Roberta Hill Pittsburgh collection

[Kenneth and Tracie Josephson]

Edward G Skuchas wrote:

> Being a new member to this email group, where is this collection?  Is it in public or private hands?

Welcome aboard, Edward. Ms. Hill was originally from Washington, DC. She started out photographing
streetcars in her hometown. After DC Transit ceased streetcar operations, Ms. Hill began to travel,
photographing surviving North American streetcar and trackless trolley operations. She was very
knowledgeable about the systems. Her most prolific work was in Toronto, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. She
would walk the lines, end to end, photographing the cars and included the cars in photos she took of
neighborhood landmarks. Traction fans nicknamed her "Carbarn Sally." In various African-American
neighborhoods, she was known as "the streetcar lady."

Ms. Hill was reclusive and her family was embarrassed by her railfanning activities. She maintained an
apartment in DC and also lived in Philadelphia for years. The DC apartment became something of storage
locker during the last years of her life. When she passed away several years ago, the landlord broke
into her DC apartment and looted many of her antiques before notifying the family. They had no knowledge
of the apartment and its contents. Thousands of her negatives and prints were lost or destroyed. Of
approximately 10,000 photographs taken of PRwyCo. and PAT operations, only about 2,000 negatives are
known to have survived, though more may be floating around DC area antique shops.

I purchased the entire Pittsburgh print collection, plus all known surviving negatives. I will be
donating the collection to the PTM in due time.

Ms. Hill also collected movie posters, vintage license plates and was an animal lover.  Ken J.