Marker memorializes playwright Wilson

Ramit Plushnick-Masti

PITTSBURGH — Friends, relatives and local officials stood last Thursday before the dilapidated building where August Wilson was born to memorialize the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright who used his neighborhood to chronicle the black experience in 20th century America.

The state dedicated a blue and gold historical marker at 1727 Bedford Ave. — the home where Wilson grew up with his brothers and sisters — to the applause of family, friends and residents of the Hill District neighborhood.

Wilson died of liver cancer on Oct. 2, 2005, at the age of 60. His landmark dramas, such as “Fences” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” were part of an astounding 10-play cycle, nine of them set in Pittsburgh. He won two Pulitzers — for “Fences” and “The Piano Lesson” — a best play Tony award for “Fences” and best play Tony nominations for six of his other plays.

“Today is a cause for celebration. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has recognized one of their own, a historic day, an honor I wish my father was here to see,” Wilson’s daughter, Sakina Ansari, said to applause. “He puts the Hill District on the map.”

Frederick August Kittel was born in 1945 to Daisy Wilson and Frederick Kittel, a baker who emigrated from Germany. After his father died, the boy known in the Hill District as Freddy Kittel changed his name to August Wilson, honoring his mother by taking her maiden name.

Paul Ellis, Wilson’s nephew, bought the decaying brick house two years ago. He said he hopes the historical marker will be the first step in revitalizing the building.

“It’s a sense of accomplishment. I feel like we’re one step closer to memorializing a well-deserved legacy,” Ellis said.

The red and maroon facade of the brick house is peeling. Its upper windows are broken. The grocery store that used to fill the first floor is closed. A trash-filled path leads to the back of the house where the Kittel family lived, their apartment’s window now filled with gray concrete.

Minnie Robertson, 75, a longtime Wilson fan, said she was surprised to discover the decaying structure was the spot where Wilson took his first steps.

“I didn’t expect to see this,” she said. “But it’s good they didn’t fix it up for today because [now] we can see the before and after.”

The house stands between a similar brick structure, its white facade boarded up, and an empty lot where another building was demolished.

Friends recalled the Italian family that lived on one side of Wilson’s family and the Jewish family that lived on the other. The three families living side-by-side were characteristic of the neighborhood’s unique multiracial nature, setting it apart from other segregated areas of Pittsburgh.

Frustrated by the racism he met in Pittsburgh schools, Wilson dropped out of high school and taught himself in the city’s libraries.

Thelma W. Lovette, 91, recalled being sent to young Freddy’s home as a school district social worker.

“They sent me to him because he was truant from school for many days. They thought he was playing hooky from school, but he was actually at the Wylie Avenue library, reading everything he could,” said Lovette, who attended the memorial service with her daughter.

“It’s just such a pleasure to see the finished product.”

(Associated Press)