Jefferson Awards: Champion for social justice
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Robert Pitts, the former mayor of Wilkinsburg and the winner of a Jefferson Award for Public Service.
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Robert Pitts is slowing down. Now 81, he had a heart attack and a stroke in the past three years, battles painful arthritis, and spends most of his time reading the paper or watching television. He doesn't bother answering the phone in his Schenley Heights home so he won't have to take messages.
But people still call. And who can blame them?
Mr. Pitts, who has spent the past 30-plus years helping local African Americans through his work in the NAACP and later as mayor of Wilkinsburg, is a winner of the 2007 Jefferson Award for Public Service.
The Jefferson Award program honors outstanding volunteers and is administered by the America Institute for Public Service and, locally, by the Post-Gazette, The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz Endowments.
At an awards ceremony to be scheduled in late February, Dewey & Kaye will donate $1,000 to the Hosanna House on Mr. Pitts' behalf. He was a founding board member of this community center in Wilkinsburg.
"He's one of the rare people who can take ideas and do something about it," said Brian Diebold, who nominated Mr. Pitts for the award.
"I am just in awe of all that he's done," said Mr. Diebold, a classmate of Mr. Pitts' wife, Gerrie, at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
Born in Buffalo, N.Y., Mr. Pitts lived in an orphanage from ages 13 to 17 after both his parents died. He then ventured south to attend a Catholic seminary in Bay St. Louis, Miss.
After graduation he was drafted into the Army Air Corps, serving 18 months at the end of World War II, mostly in the Pacific. Mr. Pitts was called back in 1951 during the Korean War and stayed in the Air Force until retiring in 1969 with a rank of technical sergeant.
He then made the transition from military service to public service. He worked for a community center in Cleveland for two years before moving to Pittsburgh in 1971 to become head of Black Catholic Ministries.
But during that decade Mr. Pitts was better known for his activism in the NAACP. He was the chair of the labor and industry committee, becoming an advocate for black representation in Pittsburgh businesses.
"Part of what amazed me about Bob was it didn't matter if he knew the person or if he just stopped in the office and asked for help," said Burrell Brown, who worked with Mr. Pitts in the NAACP in the '70s.
"He would take their case and go meet with people and try to convince them to give the person his job back. He would right whatever the wrong was."
Mr. Pitts also spent a lot of time on picket lines, and he considers his biggest achievement to be convincing Volkswagen -- after several weeks of picketing -- to meet with the NAACP and hire more African Americans.
Mr. Pitts said he met with almost every major organization in town to try to increase black representation. When they picketed, the NAACP members never were violent or vulgar -- "maybe a dirty look," he said with a laugh -- but were effective.
"That was the key, letting us talk to you about what changes you have to make," he said. "You've got us coming in and buying your products. Give us a chance to earn money making your products or whatever the case may be. And it worked."
In 1979 Mr. Pitts moved to Wilkinsburg and revived the dormant NAACP chapter there, continuing to advocate for opportunities for local African Americans. But after a while, he realized he could do only so much from outside of the system -- especially when it came to the Wilkinsburg police department.
The NAACP spent months chronicling abuses by police officers against black residents, but they were ignored, so Mr. Pitts decided to run for mayor of Wilkinsburg.
After his first attempt was unsuccessful, Mr. Pitts was elected in 1989 and is believed to be the first black mayor in Western Pennsylvania.
He reformed the police department and had an open-door policy, welcoming all residents to come speak with him any time about their problems.
"I learned a lot," Mr. Pitts said. "I think I did a lot. I don't know if it was all good."
But he quickly found it was tougher than he thought to effect change from the mayor's chair, and decided not to run for a second term.
"You're limited being the mayor," Mr. Pitts said. "I didn't realize how much you were limited. A lot of folks called up and said, 'Will you? Can you?' And I said, 'No, I can't.' And that was a disappointment for them, thinking I could make changes."
Mr. Pitts later moved back to Pittsburgh and continued his community work, although he was struck by tragedy in 1996 when his son, Derek, was fatally shot in a North Side robbery. Always thinking of society's needs, he donated his son's organs to others and encouraged other African Americans to follow his example.
"It would have been real easy for Bob to have been bitter because the guy who killed his son was African American, like 'I spent all my life working against these problems, and this is what I get?' " Mr. Brown said.
"But Bob never took that attitude. ... He continued in the struggle, perhaps became even more committed to trying to help young people to improve their lives."
These days, the struggle for Mr. Pitts is just getting around the house, but he's still heavily involved with Hosanna House.
But after a lifetime of service, he doesn't spend much time answering calls for help anymore.
"That's kind of hard sometimes because people have legitimate concerns and gripes and need help," Mr. Pitts said.
"But I just keep on marching along and praying for them. And by hoping and praying, I hope they get some help."
Tomorrow: Award winner Twyla Sable
First Published January 7, 2008 12:00 am
