Special Collections

The Special Collections Gallery, located in the Sigo Falk Collections Center on the museum’s fourth floor, features the neighborhoods and people who define our region.

Thousands of objects, showcased in this open storage gallery, share the rich heritage of the people who settled this region and the stories of the communities they built.

The Special Collections Gallery also houses a changing textile gallery which features outstanding examples of clothing from the collection. In addition, a large window into the the Grace M. Compton Conservation Lab, provides behind-the-scenes views of museum professionals at work.

Exhibit Must-Sees

  • Select artifacts from the popular children’s show “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” including King Friday XIII’s Castle and the Great Oak Tree.
  • The paintings and experiences of artist Ron Donoughe in the “90 Pittsburgh Neighborhoods” display.
  • A 1941 Cadillac hearse from the Gaines Funeral Home, one of the oldest continuously operating African American businesses in the region.
  • Interactive drawers that visitors can open to discover archeological pieces collected during construction of the Port Authority’s Gateway Center station.
  • Brightly colored Slovak folk costumes with beautiful handwork and a Slovenian Kurent costume worn during Pust or carnival.
  • Unique artifacts from regional businesses and corporations such as the eagle sculpture that once stood atop the H.J. Heinz Company’s Time Building on the North Side.
  • Toys including circus figures made by the Schoenhut Company and given for Christmas to a Pittsburgher in 1915.
  • An extraordinary stained glass window crafted by the Rudy Brothers Studio of Pittsburgh for the Vanadium Company Building in Oakland.
  • The interior features from Machsekei Hadas synagogue.