Pittsburgh Gateways

History

Origins and construction

The Energy Innovation Center is housed in the former Connelley Trade School, which was built in 1930 in the Hill District neighborhood of Pittsburgh. The site was selected for practical reasons: perched high on the hill, the school was above much of the air pollution that plagued Pittsburgh; it was also well connected to other areas by trolley and Union Station. The Board of Education purchased the lot and hired Edward B. Lee, an architect known for his work on academic buildings, to design the structure, at a cost of over $1.4 million.

View Gallery

Vocational education at Connelley

Opened officially in 1931, the Connelley Trade School was one of the largest in the state and most modern in the country. One of its novel features was a “radio speaker system” (so-called at the time), which enabled broadcasts throughout the building’s classrooms. The building also included a library, science labs, cafeteria, gym, swimming pool and auditorium. On the north side was the “shop” building equipped with industrial machinery and designed just like a modern factory. Students could learn bricklaying and plastering, plumbing, auto mechanics, electrical wiring, carpentry and cabinetry, graphic arts and more. There was also a mill room and “power and equipment” shop. After 1945, agriculture was also introduced.

Clifford B. Connelley: Innovator in Education

The school was named in honor of Clifford Brown Connelley (1863-1928), a pioneer of vocational education and prominent civic leader. Notably, he was also one of the original designers of Carnegie-Mellon University. From a young age Connelley was adept at design and handcrafts. In light of his monumental later achievements, it is ironic that Connelley himself left school at age 11—first to work as a messenger boy for a local iron and steel company, and then to apprentice with a Philadelphia engineer. Despite his mother’s wishes that he enter the clergy, Connelley was drawn towards drafting and pattern-making. He eventually completed his high school education and worked his way through Western University of Pennsylvania (now the University of Pittsburgh). He founded the first vocational school in Pittsburgh in 1896, and went on to become a charter member of the Pittsburgh Board of education. Connelley also enjoyed a distinguished political career, serving on Pittsburgh city council and as Pennsylvania’s Commissioner of Labor and Industry (1919-1923).

The effects of war

The Connelley school was designed for 1600 students, but as many as 1800 students occupied these facilities at its height from 1939-1940. With the onset of World War II, enrollment dropped sharply. Instead of pursuing trade education, many young men were drawn instead into the National Defense Program, which provided skilled and semi-skilled job opportunities. The decline sharpened when the selective service age was reduced to 18 years. Nevertheless, the shops stayed busy supporting the war effort. During this period boys and young men were trained for military industrial production—although war production itself never took place at Connelley. Following the war and increasingly after the Korean War Bill was introduced, Connelley welcomed many veterans and enrollment numbers recovered.

Working with industry

To ensure the quality of Connelley’s programs, administrators formed an advisory committee with industry and union leaders. The committee helped Connelley keep abreast of changing workforce needs. It also provided paid internships through the “Cooperative Training Program”, which was already established as a key element of vocational education even before Connelley’s opening. Educators had observed that students left school with strong technical skills, but few were promoted over time. Placing students in real work environments early on addressed the problem, by exposing them to the “why’s” of industrial processes necessary for success in management.

Stakeholders

Working closely with corporate, political and community leaders, educators and employers, the EIC aims to design and deploy industry-informed education aligned with both emerging sustainable energy markets and the needs of prospective workers.

Construction & Renovation

Phase 1 “Core & Shell” Renovation
Phase 2 Buildout of Labs, Classrooms, Common Areas & Tenant Spaces

Workforce Development, Training & Education

Sustainability Consultant

Story of Pittsburgh Gateways

Flag Day celebration on the steps of the Connelley Trade School, facing Bedford Avenue (date unknown).
Promotional brochure advertising the grand opening of the Connelley Trade School in 1931.
The Connelley School machine shop in 1954. This shop was designed to resemble a modern factory, where students were destined after graduation.
A student works on a milling machine, probably at Connelley (date unknown).
Science students at Connelley, December 1950. Photo by Samuel A. Musgrave, Pittsburgh.
A high school library at a Pittsburgh Public School, maybe Connelley (1950).
Among its extracurricular activities, Connelley had film and radio clubs (1950).
Students in the Connelley foundry (1958).
Students in the Connelley foundry (1958).
Group portrait of the Connelley Parent-Teachers Association on the school steps (1938).
1966 cover of “The Trojan”, the Connelley yearbook.
Connelley was always integrated and open to students from outside Pittsburgh. This profile from the school yearbook features an international student, Frederick (“Fred”) E. Nwoko, who traveled to Pittsburgh from Nigeria to learn auto mechanics in 1966.
Studio portraits with inscriptions dedicated to “Mr. Ososky”, a popular teacher (c. mid-1950s).
The Connelley School had a number of publications over the years, including the Connvocator. This page shows students from the Veterans Electric Power Shop (date unknown).
A promotional brochure designed and printed by the faculty and students at Connelley Vocational High School (probably mid-late 1950s).
Connelley brochure, probably from the mid-late 1950s. “We got to a Vocational High School. We know it’s different in some ways from an academic high school – they’re both fine, but we like to work with our hands as well as our heads,” reads the copy.
Connelley brochure, probably from the mid- or late 1950s. “We are looking forward to the day when we can go out and work full time at our trade,” the copy reads. The surrounding grid of black and white photos shows the various disciplines taught at the school.
Like many high schools, Connelley had several sports teams. Here, students compete in a derby (1936).
A Connelley basketball game (date unknown).
The Connelley baseball team (1958).
Connelley extracurriculars included music. A band portrait (1950).
The Connelley gymnasium decorated for a dance (1938).
Undated brochure featuring options for training in printing from Pittsburgh public schools and the Carnegie Institute of Technology (present-day Carnegie Mellon University). Connelley is featured on the brochure cover, bottom left.
The Connelley was school named in honor of Clifford. B. Connelley, an educational pioneer and distinguished Pittsburgh civil servant (portrait published in Notable Men of Pittsburgh and Vicinity, Pittsburgh Printing Company, 1901).
The cornerstone was laid in 1929 by James J. Davis, U.S. Secretary of Labor (left). This photograph also includes Clifford B. Connelley (center) and Marcus Arron (right), president of the Board of Public Education. Close inspection reveals this photo as a composite; it is unlikely that Connelley was actually present at the even
Composite photograph of Davis, Connelley and Aaron (left to right), as it appeared in a published copy of James J. Davis’ public address at the laying of the cornerstone.
US Secretary of Labor James J. Davis laid the cornerstone of the Connelley Trade School in 1929. In his speech he observed, “I certainly found that the door of Opportunity opens to the hard-working and skilled young man.”
William M. Davidson, Superintendent of the Pittsburgh Public Schools at the time of Connelley’s construction, admired Secretary Davis’ speech so much that he commissioned a printed version. It was printed at the Ralston Industrial School at Fifteenth and Penn Ave in Pittsburgh.
A 1930 time and material report from Connelley’s construction. Interestingly these reports reveal that skilled laborers and craftsmen earned more than unskilled workers.
When renovations began at the Connelley building, Energy Innovation Center staff found an archive of historical photos, documents and ephemera. Among them were some original artistic works, including this two-panel Trojan logo (artist unknown, 1959).
An original print with a Santa motif, thanking the donors to the Annual Charity Drive (1962).
Connelley Open House proof, blueprint (artist unknown, 1950).