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WHEREAS, July 19, 1911, is the day the City of Pittsburgh celebrated reclaiming the “h” at the end of its name after it was taken away twenty years prior; and,
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WHEREAS, in 1758, after the British captured Fort Duquesne from the French, General Forbes, whose Scottish background is the reason for the “h”, named the settlement “Pittsbourgh” honoring British Prime Minister William Pitt; and,
WHEREAS, although the current “Pittsburgh” spelling was used on the original city charter granted on March 18, 1816, a printing error on the official copies of the document spelled the city without the “h”; and,
WHEREAS, in 1882, the official document with the current Pittsburgh spelling was burned in a fire that destroyed the second Allegheny County Court House. Unaware of the correct spelling, the United States Board of Geographic Names was appointed to standardize American Place names. Pittsburgh officially lost its “h” when the Board’s report was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on December 23, 1891; and,
WHEREAS, in 1906, William H. Davis, who was appointed as Postmaster, spearheaded a campaign for the restoration of the missing letter, enlisting the backing of Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senator George T. Oliver, and on July 19, 1911, the board reviewed the case and gave our city our “h” back; and,
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby acknowledge and thank PGH Apparel for continuing to keep the “Pride Glory and Honor” of Pittsburgh’s history of the “h” alive; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby declare, Sunday, July 19, 2020 to be “H Day” in the City of Pittsburgh.