Audrey Dawida
Audrey Dawida is the wife of former Representative, Senator and Allegheny County Commissioner Michael Dawida and was very active in the Carrick community.
This article describes Joe Speicher's (Speicher, Joseph) and Audrey Dawida's historical work in Carrick. Unfortunately the photo described below of John Phillips' home was lost but recently rediscovered along with more. For more see Phillips Properties, John Phillips, Hornaday Road and John M. Phillips.
Link to the South Pittsburgh Reporter
Carrick resident preserving his neighborhood’s history
Joseph Speicher, a life-time resident of Carrick and local historian, has compiled and preserved a collection of photographs and memorabilia about the Carrick neighborhood.
He began his work on the collection in 1988 and was honored in 2002 for more than 3,000 hours of volunteer work. He spent more than 15 years compiling the Carrick history collection which includes information from the early 1900s to the present.
Mr. Speicher has assembled an impressive collection of pictures, memorabilia and old newspaper clippings, everything from a photograph of John Phillips’ home to the Carrick business district in the 1940s. He has donated the compilation to the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Carrick where it is now housed.
A labor of love, developing this collection was also intensive work and Mr. Speicher was assisted by Vera Schuette and Audrey Dawida. They would meet at the library and look through the South Pittsburgh Reporter, copy articles pertaining to the Carrick neighborhood, compare photographs of local buildings with old photographs to identify locations, and assembled binders of information on different topics about the Carrick neighborhood.
They also worked with people who graciously donated photographs and information about their families. Through Mr. Speicher’s work, the mystery of what happened to the Carrick World War II Memorial was solved.
Vera Schuette (Image courtesy of The South Pittsburgh Reporter)
