Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum Trust, Inc.

Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum Trust, Inc. www.soldiersandsailorshall.org We honor all the men and women of Pennsylvania who serve in the United States military. RAD works here.
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Soldiers & Sailors pays tribute to our military with exhibits from the Civil War to the present.





*Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum is supported in part by the taxpayers of Allegheny County through a public grant from the Allegheny Regional Asset District (RAD).

You have to get up close and personal with this artifact to see this symbol. What does it show? And what does it mean?Fi...
04/24/2025

You have to get up close and personal with this artifact to see this symbol. What does it show? And what does it mean?

Find out in our next video!

04/21/2025

Collections Manager Lisa Terrano gives us a look at a record sent home by serviceman Anthony Forte. Recorded 82 years ago, this record was created by Forte while he was training at Camp Gruber in Oklahoma.

Last week, Soldiers & Sailors was honored with a visit by 101-year-old WWII veteran, Jim Roberto. Mr. Roberto enlisted i...
04/20/2025

Last week, Soldiers & Sailors was honored with a visit by 101-year-old WWII veteran, Jim Roberto.

Mr. Roberto enlisted in the US Navy at the age of 19 in 1942 in New York. He was sent to California in 1943 before sailing to Japan as a radioman on board the USS Minneapolis. At one point, Mr. Roberto fell on ship and fractured his knee. Towards the end of the war, the USS Minneapolis was nearly tasked with carrying the atomic bombs to Japan before their orders were changed. Mr. Roberto will being turning 102 in July.

During his visit to Soldiers & Sailors, Mr. Roberto spent time at several of our WWII exhibits, including our model of the USS Pittsburgh, which was a ship similar to the USS Minneapolis. He also spent time in our Hall of Valor, where he met 2025 Hall of Valor Inductee, Robert Bentley, who served in the Vietnam War. Before he left, Mr. Roberto's friend, Tom Rooney, told us that they would be heading to Jim's favorite restaurant for lunch - Eat 'n' Park!

We thank Mr. Roberto for visiting our museum and for his service to our country. 🇺🇸🪖

04/19/2025

Our artifact this week, a recording of a serviceman's voice, was mailed home by Anthony Forte from Verona, PA! Forte, who served in the 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion, paid $4 to send this recording home to his family in 1943.

Keep an eye out next week, when we will be playing this recording for the first time in over 80 years!

This artifact may be recognizable to many people as an object used for years to play back recorded sounds. But this part...
04/17/2025

This artifact may be recognizable to many people as an object used for years to play back recorded sounds. But this particular artifact was personally made by a serviceman in WWII! 🎙

Learn more about the soldier who donated this artifact in our next look into the item's history!

04/14/2025

Intern Lukas is back to tell us more about Charles A. Kennedy and his service in the Pacific during WWII in this look at his collection! Disguised as a hospital, the Tachibana Maru was actually a military transport ship carrying several tons of ammunition that was intercepted by the US Navy on August 18th, 1945! Charles A. Kennedy took several artifacts from the ship including money, a leather map case, a handbook, and documents. An artist after the war, Kennedy also created a scrapbook that includes photographs, newspaper articles, and drawings of the ship.

As a student intern, Lukas helps our Museum Team in a variety of ways, including processing donations and adding them to our collection! Students who participate in our internship program practice handling objects, working with archival software, and storing artifacts in for preservation, as well as participating in our events! Students who are interested in our internship program should reach out to our Director of Museum & Education, Tim Neff, at [email protected]!

******es

04/12/2025

Our student intern, Lukas, reveals our artifact this week: a pack of Japanese ci******es!

Come back next week to learn more about Charles Kennedy and how he came across these items!

******es

04/10/2025

The Silver Star is the third-highest military decoration awarded by the United States for valor in combat. The medal is awarded to members of the Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an enemy. Join us as we examine the history of the Silver Star and highlight individuals inducted into the Joseph A. Dugan, Jr. Hall of Valor who have earned this distinction.

04/10/2025

Our curator, Michael Kraus, gives us some interesting information about this piece by Winslow Homer that is currently part of the Kara Walker display at The Frick Pittsburgh Museums and Gardens!

This artifact, taken as a souvenir during WWII, gives us a look at some of the leisure activities available to soldier...
04/09/2025

This artifact, taken as a souvenir during WWII, gives us a look at some of the leisure activities available to soldiers. This particular item features a very famous volcano that last erupted in 1707! 🌋

Can you guess what this is? Stay tuned for the answer later this week!

04/07/2025

The artifact this week, a reproduction WWII "cricket" made by the same company and machine as the originals, would have been used by the 101st Airborne on the night before the D-Day invasion! The soldiers used the cricket to help identify friendly troops in the dark while they were behind enemy lines.

04/05/2025

Director Tim Neff reveals our artifact: a WWII era clicker, also known as a cricket!

Stay tuned for more information about the purpose of the cricket and where this particular artifact is from!

The metallic sheen of this artifact may be recognizable to some people, but its sound is much more familiar and may be...
04/03/2025

The metallic sheen of this artifact may be recognizable to some people, but its sound is much more familiar and may be mistaken for a nocturnal insect!

Do you know what this is? Find out in our next Behind the Lines post! 🔍🤔

The artifact for this week is a stack of documents bound in red tape from the archive of Lt. Col. Stephen Moore, 16th ...
03/31/2025

The artifact for this week is a stack of documents bound in red tape from the archive of Lt. Col. Stephen Moore, 16th Regiment Veteran Reserve Corps, dating to the late Civil War era. Army paperwork was required from company officers all the way up the chain of command documenting all facets of military activity from supply, ordnance, clothing, and daily musters. The forms were collated in bundles and tied with red tape for storage.

Red Tape was such a familiar piece of the bureaucratic machine driving the Union Army that it attracted the eye of Winslow Homer, special Artist for Harper’s Weekly Illustrated, who wove a piece of Red Tape into a wood engraving depicting scenes from the army.

A staggering 154 miles of red tape was requisitioned for use in the field in 1864. Next time you are faced with cutting through red tape, remember the experience of a civil war soldier witnessing the paperwork generated by the army.

Our artifact this week is the infamous red tape!Literally mountains of paperwork were generated by the Union Army duri...
03/29/2025

Our artifact this week is the infamous red tape!

Literally mountains of paperwork were generated by the Union Army during the Civil War. As countless General Orders, Special Orders, Muster forms, Ordnance Forms and Quarterly Reports were produced and sorted then stored in cubby hole partitions of the headquarters desk, eventually sent to Washington for storage.

As paperwork was sorted, documents of similar themes were bound together with red cotton binding tape. It is said that paperwork often characterizes the depth of bureaucracy. The phrase “red tape” became a term used when navigating unnecessary obstacles encountered in the bureaucratic process. Going further, “cutting through red tape” describes ploughing through the laborious process of filing and finding documents when they were later needed.

Please join us tomorrow for the JOSEPH A. DUGAN, JR. HALL OF VALOR INDUCTION CEREMONY from 2:00 pm -3:00 pm. This is a F...
03/28/2025

Please join us tomorrow for the JOSEPH A. DUGAN, JR. HALL OF VALOR INDUCTION CEREMONY from 2:00 pm -3:00 pm. This is a FREE event!

Help Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum Trust, Inc., honor the next group of veterans to be inducted into the Joseph A. Dugan, Jr. Hall of Valor.
The ceremony begins at 2:00 PM in the auditorium and is open to the public. If you are unable to attend in person, please use the links to visit our Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/SoldiersandSailors/videos
or YouTube page
https://www.youtube.com//streams
to view the livestream of the induction ceremony.
In honor of the Hall of Valor Ceremony, the museum is open, and admission is free on March 29 from 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
Free event parking is available in the street-level lot across from the museum on Bigelow Blvd on a first-come, first-served basis.
Visitors with mobility issues and physical disabilities should call the museum at (412) 621-4253 in advance for building access information.

Our artifact this week may be more familiar to you than you realize. A simple knot and bow are synonymous with a phras...
03/27/2025

Our artifact this week may be more familiar to you than you realize. A simple knot and bow are synonymous with a phrase in common usage that has direct “ties” to the Civil War.

On Saturday, March 29, 2025, Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum Trust, Inc., will induct the next group of vetera...
03/26/2025

On Saturday, March 29, 2025, Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum Trust, Inc., will induct the next group of veterans into the Joseph A. Dugan, Jr. Hall of Valor.

The ceremony begins at 2:00 PM in the auditorium and is open to the public. Admission to the induction ceremony is free. If you are unable to attend in person, please use the links to visit our Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SoldiersandSailors/videos or YouTube pages https://www.youtube.com/.../streams
to view the livestream of the induction ceremony.

This is a wonderful opportunity to spend time in one of Pittsburgh’s landmarks! In honor of the Hall of Valor Ceremony, the museum is open, and admission is free on March 29 from 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
Free event parking is available in the street-level lot across from the museum on Bigelow Blvd on a first-come, first-served basis.
We urge visitors with mobility issues and physical disabilities to call the museum at (412) 621-4253 in advance for building access information.

Please take the time to get to know us…and also honor them with your presence! 🪖 🇺🇸

Address

4141 5th Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA
15213

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 4pm
Tuesday 10am - 4pm
Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm

Telephone

(412) 621-4253

Website

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