Following August Wilson: Book, tour delineate important Hill District sites in the late playwright's life
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August Wilson -
The former Wylie Avenue branch of the Carnegie Library. At age 5, Wilson received his first library card here. The building, at 1911 Wylie Ave., is no The First Muslim Mosque of Pittsburgh. -
The statue of St. Benedict the Moor was designed to welcome visitors to the Hill District. The statue at the Catholic parish, at Centre Avenue and Crawford Street, irritated Wilson because its back is to the Hill District. -
The Westbrook Jitney Station at 2046 Wylie Ave.
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As he refined his powerful voice, first as a poet and later as a playwright, August Wilson heard lively rhythms in African-Americans' voices in Hill District jitney stations, barbershops and diners.
His carefully attuned ear absorbed stories of struggle and dreams deferred, rich fodder for the cycle of 10 bittersweet plays he produced before his death in 2005.
Now, with a new book that fits in your pocket, you can take a five-mile walking tour of the places that fueled the author's imagination even after he moved away in 1978.
"August Wilson: Pittsburgh Places in His Life and Plays" will be published this month by Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. The authors are Dr. Laurence A. Glasco, a University of Pittsburgh history professor who did the first comprehensive survey of black history in this region, and Chris Rawson, senior drama critic for the Post-Gazette. Dr. Rawson teaches classes on Shakespeare and August Wilson at Pitt, where he has been on the English faculty since 1968. He was the first person to publish in print the local settings for Mr. Wilson's plays.
- Where: Ebenezer Baptist Church, 2001 Wylie Ave., Hill District.
- When: 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday.
- Admission: Free and open to the public if you RSVP by Tuesday (marylu@phlf.org or 412-471-5808, ext. 527).
PG MAPBoth men will appear Saturday during a free open house at Ebenezer Baptist Church, 2001 Wylie Ave., from 1 to 3 p.m. Each author will speak briefly at 2 p.m. and sign copies of their book, which costs $8.95.
The walking tour begins at Freedom Corner Monument at Centre Avenue and Crawford Street, traditional gathering site of civil rights organizers before a march. It continues up Crawford Street, where Mr. Wilson -- then known as Frederick August Kittel -- began his writing career in a rented room. On a typewriter he bought Downtown with $20, he tapped out various versions of his new name, taking August from his father and the surname Wilson from his mother, Daisy. Mrs. Wilson's last home, at 1621 Bedford Ave., was the setting for King Hedley II.
First Published February 20, 2011 12:00 am
