by Jess Peters

My reflections of the New Pittsburgh Courier are basically good, some better and the majority of them the best memories of my life. Actually, I grew up with the Courier throughout the years I attended Herron Hill Jr. High and Schenley. I would go to the Centre Avenue YMCA everyday after school and see a lot of the Courier employees right across the street, Bill Nunn Sr., Hazel Garland and Harold Keith, to mention a few. Some of the pressmen from the Courier would bring copies of the paper over to the Y and I made sure to secure one to take home for my parents to read.

JESS PETERS

After working for a major pharmaceutical company in upstate New York I returned to Pittsburgh in 1969 and began to write sports part-time for the Courier. Bill Nunn Jr. was the sports editor and a scout for the Steelers. The following year Nunn devoted full time to the Steelers and just wrote a weekly column with the paper. Subsequently, I was offered the sports editor’s position.

In 1909, Robert L. Vann became the first African-American graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Little did he know that more than 100 years later, his alma mater would celebrate his accomplishments as the editor and publisher of the Pittsburgh Courier and the legacy his newspaper has sustained over the years.

COURIER, PITT HEADS—Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg, Rod Doss and Robert Hill.

As part of Pitt’s annual K. Leroy Irvis Black History Month Program, special guests were given a preview of the newest exhibit at the Senator John Heinz History Center. “America’s Best Weekly: A Century of The Pittsburgh Courier,” serves as one of the final events in the yearlong celebration of the Courier’s centennial anniversary.

“This is of course an exhibition of impact that will provide people with the sense of influence. It’s really impossible to measure the impact,” said Pitt Chancellor Mark Nordenberg. “If people are committed, progress is possible and progress can be fueled in a wide range of ways.”

The U.S. House recently voted to repeal the Health Care Reform law and it’s now in the U.S. Senate where it’s favored to be upheld. The president is expected to veto any bill that would repeal this law. So we asked Pittsburghers their view and this is what you said:

“I am worried about my grandmother and my grandfather who have health care now but what happens if they repeal it, how is it going to affect them? I think they should leave it alone and it will work itself out.”
Raven Rucker
Downtown
Student

Timothy Cox, Courier Entertainment Editor, 1982-1987

My initial experience with the New Pittsburgh Courier was as a freelance writer who in the spring of 1981 contributed a story chronicling the impact of the infamous Atlanta murders.

TIMOTHY COX

I started my full-time Courier career as a general assignment reporter in May 1982, but after just five months on the job, Phillip Harrigan resigned from the Entertainment Editor's post and I was promoted to his position. As a professional musician who played the city's jazz circuit with Tim Stevens and Al Dowe along with performing with a ‘50s nostalgic touring band called Delmonics & Company, the writing gig was a natural fit for me.

Fortunately  for me, legendary columnist Hazel Garland and her daughter Phyl Garland would often show up in the newsroom frequently to impart their knowledge about Pittsburgh's Jazz legacy.