Open House
Join us on Saturday, January 21, 2023, for our first 125th Anniversary event, Open House! During this event, our Library, Athletic Club, and Music Hall will be open for self-guided tours as well as special programs including open pool, local speakers talking about the Homestead area’s history, giveaways, and more. Admission is free and no reservations are needed!
Schedule
Saturday, January 21, 2023
11am-4pm
Doors open at 10:30am
Self-guided tours throughout the building 11am-4pm
Music Hall
11:00am A special unveiling of “Carnegie Steel-Homestead Works 1926” by world-renowned Pittsburgh artist Johno Prascak
The originals are painted on 8 canvases/36″ x 48″ each- combined 32′ in length using Johno’s unique and unconventional medium of Enamel & Sand form the Monongahela River. It took 5 years of research and 18 months to finish the masterpiece. Carnegie Steel-Homestead Works 1926 depicts the Steel Mill in its entirety as it once stood on the historic site in Homestead, PA. The original was painted to pay homage to the Pittsburgh Steel making past. Johno’s hope is that this art will generate conversations with people who will share their stories of Pittsburgh’s past to be recorded for future generations.
12:00pm Film screening: Hazelwood Alive hosted by JaQuay Carter
Film length: 15 minutes
A young neighborhood historian reflects on his quest to preserve a Rust Belt town’s rich history, and through his life’s work, steer the community towards revitalization.
After the film: Presentation: History of the Carnegie Library of Homestead Works by JaQuay Carter
Length: 45-60 minutes
Exploring the 19th century events surrounding the construction and opening of the library in 1898.
2:00pm Film screening: City of Steel: The Rise and Decline of the Steel Industry… By the Steel Workers Themselves, A Bruce Spiegel Film
Film length: 1 hour and 32 minutes
Emmy award winning film producer Bruce Spiegel returns to his home town Pittsburgh to tell the story of steel mills, the people and the sudden changes that starting taking place in the 1980’s with globalization. This is a story that most American’s are not aware of. Like other Spiegel documentaries, real people are interviewed to capture the authenticity of this important story in American history.
Spiegel has carefully compiled important artifacts as well as interviews, helping you understand what life was once like and how it changed so quickly. This is a personal story about the people, sounds and vitality that once was the steel industry in Pittsburgh.
This is a story about what was once a great and glorious industry driving a local and regional economy. A story where the identity of neighborhoods, families and communities were attached to the workings of steel mills. It is a story about life and how changes beyond the control of the individual can have enormous ramifications. It is a story best told by a film maker who experienced it, remembers it and must now tell it.
Library
Children’s Activities
11:00am-12:00pm Working with geodes in the first floor Board Room
1:00-4:00pm Robotic story time with Fine Art Miracles
Adult Activities
12:00-2:00pm Make a Valentine gnome in the first floor Board Room
Athletic Club
11:00am-4:00pm Free Guest pass for the day for ages 13 and over
12:00-2:00pm Free open swim