The Hill District
The Hill District is a 1.4-square-mile section of Pittsburgh that has been predominantly African American since the 19th century. This small strip of Pittsburgh is where all but one (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) of the Century Cycle Plays are located. The population saw a dramatic increase during the early 20th century. According to the census data, the African American population grew by 93% between 1910 and 1930. The city saw an even bigger increase in the African American population between 1930 and 1970 when it grew 54,943 to 100,692.
The vast increase in Pittsburgh’s African American population can be attributed to the migration of Black folks from the South hoping for a more prosperous life that the expansion of steel mills and infrastructure projects promised. Many also sought to escape the injustice of the South, including purposeful discriminatory laws, the KKK, poverty, voter disenfranchisement, and more.
Prosperity was difficult to attain in Pittsburgh, economic hardships coupled with racial segregation led to the concentration of most Black people in Pittsburgh to neighborhoods like the Hill District. At least two-thirds of the city’s African American population lived in one of three areas – Homewood, Brushton, East Liberty, or The Hill District.
The growth of these areas led to the mass conversion of single-family homes into multi-family dwellings. Furthermore, since housing outside of these neighborhoods was difficult to find, landlords in these areas had little to no pressure to renovate or perform even basic maintenance on these homes.
Beginning in the 1950's and lasting through the 80's, the city of Pittsburgh underwent Urban Renewal. The plan was to demolish large chunks of the city to make room for parks, offices, and other buildings. The Hill District was one of the neighborhoods that was greatly affected by this supposed "progress". The district declined following ambitious projects that shifted traffic patterns, blocked streets, isolated or divided neighborhoods with highways, and several projects were simply left unfinished. Businesses and homeowners were bought out by the city and many Hill District residents were displaced. An estimated 8,000 people were removed from the area during the construction of the Civic Arena alone.
Courtesy of The August Wilson Education Project, WQED.
- Gem of the Ocean
- Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
- Ma Rainer’s Black Bottom
- The Piano Lesson
- Seven Guitars
- Fences
- Two Trains running
- Jitney
- King Hedley II
- Radio Golf
- Original Carnegie Library
- Original West Funeral Home
- Eddie’s Restaurant
- Irene Kaufmann Settlement House (Hill House)
- Freedom Corner
More about August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean:
From the Director: Chip Miller
Director Chip Miller on the significance of memory, history, and ancestral connection in August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean and the other plays of Wilson's Century Cycle.
Behind the Curtain: Spotlight on Aunt Ester
Over the course of approximately 26 years, Wilson wrote one play for each decade in the 20th century. At the center of this tapestry stands Aunt Ester, the character which Wilson himself deemed the most significant in his plays.
The Century Cycle
Beginning in 1904 with Gem of the Ocean and ending in 1997 with Radio Golf, August Wilson's 10-play American Century Cycle charts the lived experience of African Americans throughout the 20th century. Learn more about each of these plays and their connection to one another.
Reviews of Gem of the Ocean
"Introspective and keenly engaged with the problems of the world … the play shows that to fix what influences you, you first have to understand and come to terms with, yourself." – Chicago Critic
Gem of the Ocean Reading List
Calling all readers! Multnomah County Library put together a reading list inspired by our production of August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean.
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