The Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania is an educational institution dedicated to preserving and presenting the region's history in ways that engage, entertain, and inspire a large and diverse audience while offering connections to the past, understanding in the present, and guidance for the future. In 1994, the Historical Society approached Teresa Heinz about naming the organization's new museum after her late husband, Senator John Heinz. The Society felt that Senator Heinz's remarkable record of public service ---during which he enhanced the quality of life in Pittsburgh and the surrounding regions--- represented all aspects of the Society's mission and all the qualities that make the western Pennsylvania region great. The Heinz family accepted the honor and, in 1996, the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania opened its 160,000 square foot museum as the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center. In July of 2000, the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania formed a partnership with the Smithsonian Institution. This association affords the Historical Society access to artifacts from the Smithsonian's vast collections, as well as enabling the Museum to utilize the national museums' extensive education and research programs. The History Center museum and research facility currently includes 6 floors, featuring exhibit galleries; a renowned library and archive of regional history books, manuscripts, family histories, films, audio recordings, maps, music, newspapers, and 500,000 historic photographs; a children's Discovery Place; an 80-seat cafÈ; a reading room; an official Visitors Center of the Greater Pittsburgh Convention & Visitors Bureau; and classrooms. The History Center is in the midst of a five-story expansion which will extend the building down Smallman Street from 13th Street to 12th Street in Pittsburgh's Strip District. This expansion will include the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum, the Special Collections Gallery, a Gallery for Smithsonian Exhibits, and an education center and theater for staging various events. Completion for the expansion project is slated for 2004. The Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center may be accessed via the Internet at http://www.pghhistory.org/ Back to Top