2026 SPEAKERS
Community Room, Whitehall Borough Building
100 Borough Park Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15236
Starting at 7pm
April 9, 2026 “Life, Liberty and the Persuit of Happiness”
** At the Regis Shalley Performing Arts Center at Baldwin High School
The Whitehall Borough Historical Society is presenting a unique commemoration of the 250th Anniversary of the founding of our nation at the Baldwin High School’s Dr Regis V. Shalley Performing Arts Center beginning at 7:00 pm on April 9, 2026. It will feature five prominent individuals reflecting upon the Declaration of Independence’s theme of “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness in the 21st Century”.
Retired KDKA political commentator, Jon Delano, will be the moderator. The panelists will include Dr. Edda Fields-Black, a Pulitzer Prize winning author and Carnegie Mellon University history professor, Brandon McGinley, Whitehall native and the Editorial Editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Joseph Mistick, political commentator, writer and law professor at Duquesne University and Monica Ruiz, the Executive Director of Casa San Jose, an immigrant support organization.
Baldwin High School students will also be participating in the event with a reading of the Declaration along with the singing of patriotic songs.
Adults and students are encouraged to attend this free event. Registration is required. To sign up, please visit the Whitehall Public Library’s website at www.whitehallpubliclibrary.org or call (412) 882-6622. Any additional questions please contact the Historical Society at whitehallhistory100@gmail.com or visit www.whitehallboroughhistoricalsociety.org.
About the Speakers:
Jon Delano
Jon Delano is a decorated journalist, writer, and political analyst. He is the former Money & Politics editor for KDKA and served as a political analyst for 30 years. A trusted voice in the broadcast field, he has appeared on national news programs and interviewed multiple presidents and politicians like Barack Obama, President Donald Trump, and Joe Biden. He’s the recipient of awards like the Edward R. Murrow Award for hard news reporting and Small Business Journalist Champion of the Year award from the U. S. Small Business Administration. Jon graduated from Haverford College and received his Juris Doctor from University of Pennsylvania Law School. He taught at Carnegie Mellon University’s H. John Heinz College of Information Systems & Public Policy for 25 years. Dr. Edda Fields-Black
Dr. Edda Fields-Black is a Pulitzer-Prize-winning historian, producer, and writer. She is the Director of the Dietrich College Humanities Center at Carnegie Mellon University and has consulted for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Senator John Heinz History Center, and the International African American Museum. Her book, COMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War, received the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in History, as well as the 2025 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize. Fields holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Brandon McGinley
Brandon McGinley serves as the editorial page editor at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette and oversees the editorial board, opinion section and Sunday Insight section. He is the author of several books, and his work has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Writing. McGinley graduated from Princeton University in 2010 and has been with the Post Gazette since 2021. He is also a Whitehall Borough native.
Joseph Sabino Mistick, Esq.
Joseph Sabino Mistick is an associate professor of law at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law at Duquesne University. He is a weekly Sunday columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune and has been on programs like CBS Sunday Morning, PBS NewsHour, and Voice of America. In 1995, he founded the Urban Development Law Clinic. Mistick holds a J.D. from Duquesne Kline School of Law and a B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh.
Sister Janice Vanderneck
Sister Janice Vanderneck is the Founding Director of Casa San José, a Pittsburgh nonprofit, resource and welcome center for the Latino community. She is a Sister of St. Joseph of Baden, and she has worked in Latin America, educating and organizing community members to think critically about power structures, oppression, and political engagement.
Sister Janice worked for decades as a religion teacher and principal at Catholic elementary and high schools in Pittsburgh. She has received numerous awards for her extraordinary service including the Michael McGrady Award for Service at the Art Rooney Awards Dinner, the OHTLI Award given by the Secretariat of the Mexican Government for service to the Mexican community in the US, the El Sol Award from the Hispanic Attorneys Committee of the Allegheny Bar Association, and the Volunteer Preceptor of the Year (IPPE) award from the School of Pharmacy of the University of Pittsburgh. Her most recent award was the Corazon Latino Legacy Award given at the Pennsylvania Hispanic Convention in September 2025.
September 24, 2026 “City of Steel” featuring Kenneth Kobas
Talk about Pittsburgh
October 22, 2026 Tom McMillan will discuss his new book on Flight 93
Our Annual meeting
Program registration is hosted by the Whitehall Borough Public Library. Registration will begin on the 1st of the month when a lecture will be held. You may register online at: www.whitehallpubliclibrary.org
Contact us: whitehallhistory100@gmail.com or on Facebook