David P. Demarest Jr., 1931 - 2011

Farewell to David Demarest, retired CMU English professor and immigrant history super-hero. His name may not be immediately recognized, but his work certainly is:

Out Of This Furnace: A Novel of Immigrant Labor in America, by Thomas Bell
Written in 1941, Mr. Demarest rediscovered this novel in 1976 about 3 generations of an immigrant family who worked in the steel mills of Homestead.

The Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanko
Mr. Demarest's fundraising helped raise money for the restoration of Maxo Vanko's murals in St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church. The stunning murals, 22 in all, tell the Slovak immigrant story of religion and poverty. Think Sistine Chapel, but with mill hunkies.

Braddock Carnegie Library
He was instrumental in the rescue of Braddock Carnegie Library and then founder and editor of the Braddock Fields Historical Society newsletter.

Obituary, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette