Cornerstone
Object number2018.50.1
Date1916
MediumStone; Wood; Concrete(?); Paint
Credit LineGIft of Derrick L. Tillman
DescriptionRectangular stone cornerstone. Gray stone. Front has carving in shallow relief.DimensionsHeight x Width x Depth: 23 × 21.5 × 13.25 in. (58.4 × 54.6 × 33.7 cm)InscriptionsFront has carved text around perimeter of central circular section "...OF THE WORLD UNITE"; much of the text is worn away and illegible.
Front has carved text in the bottom proper right corner "19" and in the bottom proper left corner "16"; the "1" in "19" is largely worn away.
Historical NotesCornerstone from the Labor Lyceum in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The local branches of the international Jewish labor group the Workmen’s Circle, and other Jewish labor groups in Pittsburgh, founded Labor Lyceum Inc. in 1907 for the purposes of building a center for Jewish labor activity in the Hill District. After nearly a decade of fundraising, the organization broke ground on the Labor Lyceum building on Miller Street in the Hill District in 1916 and held a house-warming on February 4, 1917. The three-story building had offices, a hall, a public library, and community spaces and served as a general meeting place for political, union, fraternal and cultural organizations associated with the Jewish labor movement in Pittsburgh. Changes (and disputes) within the local labor movement led to a decline in membership in late 1920s.The building was sold in 1930 but the earnings were lost in a bank closure. The building continued to be used by the African-American population on the Hill District for several years, before being sold to a local Church of God in Christ. The building was demolished in March of 2018, to accommodate a small housing development on Miller Street.
Previous owner
Labor Lyceum
(Jewish, 1907 - 1930)
Related institution
The Workmen’s Circle
Related institution
Church of God in Christ
On View
Not on view
c.1850
Seneca
Samuel Rosenberg
American Safety Table Company
