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Contents
20th Century Context: Cramped Spaces and a Smoky City
A Reimagined History
The restoration of the Westinghouse Memorial, though it aimed to “restore the original beauty of the monument and its landscape” (Rademacher), had a very different story to tell than when it was commissioned in 1926. The rhetorical goals of the post-industrial city in 2016 differed sharply from those of the industrial powerhouse of the 20th century. Indeed, the goal was no longer to “sell Pittsburgh to Pittsburghers” but instead to tourists and businesses that might move to, visit, or invest in the region. To attract this audience, Pittsburgh must be portrayed as a creative livable city. It must be distanced from associations with pollution and industry, and instead be considered as eco-friendly, green, and sustainable. Most of all, any conception of the city must be attached to an attractive visual component. The Westinghouse Memorial, as a visually distinctive, natural space tied to a figure who is still “very much is a part of the lore, part of the personality of Pittsburgh” (Lindstrom), is representative of Pittsburgh itself, and therefore an ideal site for these narratives to be situated.
As noted by University of Maine Communication scholar Kaitlyn Haynal Allen in her investigation of Pittsburgh’s Frick Environmental Center, the way the city utilizes its parks has shifted since the 20th century. While Pittsburgh’s parks, as an escape from the smoky city, initially emphasized seclusion and established clear boundaries between nature and industry, “today, the usefulness of the parks for Pittsburgh is seen in their reframing as borderless places, contributing to popular public narratives of sustainability and livability of the city.” (Allen 1012). The Westinghouse Memorial’s restoration reflected this tradition. For example, one of the most important features of the original monument was the dominance of the weeping willow trees whose “thick canopy of arching branches” (Heron) created an ideal experience of seclusion. The native willows of Schenley Park therefore made it a perfect site for the creation of a space meant to feel like a separate oasis where residents could enjoy the natural beauty their city was lacking. However, after many years in decline, the memorial lost among other things, its weeping willow trees (Rademacher). Rather than revitalize the original vegetation of the site, the restoration effort did not repair the damaged willow trees, nor did it plant new ones, opting instead for different plants. The spatial experience created by this change is one that is more expansive and integrated with the rest of the city, inviting “visitors to remember that the urban spaces of their homes are not so different from the “natural” spaces of parks” (Allen 1019). By creating a space that softens the line between the city and the park, the memorial makes a case for Pittsburgh’s status as a green, livable, and attractive city, seamlessly integrated with the natural world. The memorial’s more open space also argues for Pittsburgh’s inherent creativity by encouraging exploration of the park from a greater number of angles. After the restoration, the memorial’s dilapidated paths were restored and more were added. “The walk also will be extended behind the monument, so that visitors can admire the beauty of the sculptural images from all sides. To encourage further exploration of the site, a rustic path will reach up the stream valley to an overlook point before looping back to the monument” (Rademacher). This is a far cry from the memorial’s original insistence on the importance of approaching it from the side and thereby viewing it in more relative stillness. Today, residents are encouraged to view the memorial from multiple angles, in a way that can foster new, exploratory, and creative insights.
The restoration also added symbolically significant material elements to the memorial in the form of high-tech, and eco-friendly features accentuated in descriptions of it. Most news coverage of the restoration pays particular attention to its new lighting. Some articles focus on the eco-friendly nature of these light fixtures, with one praising the “energy-efficient halo lighting around the monument” (Gilmore). Others paint a beautiful, aesthetically pleasing picture of the memorial in which the lights take the foreground. From Susan Rademacher at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “At night, subtle lighting will create a halo over the pond and capture reflections of the lush new landscape plantings” (Rademacher). The changes this energy efficient lighting makes to the overall visual appeal of the memorial is especially noteworthy because as Wilson explains, it is not enough to create images that are visually pleasing. These images must also be imbued with meaning. The beauty of the memorial and of the subtle lighting signal to visitors that Pittsburgh is a city transformed. The abstract changes to the city’s economy and ideals find concrete, manifestation in the changes to visible sites such as the Westinghouse Memorial.
Much like in 1926, the Westinghouse Memorial’s 21st century rhetorical power derives from more than its status as a nature space. Its position as a memory place, honoring a figure who is deeply connected to Pittsburgh’s legacy, is just as relevant to the goals of the restoration as it was to the goals of the original commission. Pittsburgh’s transition from an industrial powerhouse to a creative city was, above all else, an identity crisis. And as scholars of urban communication well know, “times of rapid change, insecurity and identity loss encourage a tremendous desire for a stabilizing, coherent and warmly remembered past” (Pojani and Stead 592). If the ideals of sustainability, creativity, and livability are to be incorporated as authentic aspects of the Pittsburgh identity, they must be conceived as being enduring parts of the city’s history. Pittsburgh’s identity has always been deeply tied to its industrial past. Therefore, if these new ideals are to be truly integrated into the city’s narrative, they must somehow be shown to fit within the industrial narrative. The Westinghouse Memorial reflects Pittsburgh’s continued representation of industry, but through this new lens. George Westinghouse’s significance to the city has begun to shift from hero of industry to beacon of creativity. Statements made at the unveiling of the restoration in 2016 as well as in articles about the event reveal how this new Westinghouse fits into the broader image business leaders want to propagate. The official website of the memorial quotes a ceremony attendee aligning Westinghouse with one of the central tenets of creativity by saying that “The Westinghouse legacy continues to inspire and encourage us to challenge the norms [emphasis mine]” (“The Memorial Story”). In an online magazine article about the restoration, a Westinghouse employee, David Howell is quoted as praising Westinghouse’s “spirit of innovation” (Lindstrom), another clear link between Westinghouse and the creativity ideal. Also characteristic of this ideal is novelty, and therefore the same article goes on to emphasize how Westinghouse was “among the first to offer his workers health and retirement benefits [emphasis mine]” (Lindstrom) and quotes Howell further as saying that Westinghouse “basically invented weekends, “He basically was the first employer, at a time when most American companies treated workers as a commodity, to create the 55-hour work week [emphasis mine]” (Lindstrom). As “the first” employer to offer such benefits, Westinghouse is conceived as thinking outside the box, going beyond his contemporaries, and creating new norms for labor. The memorial therefore has become part of Pittsburgh’s greater project of reinventing itself through aligning itself and its icons with the ideals not of industry, but creativity.
As Wilson explains, the ultimate audience for the project of postindustrial re-imagination are business investors, tourists, and other visitors to the city that can help Pittsburgh rebuild its economy in the absence of industry. The potential that the memorial has to appeal to this outside audience was explicitly acknowledged at its restoration. News coverage of the restoration revealed its possible function as an attraction for visitors. Descendants of Westinghouse were quoted as saying “Our hope is that the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy’s efforts to restore and renew the Westinghouse Memorial will encourage more visitors to be inspired by both his incredible mind and the care he had for those who worked for him” (Gilmore). The memorial’s official website also makes sure to emphasize “the warm Pittsburgh hospitality” (“The Memorial Story”), that these visitors would be sure to experience should they come and see the memorial. Such visitors are likely to be attracted to the Westinghouse Memorial, as a site of high culture that symbolizes creativity and inspiration.