Architectural History

PHLF has been fortunate to have three distinguished architectural historians over the course of its 50-plus-year history who have documented the Pittsburgh region’s architectural history through their research and writing. Our publications are based on their scholarship and work.

• James D. Van Trump (1908—1995), co-founded the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation (PHLF) in 1964 with Arthur Ziegler. Jamie served as PHLF’s architectural historian from 1964 through the 1980s. His last book, Majesty of the Law, was published in 1988.
• Walter C. Kidney (1932—2005) began writing for PHLF on a free-lance basis in 1978 and joined the staff as an archivist, historian, and architectural historian in the 1980s. His last book, Oakland: Images of America, was published in 2005. His memoir, Beyond the Surface, was published in 2006, in conjunction with Life’s Riches.
• Albert M. Tannler (1941—2022) joined PHLF’s staff in 1991 as Historical Collections Director. Many of Al’s articles about the history of architecture and the decorative arts in Western Pennsylvania appeared in PHLF News and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Focus Magazine. He developed special expertise in researching and documenting this region’s significant collection of stained-glass that resulted in a guidebook, Charles J. Connick: His Education and His Windows in and near Pittsburgh, and many other articles. In addition, he is the author of guidebooks on H. H. Richardson’s Allegheny County Courthouse & Jail and Pittsburgh Architecture in the Twentieth Century: Notable Modern Buildings and Their Architects.