I wonder how many Pittsburghers recognize this line. It is a minor adaptation from a poem by
Sarah Williams
titled "The Old Astronomer
to His Pupil." Anyone who grew up on the South Side probably walked or drove past a building countless times that has this line carefully mounted on one of its outside walls. Here's a photo, taken at the corner of Sarah and 20th Streets on the South Side:
If you still don't fully recognize it, here's another photo:
It is the Brashear Association on the South Side. Pittsburghers know well the name Brashear, if only because it is now the name of a Pittsburgh high school. But I wonder how many Pittsburghers know much about John Brashear. To be honest, I knew next to nothing about him until recently, even though I became acquainted with the Brashear Association when I was in first grade in 1964. A new Brashear Center had just opened on Salisbury Street on the corner of Fernleaf Street, right across the street from Arlington Playground, more commonly known in my neighborhood as "the Fort" (this site was also apparently at or near the terminus of the
old St. Clair Incline, also known as the South Twenty-second Street Incline, something I'm just now learning about.) I would walk from St. Henry's Elementary School on Arlington Avenue to this Brashear Center for an after-school program.
This past summer, a copy of the Pitt Alumni magazine had an article about the founding and history of the Allegheny Observatory on the North Side.
Samuel Pierpont Langley is the principal character in the article, but John Brashear's role figures prominently as well. It's quite a story. Brashear worked in Pittsburgh's steel mills in the mid to late 1800s as a mill wright during the day, but followed his passion for astronomy with his wife, Phoebe, in the evenings. He made his own telescopes, with uncanny skill in the most difficult part, namely the grinding of the lens. However, the most startling revelation for me in the article was that Brashear lived on the South Side, and on Holt Street no less -- about three blocks from where I grew up on Cobden Street (though those three blocks are among the steepest in Pittsburgh). Unknowingly, I walked past Brashear's house for years, or more accurately, the site of his house as I believe the original structure is no longer standing. I first walked by it on my way to the South Side for accordion lessons at Steve Seventy's music shop on Carson Street, then when I walked to play little league baseball on Mission Street, and finally when I walked to and from South High School. (I would often buy a pint of chocolate milk at Nick's Grocery on Holt Street for some extra "fortitude" for the steep walk up Eleanor Street.)
I learned from the Pitt Magazine piece that John Brashear wrote an autobiography toward the end of his life. Brashear lived from 1840-1920, and his autobiography was published in 1924. Fortunately, it was
re-published again in 1988 through the University of Pittsburgh Press.
As he explained in his book, Brashear chose this line from the Sarah Williams poem to mark the final resting place of his wife, Phoebe, in the columbarium of
the Allegheny Observatory, when she died in 1910. This same spot became
his own final resting place when he died in 1920. Brashear simply refers to "an anonymous poem I came across in my early life" (p. 152). A google search will reveal many links to the full poem, but my favorite is a
blog posting that includes some interesting reflections and explanations. As I read the book, I couldn't help but make the comparison between Brashear and the Wright brothers. Brashear was a likewise very talented and creative craftsman with the skill and ability to make what he could not afford to buy. He then came up with his own discoveries and techniques in the highly scientific field of astronomy and became highly respected in the field, even though he did not have a college education. Many of the lenses he created are still in use in observatories all over the world. World-class scientists would travel to Pittsburgh and make the hard, steep trek up the dirt roads of the South Side slopes to visit him on Holt Street.
Brashear Museum
In his autobiography, John Brashear wrote about a museum of various artifacts and memorabilia associated with his life. This museum was begun on Holt Street, so I was concerned that the museum might no longer exist. So, on my last visit to Pittsburgh, I visited the Brashear Center on Sarah Street to ask about it. I was greeted by Tracy Frank, a very nice staff person, who told me that the museum was indeed housed in the Sarah Street facility. The museum is housed in a room in the back of the building and Tracy graciously allowed me to spend some time exploring it. This is a precious and rare Pittsburgh treasure! I hope others will make the trek to see it. (Although not required and not even requested, I made a modest donation to the Brashear Center as a way of saying thanks for their hospitality. I hope that others will do the same should you visit.)
There are many unique things to see in the center, but probably the highlight was a signed letter from Thomas Edison!
Here's a close-up of Edison's signature:
Questions about John Brashear's Holt Street Address
There is still some question as to where John Brashear actually lived on Holt Street. I came across four different addresses for the Holt Street residence: 3, 23, 17, and 19. Brashear's autobiography mentions 3 Holt Street on pages 28 and 68. But, a photo in the Brashear Museum shows 23 Holt Street and the address of the original John Brashear Settlement House is 19 Holt Street. (I also found a reference to 17 Holt Street in another online source.) More than likely the numbering of the street changed from time to time given he built his house at an early time in the history of the South Side slopes.
John Brashear's Northside Residence and Factory
Later in his career, Brashear moved to the North Side to be closer to the Allegheny Observatory. He built a home and small factory at 1954 Perrysville Avenue, which is right at the intersection of Buena Vista Street and Perrysville Avenue. (Buena Vista is another of the mighty Pittsburgh hills, though I think it is unique in that its cobblestones have yet to be paved over.)
Coincidentally, I lived for a short time literally a stone's throw away from Brashear's North Side home when my wife and I lived on University Avenue right after we got married in 1977 - a very short street, up yet another hill. So, although I didn't know it at the time, I was actually looking down on Brashear's house while living on the North Side.
The Original John Brashear Neighborhood Community Center, 19 Holt Street
The revelation that John Brashear lived on Holt Street also began to solve a little mystery that has sprung up
in my family since my parents died. The mystery relates to my late sister, Alicia.
The Brashear Association offered a variety of educational and health services to the local community. When I was a teenager, my mother had told me that my sister Alicia had gone to a school "down Eleanor Street" to get some speech therapy as a toddler. I could never figure out exactly where she meant but I never quizzed her on it because it didn't seem that important at the time. I recently had asked my older brothers if they knew anything about this. My oldest brother, Bill, had some recollection of it, but he couldn't remember any details. He wondered if there might have been a school or facility at the corner of Eleanor and Burham, the site of a small playground for as long as I can remember. (I now have a long list of "too late now questions" I wish I could ask my parents.)
Well, it is very clear to me now that my mom had taken Alicia to the Brashear Center at 19 Holt Street. Here is a photo of the Brashear Center on display at the Brashear Museum:
I recognize the three small concrete pillars as they (or their "descendants") have long served as a barrier at the foot of this section of Eleanor Street where it meets Holt Street, presumably in case a car lost control coming down the hill. The steep ascent of Eleanor begins just to the left of the boy on the bicycle, with Nick's Grocery to the right of the Brashear house. Eleanor Street continues past the pillars -- it's one of those wonderfully strange Pittsburgh streets with a portion existing solely as city steps. It emerges as a "real" street again at the bottom of the hill, about a block before it intersects Josephine Street.
And, here is a close-up of the signage on the front of the house showing the address clearly as 19 Holt:
It's nice to think that I have solved that little family mystery.
I hope those of you who are older than I who remember the Brashear house on Holt Street will share some information or stories with me here. Or, perhaps you have an older relative you can ask about this. It would be a shame not to document whatever information or stories are out there about the original Brashear Center before it is too late.
