How I Learned What I Learned

Pittsburgh Public Theater’s education and outreach programs are generously
supported by BNY Mellon Foundation of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Additional
funding is provided by the Grable Foundation.
CONTENTS
Synopsis ............................................................................. 4
About the Author: August Wilson ..................................... 6
The Pittsburgh Cycle ......................................................... 8
Race Relations in the 1960s and 1970s ........................... 11
Pittsburgh: The Crossroads of Jazz ................................. 13
Hill District MLK Riots ................................................... 15
Terms to Know ................................................................. 17
Discussion Questions ....................................................... 20
Meet the Director ............................................................. 21
Meet the Cast ................................................................... 22
Theatre Etiquette............................................................. 28
PA Academic Standards .................................................. 29
References ........................................................................ 31
SYNOPSIS
In this solo show, an actor shares August Wilson’s personal stories
about his encounters with racism, music, love, violence, and lifechanging friendships as a young poet in Pittsburgh’s Hill District.
He describes his upbringing in the Hill District, a predominantly
black neighborhood, in the tumultuous 1960s, and how he fell in
with a group of artists and writers in the Hill Arts Society and
worked numerous jobs (stocking a toy store, mowing lawns, etc.)
while attempting to grow his writing abilities and facing
discrimination for his color.
Wilson ends up in jail for breaking into his own apartment, dates
a married woman and gets confronted by her estranged husband,
and describes his education—artistic and otherwise—by the fellow
artists in his lives, and by the events and trials of living life itself.
Ruben Santiago-Hudson in Signature Theater Company’s production of
How I Learned What I Learned
About the Author – August Wilson
Born Frederick August Kittel, Jr in
Pittsburgh in 1945, as the fourth of
seven children, August Wilson grew
up in the impoverished Bedford
Avenue area of the city. The family
moved from there when his mother
re-married and Wilson attended
school; he dropped out at 16 and
focussed on working in menial jobs
while fostering his burgeoning love
of the written word with trips to the
Carnegie Library. Reading the
works of Langston Hughes and
Ralph Ellison embedded a desire
within the teenage Wilson to
become a writer, though his mother
wanted him to pursue a career in
law. Disagreements over this decision led to Wilson leaving the
family home and he intended to spend three years in the army,
but he left after a year and returned to Pittsburgh to work in
various jobs.
After his father’s death in 1965, Frederick Kittel Jr became
August Wilson, a decision made to honour his mother. The late
sixties saw Wilson become heavily influenced by Malcolm X and
the Blues and he converted to Islam to ensure the survival of his
marriage to Brenda Burton (1969). A year earlier Wilson set up
the Black Horizon Theater with Rob Penny where his first plays,
Recycling and Jitney, were performed.
Wilson’s first marriage was divorced in 1972 and in 1976 Sizwe
Banzi is Dead – his first professional play – was performed at the
Pittsburgh Public Theater. Two years later the budding
playwright moved to St Paul, Minnesota where worked writing
educational scripts for Science Museum of Minnesota. The
Playwrights’ Center in Minnesota awarded him a fellowship in
1980 and he left his job a year later; he continued writing plays
while working as a chef for the Little Brothers of the Poor.
In Minnesota Wilson built a strong relationship with the
Penumbra Theatre Company which produced many of his plays in
the eighties and in 1987 the city named May 25th August Wilson
day after his Pulitzer Prize award in the same year. Wilson left St
Paul for Seattle in 1990, following the divorce of his second
marriage to Judy Oliver, and while there the Seattle Repertory
Theatre performed a number of his plays.
In 1995 Wilson received one his many honorary degrees from the
University of Pittsburgh where he became a Doctor of Humanities
and was a member of the Board of Trustees. He married again in
1994 to Constanza Romero. He was diagnosed with liver cancer
and passed away in 2005.
The American Century Cycle
August Wilson’s crowning
achievement is The
American Century Cycle,
his series of ten plays that
chronicles the African
American experience
throughout the twentieth
century. All are set in
Pittsburgh’s Hill District
except one, Ma Rainey’s
Black Bottom, which is set
in Chicago. The plays are
Denzel Washington and Viola Davis in the 2010
listed below followed by the
Broadway revival of Fences
year he wrote them (in
parentheses), the decade they reflect and a mini plot summary.
Gem of the Ocean (2003) 1900s
Citizen Barlow enters the home of the 285-year-old Aunt Ester
who guides him on a spiritual journey to the City of Bones.
- Produced by Pittsburgh Public Theater in 2006
Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (1988) 1910s
The themes of racism and discrimination come to the fore in this
play about a few freed African American slaves.
- Produced by PPT in 1989
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (1984) 1920s
Ma Rainey’s ambitions of recording an album of songs are
jeopardized by the ambitions and decisions of her band.
- Produced by PPT in 1992
The Piano Lesson
(1990) 1930s
Brother and sister Boy
Willie and Berniece
clash over whether or
not they should sell an
ancient piano that was
exchanged for their
great grandfather’s
wife and son in the
days of slavery.
- Produced by PPT in 2003
The Piano Lesson at Signature Theater
Company in 2012
Seven Guitars (1995) 1940s
Starting with the funeral of one of the seven characters, the play
tracks the events that lead to that death.
- Produced by PPT in 1997
Fences (1987) 1950s
Race and family relations are explored in this tale which starts
with a couple of Hill District garbage men striving to climb the
economic ladder.
- Produced by PPT in 1989 and 1999
Two Trains Running (1991) 1960s
Looking at the Civil Rights movement of the sixties, this play
details the uncertain future promised to African Americans at the
time.
- Produced by PPT in 1994
Jitney (1982) 1970s
Jitneys are unlicensed cab drivers operating in Pittsburgh’s Hill
District when legal cabs won’t cover that area. The play follows
the trials and tribulations of their lives.
- World Premiere by PPT in 1996
King Hedley II (1999) 1980s
One of Wilson’s darkest plays, an ex-con tries to start afresh by
selling refrigerators with the intent of buying a video store.
Characters from Seven Guitars reappear throughout.
- World Premiere by PPT in 1999
Radio Golf (2005) 1990s
Aunt Ester returns in this modern story of city politics and the
quest from two monied Pittsburgh men to try and redevelop an
area of Pittsburgh.
- Produced by PPT in 2008
Radio Golf at Pittsburgh Public Theater in 2008
Race Relations in the
1960s and 1970s
Race relations had
reached a point in the
1960s where the
potential for violence,
was always present.
Many black leaders
stressed nonviolence but
the threat was always
simmering just beneath
the surface. Since the
mid-1950s, Dr. Martin
Luther King and others
had been leading disciplined mass protests by black Americans in
the South against segregation, emphasizing appeals to the
conscience of the white majority. The appeals of these leaders and
judicial rulings on the illegality of segregationist practices were
vital parts of the Second Reconstruction, which transformed the
role and status of black Americans, energizing every other
cultural movement as well. At the same time, southern white
resistance to the desegregation, with its attendant violence,
stimulated a northern-dominated Congress to enact (1957) the
first civil rights law since 1875, creating the Commission on Civil
Rights and prohibiting interference with the right to vote (blacks
were still massively disenfranchised in many southern states). A
second enactment (1960) provided federal referees to aid blacks in
registering for and voting in federal elections. In 1962, President
Kennedy dispatched troops to force the University of Mississippi
(a state institution) to admit James Meredith, a black student. At
the same time, he forbade racial or religious discrimination in
federally financed housing.
Kennedy then asked Congress to enact a law to guarantee equal
access to all public accommodations, forbid discrimination in any
state program receiving federal aid, and outlaw discrimination in
employment and voting. After Kennedy's death, President
Johnson prodded Congress into enacting (August 1965) a Voting
Rights Act that eliminated all qualifying tests for registration that
had as their objective limiting the right to vote to whites.
Thereafter, massive voter registration drives in the South sent the
proportion of registered blacks spurting upward from less than
30% to over 53% in 1966.
The civil rights phase of
the black revolution had
reached its legislative and
judicial summit. Then,
from 1964 to 1968, more
than a hundred American
cities were swept by race
riots, which included
bombings, guerrilla
warfare, and huge
conflagrations, as the
anger of the northern
black community at its relatively low income, high unemployment,
and social exclusion exploded. At this violent expression of
hopelessness the northern white community drew back rapidly
from its reformist stance on the race issue (the so-called white
backlash). In 1968, swinging rightward in its politics, the nation
chose as president Richard M. Nixon, who was not in favor of
using federal power to aid the disadvantaged. Individual
advancement, he believed, had to come by individual effort.
Nonetheless,
fundamental changes
continued in relations
between white and
black. Although the
economic disparity in
income did not
disappear - indeed, it
widened, as
unemployment within
black ghettos and among
black youths remained
at a high level in the
1970s - white-dominated
American culture
opened itself
significantly toward
black people. Entrance
requirements for schools
and colleges were
changed; hundreds of
communities sought to work out equitable arrangements to end de
facto segregation in the schools (usually with limited success, and
to the accompaniment of a white flight to different school
districts); graduate programs searched for black applicants; and
integration in jobs and in the professions expanded. Blacks moved
into the mainstream of the party system, for the voting-rights
enactments transformed national politics. The daily impact of
television helped make blacks, seen in shows and commercial
advertisements, seem an integral part of a pluralistic nation.
Pittsburgh – The Crossroads of Jazz
In How I Learned What I Learned, August Wilson describes the
influence of the local jazz scene on his upbringing and his
recognition of his identity as an artist. Indeed, jazz is an integral
part of the cultural history of Pittsburgh.
Harlem Renaissance poet Claude
McKay in the 1930s described
Pittsburgh's Hill District as the
“Crossroads to the World” as it was
a center for African-American
music, art, and commerce. From
the 1920s to the mid 1960s the Hill
District was the center of a thriving
jazz scene of night clubs, big band
ball rooms, and concert theaters. It
was a must stop on the tours of the
big bands and small jazz
combos. Pittsburgh's jazz artists
learned their craft on the Hill and
went on to shape the course of jazz
history.
The Crawford Grill, a Hill District jazz
club
Pittsburgh is one of the foremost cities in the world for the
development of leading jazz artists. Pittsburgh's jazz artists have
greatly influenced the history of jazz as leading instrumentals
and founders of the Be Bop, Hard Bob, and Vocalese styles of
jazz.
Earl "Fatha" Hines who recorded with Louie Armstrong on the
definitive Hot Five records influenced generations of jazz pianists
with his innovative trumpet style.
Roy Eldridge, one of the most
important trumpeters in the
history of jazz, influenced a
generation of swing
trumpeters in the 1930s and
1940s.
Billy Eckstine, who got his
John Coltrane
start in the Earl Hines band,
led the first bop big-band that
included Miles Davis, Dexter Gordon, Sarah Vaughan,
Pittsburgh's Art Blakey, and Dizzy Gillespie. He also became the
first African American singing star.
Drummer Kenny Clark was one of the founders of Be Bop and the
Modern Jazz Quartet.
Drummer Art Blakey founded the Jazz Messengers.
Ray Brown is the master bassist of Jazz.
Eddie Jefferson originated the vocalize style of scat singing.
MLK riots: When patience ran out, the
Hill went up in flames
By Monica Haynes - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Forty years ago, the Rev. Martin Luther King fell to an assassin's
bullet, and the killing provoked riots in black communities across
the country that changed the United States forever
April 2, 2008
Forty years ago this month,
the reality of everyday life
for African Americans,
combined with the anguish
brought on by the
assassination of Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr., came
together to change forever
the face of Pittsburgh and
many other cities.
Black neighborhoods in Detroit, Newark, St.
Louis, Cleveland, Oakland, Los Angeles and others exploded
almost immediately on April 4, following the news that Dr. King
had been killed. Disturbances in Pittsburgh's Hill District and in
Homewood and the North Side, to a lesser extent, began the
following night in what became known as the "Pittsburgh riots.''
While hundreds of miles may have separated Pittsburgh from the
other cities, the conditions under which African Americans there
and here lived, were virtually the same. "Prior to the riots,
Pittsburgh was a segregated city," said Dr. Ralph Proctor,
chairman of the Department of Africana and Ethnic Studies at the
Allegheny Campus of Community College of Allegheny County.
"There were no equal rights for black folks. Schools were inferior
in the black community. Middle-class jobs for black people were
operating elevators in Downtown department stores. Communities
were segregated; schools were segregated. "If you wanted to get
a hot dog and you
went to one of the
five-and-dimes
Downtown, you
were handed a hot
dog in a brown
paper bag and
expected to eat it
elsewhere."
It didn't help that
Riots in the Hill District, 1968
blacks here and
elsewhere were frustrated by promises unfulfilled. Expectations
had been raised by the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act
of 1964 and 1965, and by President Lyndon Johnson's pledge to
create a "Great Society," said professor Paul L. Krause, a
Pittsburgh native who lived here at the time of the riots and now
teaches the history of African-Americans at the University of
British Columbia.
But the Vietnam War ate into the expectations and promises, and
then Dr. King was shot -- just as he had moved to make a more
sweeping condemnation of American domestic and foreign policy.
The anger level was quite high -- Dr. King himself was angry, and
he was determined to express that anger through the Poor
People's Campaign that marched on Washington and sought to
address issues of economic injustice, Mr. Krause said.
Locally, blacks also were frustrated about being shut out of the
labor and trade unions, which prevented them from getting the
jobs that paid good union wages. Some jobs were available
through economic opportunity programs targeting the black
community, "but they were not jobs of significant or well-meaning
pay that one could really raise families on," said David Epperson,
the retired dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Social
Work who, in 1968, headed
Mayor Joseph Barr's
committee on human
resources that oversaw the
city's war on poverty.
"There's one thing I found
out after spending so much
time'' in the Hill District,
Robert B. Pease, at the
time the executive director
of the Pittsburgh Urban
Redevelopment Authority,
Police searching non-union workers in Pittsburgh
said in 1967. "Pittsburgh's
three biggest problems are education, employment and housing -in that order ... We forget sometimes that people are poor for only
one reason: they don't have any money. A job is the product of an
education. A house is the product of a job."
During the early 1960s, Pittsburgh's civil rights activists had
begun pushing for gains in every area. They fought
to desegregate city schools, improve the quality of education for
black children and hire more black teachers.
"By '68, we'd made some
progress with the school
board discussing the
things that are still being
discussed today," said
attorney Wendell
Freeland, one of
Pittsburgh's civil rights
stalwarts and a former president of the Urban League of
Pittsburgh. "We felt black kids were getting an inferior
education."
Pittsburgh's black civil rights leaders also worked toward getting
companies such as Duquesne Light, Allegheny Ludlum, U.S.
Steel, Koppers and Westinghouse Electric to hire more blacks.
Mr. Freeland recalled
meeting with the heads of
those companies and the
rapport that developed
between black leaders
and the company chief
executive officers. "I know
of no community that had
developed such a
relationship at the top
level," he said. "If we
could not meet with the
CEOs, then we did not
Neighborhood Street in the Hill District ca. 1960
meet." The push was not
only to get more blacks into the rank and file of these companies,
but also to get them into white-collar jobs.
"There was great frustration that blacks were not able ... to move
into the managerial or executive suites," Dr. Epperson said.
Without the availability of well-paying jobs, it was virtually
impossible for black residents to move out of their deteriorating
neighborhoods, and federal housing programs did not keep up
with the housing demand.
As the Hill's immigrant population prospered in earlier decades,
those people moved on to other neighborhoods, leaving behind
houses and store fronts that as early as the mid-1940s were being
called "slums." A Post-Gazette series on housing published less
than a month before the riots focused on the dearth of adequate
low-income housing in the city, especially in the Hill.
"Substandard housing is worse today than ever. There has been no
extensive program of rehabilitation. Overcrowding is continuing,"
the Rev. Donald W. McIlvane, a priest and civil rights activist,
said at the time.
In March 1968, Allegheny County sought injunctions to keep 11
landlords of "Hill District slums" from renting them because
they'd been declared "unfit for human habitation." Despite the
condition of much of the housing at that time, the federal
government refused to approve new housing for the area because
it was deemed a "ghetto." The U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development would "not approve new housing for ghetto
areas," said Alfred Vennare, who at the time was head of the
Pittsburgh Relocation Agency.
The agency leased housing and then helped people living in
deteriorating neighborhoods relocate. The task was often difficult
because landlords had to be convinced to accept black tenants.
Between 1950 and 1959, only 1,549 public housing units were
built in Pittsburgh. From 1960 through 1964, the Pittsburgh
Housing Authority constructed 2,149 more. During a panel on
housing a year prior to the riots, Father McIlvane asked for new
housing in the Hill by the next summer "or people will not
continue to be patient."
On the evening on April 4,
that patience ran out. And
the result, Ralph W.
Conant, associate director
of the Lemberg Center for
the Study of Violence at
Brandeis University
testified before a task force
in April 1968 following the
The Hill District today
Pittsburgh riots, was almost
inevitable. "What white Pittsburgh must understand is that black
Pittsburgh had to riot before a sense of urgency about ghetto
problems was generated in the white community," he said.
Terms to Know
Crawford Grill – a well-known jazz club in the Hill District, at the
height of its popularity between the 1930s and 1950s.
Hill Arts Society – the group of local artists with whom August
Wilson associated in the late 1960s.
Hill District – a collection of largely black neighborhoods east of
Downtown Pittsburgh considered a local hub of African American
culture, and the setting of nine out of ten of August Wilson’s
“Pittsburgh Cycle” plays.
Jitney – an unlicensed taxicab, often found in neighborhoods that
licensed taxicabs avoid due to perceived danger or poverty. Also
the subject of Wilson’s 1982 play Jitney.
John Coltrane – a saxophonist and pioneer of “free jazz,” often
associated with Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk
Solo show – often called a “one-man show,” a dramatic
performance by a single artist. The performer may play one or
many characters, and the performance may or may not have a plot
or follow a narrative.
The corner of DeVilliers Street in the Hill District in 1961 and today
Discussion Questions
1. Consider and discuss the fallout after Monsignor Connare’s acceptance of
black parishioners into the St. Richards Church in the Hill District, and the
“three little old ladies” who continued coming to church despite the
integration. What does August Wilson mean when he says “if the country was
made up of them three…ladies, we’d be alright”?
2. Why does Wilson’s mother reject the radio station’s offer to give her a used
washing machine rather than the new one the contest advertised? How is
“something not always better than nothing?”
3. Why doesn’t Snookie’s husband Billy shoot August as he intended to? Why
does he buy August a beer?
4. Wilson describes reaching the “limitation of the instrument” as the highest
level of achievement for an artist. Do you feel art can be limited by the
medium used to create it?
5. When Wilson describes Cy Morocco’s trouble adjusting his “natural impulse”
to “the way things are done” in America. Do you think to have success in
America you must follow a certain path? Which do you think is more
important to achievement in American culture—individuality or conformity?
6. When Philmore kills a man for disrespecting his wife, why does no one in the
bar report the murder? Do you think they are right for keeping silent? Was
Philmore justified for his actions?
7. What does the old man mean when he tells August not to carry a “ten-gallon
bucket” through life?
8. Why does Wilson believe that the woman who refused to give him an
envelope is going to hell over adulterers and thieves?
9. At the start of the play, August Wilson describes blacks and other
“unwanted” ethnic groups “becoming and defining what it means to be an
American.” After watching the play, what do you think August Wilson’s
definition of “American” is? How is it similar or different from yours?
10. What does Wilson say is the most important lesson he has learned in life? Is
it a lesson that everyone can use, or is it specific to him? Could he have
learned this lesson without all the experiences he describes in the play?
Meet the Director
TODD KREIDLER (Director) originally directed/co-conceived How
I Learned What I Learned, with August Wilson performing, at
Seattle Rep in 2003. Re-imagined for an actor to perform, it
premiered last season at Off-Broadway’s Signature Theatre. Todd
wrote the musical Holler If Ya Hear Me, an original story
featuring the lyrics of Tupac Shakur that premiered on Broadway
last summer. His stage adaptation of the film Guess Who’s
Coming to Dinner premiered at True Colors Theatre in Atlanta
and was subsequently produced by Arena Stage in Washington,
D.C., the Huntington Theatre in Boston, and the Repertory
Theatre of St. Louis. He is currently writing several projects
including a musical with Nikki Sixx, based on Sixx’s memoir and
music, The Heroin Diaries, and a one-man show featuring David
Foster and his music. Other Broadway credits include Radio Golf
and Gem of the Ocean (Dramaturg) and the revival of Fences
(Associate Director). Todd co-founded the August Wilson
Monologue Competition, a national program aimed at integrating
August Wilson’s work into high school curriculums. He lives in the
Pittsburgh area with his wife, Erin Annarella, and son, Evan
August.
Meet the Cast
EUGENE LEE (Performer) Mr. Lee’s career as an actor
goes back as far as a command performance in a
University Drama Department production of A Raisin
in the Sun for President Lyndon Johnson on his Texas
ranch in 1972 and television episodes of “Dallas,”
“Good Times,” “The White Shadow,” “The Guiding
Light,”
“The District,” “The Women of Brewster
Place” with Oprah Winfrey, “The Jackson Five: An
American Dream,” and features Blacklisted, Coach
Carter, and the indie feature, Wolf. On the professional
stage he was in the original cast of the Pulitzer Prizewinning, A Soldier’s Play. Other Negro Ensemble
Company credits include Home, Sons and Fathers
of Sons, and Manhattan Made Me. He was Eli on
Broadway in Gem of the Ocean, acted in the world
premieres of every tongue confess and Guess Who’s
Coming to Dinner at Arena Stage, and True Colors
Theatre Company in Atlanta produc- tions of Fences,
How I Learned What I Learned, Ceremonies in Dark
Old Men, and Miss Evers’ Boys. As a playwright his
credits include East Texas Hot Links, Fear Itself,
Somebody Called: A Tale of Two Preachers,
Killingsworth, Lyin’ Ass, and the musical Twist.
Television writing credits include episodes of “Homicide:
Life on the Streets,” “Walker Texas Ranger,” “Michael
Hayes,” “The Turks,” and “The Journey of Allen
Strange.” Mr. Lee serves as Artist-in-Residence and
Artistic Director of the Texas State University Black
and Latino Playwright’s Conference. Check out his web
site: www.eugeneleeonline.com
Theater Etiquette
When you visit the theater you are attending a live performance with actors that are working right in front
of you. This is an exciting experience for you and the actor. However, in order to have the best
performance for both the audience and actors there are some simple rules to follow. By following these
rules, you can ensure that you can be the best audience member you can be, as well as keep the actors
focused on giving their best performance.
1. Turn off all cell phones, beepers, watches etc.
2. Absolutely no text messaging during the performance.
3. Do not take pictures during the performance.
4. Do not eat or drink in the theater.
5. Do not place things on the stage or walk on the stage.
6. Do not leave your seat during the performance unless it is an emergency.
If you do need to leave for an emergency, leave as quietly as possible and
know that you might not be able to get back in until after intermission.
7. Do clap—let the actors know you are enjoying yourself.
8. Do enjoy the show and have fun watching the actors.
9. Do tell other people about your experience and be sure to ask questions
and discuss the performance.
PA Academic Standards
The plays of Pittsburgh Public Theater’s 40th season, subtitled the Season of Legends, are a wonderful
celebration of some of the greatest works in theatrical history, with rich benefits for school students. The
2014-2015 line-up features a six-play subscription series, all by renowned composers and playwrights that
hold a special place in any theater enthusiast’s heart. The Season of Legends will provide examples of the
wittiest dialogue, the sharpest characters, and the most captivating scores.
Applicable to All Plays and Productions:
Arts and Humanities Standards and Reading-Writing-Speaking-Listening Standards
Attendance and participation by students at any play produced by Pittsburgh
Public Theater bears direct applicability to the PA Education Standards in Arts and Humanities and
Reading-Writing-Speaking-Listening (RWSL). These applicable standards are summarized first. Then,
each play for Season 39 is taken in turn, and its relevance to standards in other Academic Content Areas is
cited. All standards are summarized by conceptual description, since similar concepts operate across all the
grade levels served by The Public’s Education-Outreach programs (Grades 4 through 12); the principal
progressive difference is from basics such as Know, Describe and Explain, moving through grade levels
towards more mature activities such as Demonstrate, Incorporate, Compare-Contrast, Analyze and
Interpret.
9.1: Production, Performance and Exhibition of Dance, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts
Elements
• Scenario • script/text • set design • stage productions • read and write
scripts • improvise • interpret a role • design sets • direct.
Principles
• Balance • collaboration • discipline • emphasis • focus • intention • movement • rhythm • style •
voice.
• Comprehensive vocabulary within each of the arts forms.
• Communicate a unifying theme or point of view through the production of works in the arts.
• Explain works of others within each art form through performance or exhibition.
• Know where arts events, performances and exhibitions occur and how to
gain admission.
9.2: Historical and Cultural Contexts
• The historical, cultural and social context of an individual work in the arts.
• Works in the arts related chronologically to historical events, and to
varying styles and genres, and to the periods in which they were created.
• Analyze a work of art from its historical and cultural perspective, and according to its geographic
region of origin.
• Analyze how historical events and culture impact forms, techniques and
purposes of works in the arts.
• Philosophical beliefs as they relate to works in the arts.
Play #4: How I Learned What I Learned. April 16, 2015—May 16, 2015.
Written by August Wilson (2003). Directed by Todd Kreidler
Two years before his death in 2005, August Wilson wrote and performed this one-man play about his days
as a struggling young writer in Pittsburgh's Hill District and how the neighborhood and its people inspired
his amazing cycle of plays about the African American experience. Recommended for mature high school
audiences.
Civics and Government
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Analyze how conflict and cooperation among groups and organizations have influenced the
history and development of the world.
Analyze the sources, purposes, functions of law, and how the rule of law protects individual
rights and promotes the common good.
Analyze strategies used to resolve conflicts in society and government.
Examine the causes of conflicts in society and evaluate techniques to address those conflicts.
Analyze the principles and ideals that shape United States government.
o Liberty / Freedom
o Democracy
o Justice
o Equality
History


Analyze how conflict and cooperation among groups and organizations have influenced the
history and development of the world.
Evaluate how continuity and change have impacted the world today.
o Belief systems and religions
o Commerce and industry
o Technology
o Politics and government
o Physical and human geography
o Social organization
Geography

Describe the human characteristics of places and regions using the following criteria:
 Population
 Culture
 Settlement
 Economic activities
 Political activities
Career Education and Work

Describe the factors that influence career choices, such as, but not limited to: Geographic location
o Job description
o Salaries/benefits
o Work schedule
o Working conditions

Analyze the economic factors that impact employment opportunities, such as, but not limited to:
Competition
o Geographic location
o Global influences
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Job growth
Job openings
Labor supply
Potential advancement
Potential earnings
Salaries/benefits
Unemployment
References
"August Wilson." August Wilson, Pulitzer Winning Playwright: Biography. N.p., n.d.
Web. 14 Aug. 2014. <http://www.august-wilson-theatre.com/biography.php>.
"August Wilson." August Wilson, Pulitzer Winning Playwright: Plays. N.p., n.d. Web. 14
Aug. 2014. <http://www.august-wilson-theatre.com/plays.php>.
"Jazz - Pittsburgh Music History." Jazz - Pittsburgh Music History. N.p., n.d. Web. 14
Aug. 2014. <https://sites.google.com/site/pittsburghmusichistory/pittsburghmusic-story/jazz>.
"MLK Riots: When Patience Ran Out, the Hill Went up in Flames."Pittsburgh PostGazette. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Aug. 2014. <http://www.postgazette.com/life/lifestyle/2008/04/02/MLK-riots-When-patience-ran-out-the-Hillwent-up-in-flames/stories/200804020235#ixzz38skpuUAN>.
"Race Relations during the 1960s and 1970s." Scholastic. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Aug. 2014.
<http://www.scholastic.com/browse/subarticle.jsp?id=1437>.