Abstract
Almost single-handedly, August Wilson put Pittsburgh on the world cultural map. For theater-goers, both in the United States and internationally, his plays have made the city’s Hill District neighborhood the rival of Harlem as shorthand for the Black urban experience. Given that Pittsburgh was Wilson’s hometown and that he lived there until the age of 33, it might seem natural that his plays would be set there. In fact, however, his decision to do so came only after an almost accidental discovery of the noted African American painter and collagist Romare Bearden.
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