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Contents
20th Century Context: Cramped Spaces and a Smoky City
Concluding Remarks
From its unveiling in 1930, the Westinghouse Memorial has made different arguments about how the city of Pittsburgh should be perceived. During a period characterized by a booming industrial economy, coupled with unsanitary and cramped living spaces, the memorial’s natural beauty and seclusion might have encouraged disillusioned Pittsburghers to continue to connect with the natural beauty of the city. The monument’s association with Pittsburgh’s industry and George Westinghouse could provide residents with a way to continue to identify with and take pride in their home. After Pittsburgh’s deindustrialization in the late 20th century, the memorial’s restoration served as a visual representation of the city’s reinvention. Like its namesake, the Westinghouse Memorial is deeply connected to Pittsburgh, and will continue to serve the city’s chosen narrative as it evolves over time. How well it will serve all of Pittsburgh’s citizens in the future remains to be seen.
The Westinghouse Memorial is just one instance of a complex rhetorical narrative. Future research into how this narrative is manifested in different spaces within the city of Pittsburgh should be conducted to perhaps complicate the picture. Such research could consider more closely how the narrative has evolved over time and gauge its prevalence and reception among different social circles, where alternative, simultaneously existing narratives might be uncovered, explored, and used to contribute to the narrative’s continued evolution. More work should be done to find adjustments to the prevailing narrative of the city which might better account for the perspectives and interests of Pittsburgh’s urban poor. My investigation of the Westinghouse Memorial also opens avenues for rhetorical study more broadly. Future research of the rhetorical power of nature places such as parks and environmental centers might be enhanced by utilizing the conceptual language of the bioregional movement.