying social movements and/or regional and national history and will be donated to the University of Pittsburgh when the project is completed. Our multimedia exhibit, meanwhile, featuring a portrait gallery and two five-minute videos, will be suitable for installation in galleries, museums, universities and community spaces, including events celebrating Pittsburgh's 250th anniversary and Pennsylvania's 2008 Governor's Conference on Women which will be held in Pittsburgh this fall.

The project is being directed by Patricia Ulbrich, Ph.D., a progressive social scientist, independent scholar, and visiting scholar in women's studies at the University of Pittsburgh. For more than three decades, Dr. Ulbrich's research has focused on women's studies and women's issues, including how individuals' race, class and gender shape their life chances, the history of the women's movement and its impact as a catalyst for change. In addition to her broad knowledge and skills, she also brings personal experience to the project, having co-founded The Women and Girls Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania. Other project team members include: Two Girls Working, multimedia artists; Bill Fuller and Mia Boccella Hartle, videographers; Dino DiStefano, sound recordist and documentary photographer; Marie Skoczylas, research assistant and interviewer; and Jenny Wolsk Bain, webmaster.