Elizabeth Carpenter was born in 1919 in Pittsburgh and grew up in Homewood on Murtland Avenue. Ms. Carpenter was homeschooled until the sixth grade. From seventh grade on she would attend Westinghouse High school. She would go on to graduate as a member of the class of 1937. When asked about growing up in her neighborhood Ms. Carpenter recalled “Everybody knew everybody and helped everybody if they needed help.” Ms. Capenter worked as a house cleaner for a neighbor, helping them care for things around their home. Ms. Carpenter had many friends, remarking ” We were all friends. I didn’t have any particular friends, we were all friends, classmates.”
Bulldog Pride
One big takeaway from Ms. Carpenters time at Westinghouse was the immense pride herself and every student felt about the school. Whether it was in regards to the music program, football team or the track team which Ms. Carpenter was a part of herself. There was a lot to be proud of at Westinghouse no matter where you looked. According to Ms. Carpenter a common phrase among the students was “This is the House, and the House won’t lose!”
Stars of the Halls
He had to sit on a telephone book so he could be raised up high enough to play the piano.
James “Honey Boy” Minor on percussion, Joe Westray on electric guitar, Erroll Garner behind piano, and George “Ghost” Howell on bass, on stage of Harlem Casino (detail) ca. 1939–1940, Carnegie Museum of Art, Heinz Family Fund.Photo by Charles “Teenie” Harris, view the rest of his collection by clicking the link here.
While looking back on some of the most notable figures she shared the halls of the House with, one that came to mind was Erroll Garner. While those outside of Westinghouse may just know Erroll for his incredible skills as a Jazz pianist, Ms. Carpenter commented how they used to joke with Erroll about having to to sit on top of a phonebook just to be able to play the piano. Among others were the fantastic Jack Oz and her English teacher Mrs. Paul. Mrs. Paul would write on the board every single day “Procrastination is the thief of time.” and that quote has always stuck with Ms. Carpenter.
Westinghouse Forever
At the end of the day, no matter what you did at Westinghouse and when you did it, there’s always an everlasting feeling of pride you have for just having been through those halls among some of the best musicians and athletes Pittsburgh has ever seen. If you were to ask someone who went to Westinghouse they’d let you know that those halls had some of the best PEOPLE the Homewood community, and city of Pittsburgh, has ever seen as well.
To listen to the full interview with Elizabeth Carpenter, follow the link to the interview here.
Mubarik Ismaeli is an alumni of Westinghouse Academy, having graduated with the class of 1999. In high school and beyond Mubarik was, and still is, an active member of his community and always looks to help foster the growth of those around him, especially the youth he mentors. Since graduation Mubarik has been a pillar of the Homewood community, giving back in anyway he can to the community that he grew up in through sports and multiple community outreach efforts.
“We talking about life and death here when we’re dealing with young black boys,” he said. “And I teach to them that everything we’re doing right now is to set them up in a better position. And as black people as a whole, we have to start thinking like that.”
Early Days and Roots
Mubarik has been involved heavily with the Homewood community since his youth, as his father was as well. Mubarik’s father, a Black Panther, was an activist in Homewood and active member of the community for all of Mubarik’s youth. His father was one of the founders of the Harambee black arts festival and was involved with the CCAC summer camps as well, which he made sure his sons became involved in. Mubarik attended a muslim school for the early years of his childhood, then found himself homeschooled before heading to Westinghouse in ninth grade where he continued being his own individual and becoming a leader among students and involved in sports.
Coach Mu
Mubarik, or Coach Mu as the young men who he coaches and mentor know him, has taken on his own role as a positive pillar of the community. Mubarik has been recognized for his work in the community as the president of Homewood Community sports and as a coach within the organization. Recently he was interviewed as part of a community interview series called “Crossing fences”. In this interview he discussed the importance of activism within the community and community betterment through youth engagement. He also discusses the idea as having each others back as a community and investing time and effort in one another. “We talking about life and death here when we’re dealing with young black boys,” he said. “And I teach to them that everything we’re doing right now is to set them up in a better position. And as black people as a whole, we have to start thinking like that.”
You can read more about the interview with Mubarik and entire crossing fences program here.
Community Involvement Beyond Sports
Mubarik has become involved in the Homewood community outside of the realm of sports. He has become an active member of the Homewood community development collaborative. This organization is an effort between community leaders in Homewood to create a unified and comprehensive development process in addressing the needs of the community. Its no surprise Mubarik would become involved with an effort like this as one of the main commitments and goals of the collaborative is to create a fully inclusive planning environment and involve everyone they can in bettering the community. To listen to those spearheading the effort, Mubarik included, speak about their efforts and ideas you can watch a discussion and presentation hosted by Pitt here.
Donta Green graduated from The House in 2005. He remembered growing up in the neighborhood.
“I remember when we were young, we would go outside as soon as the sun rose and we wouldn’t want to come in until our parents made us, going over another kid’s house or playing in front of those kid’s house, roller skating, basketball, all the different activities that we used to do, it’s not the same anymore,” Green said.
When Green was at Westinghouse in the early 2000s, he became part of a family and community tradition.
“To be able to go to schools with my friends the kids that I grew up with, it was pretty cool,” he said. “Another thing too about my school is the teachers that were at Westinghouse at that time were a lot of the same teachers who taught my mom, and my entire family went to Westinghouse, my mom, my uncles, my great uncles, they all went to Westinghouse.”
Green became the head coach of the football team at his alma mater in 2019 and began building what the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette called the “Green Machine” as the number of players went from 23 to 55 in a few short years. Coach Green has now led the Westinghouse Bulldogs to three City League Championships as well as the state championship game, but it’s not all about winning for him and his players.
“The goal honestly is to be as involved in the community as we can, so we’re always looking for different partnerships and different people to help us provide those opportunities for our young people. That’s everything for us,” Green said. “Winning games is fine. It’s really cool for kids that are walking in their own neighborhood and say, you know what, I did that or I cleaned this lot or I was a part of this program when I was in this part of my neighborhood. I think that creates a pride in people’s community.”
“At the end of the day, there has to be some demonstration of selfless servitude that you have to demonstrate in order to be an effective team player, and that’s something that we pay very close attention to. We like to call it a character-driven program where we focus on the character, we focus on academics and social skills, and we believe the athletic work will come on its own. It’s a tried and it’s a true method, and this year is a result of that.”
