Father Pitt celebrating 1909 World Series win, drawn by Fred Johnston of the Leader.
Pa Pitt, originally "Father Pitt", has been a personification of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania since the 1890s. Numerous editorial cartoonists have depicted "Pa Pitt" over the years, notably Pittsburgh Post-Gazette cartoonist Cy Hungerford.
A 1906 article by Raymond Gros lists seven cartoonists who had already drawn a 'Father Pitt', including Fred Johnston of the Leader whom Gros credits as creating 'Father Pitt' in 1897 to replace an earlier personification, 'Miss Pittsburgh'.[1] Historian J. Cutler Andrews credited a different Leader journalist, Arthur G. Burgoyne, with creating the character. Burgoyne himself claimed that "On November 5, 1895, Father Pitt was born. He was my offspring."[2]
References
- ^ Gros, Raymond (6 October 1906). "Father Pitt in Cartoons". The Index. Pittsburgh: The Index Company. Archived from the original on 13 February 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2014 – via Internet Archive, via The Pennsylvania Department, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.
- ^ Thomas, Clarke M. (2005). Front-Page Pittsburgh: Two Hundred Years of the Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. p. 319. ISBN 0-8229-4248-8.
External links
- "Who is Pa Pitt?" (includes links to artwork by several cartoonists)
- Original "Father Pitt" cartoon by Johnston