The Clemente Museum — Attraction in Pittsburgh

I'm going to summarize my review with a letter I sent to an American friend today, 17 September 2025:

"Alan, went with 7 more buddies from high school to your native PA. It's a beautiful very friendly city...Pittsburgh is!

Saw the premiere of the new movie, CLEMENTE, at the Harris Theater and went to the Clemente Day Fest on the bridge in support of the wonderful Clemente Museum. The next day, we went up the historic Ride to the Observation Deck in the 148-year-old Incline car to see one of USA's most beautiful cities. We then visited the most amazing museum on 3339 Penn Ave to honor someone and a native of another state/country...CLEMENTE, THE GREAT ONE! My hat off to Dwayne, the founder and Gary G, our tour guide!

On Monday, we attended the Clemente Day game at the PNC Park! I wore the shirt you gave me...unique for a special day like that! It was the perfect weekend, weather, security, and friendliness of any place I've visited! And the best of all...no Ice agents in sight during the 4 days! We spoke Spanish all the time and no one complained. Best of all, the locals appreciated that we visited from Puerto Rico...UNBELIEVABLE!

I've never have felt more welcomed in a USA city...EVER! All thanks to a very humble black Puerto Rican that could have been my Dad!

I believe that Clemente is not idolized in his beloved Puerto Rico the same as in Pittsburgh because we don't understand his struggles to become THE GREAT ONE...his humanity, his humility, his pride, his service to our country as a Marine, and his attitude to succeed against all odds! And he, a black Puerto Rican, did all that while putting the Pittsburgh Pirates and his adoptive city on the map of America's Favorite Pastime between 1950s and the 1970s...very difficult times for Black Americans, Latino players and all America in general!

Again...UNBELIEVABLE!

It was a spectacular 4-day trip with wonderful friends to celebrate the life of our fellow country man, #21...THE GREAT ONE!

Tu...

I hate to be that guy that gives a 5 star museum a 3 star rating. I'm going to do it though and I'll tell you why. It's because this isn't a museum. This is a memorabilia collection. A really damn cool and expansive memorabilia collection, but not a museum in any traditional sense. The distinction (admittedly, one that I've fabricated in my head) turns on two key characteristics.

The first is the presentation of the items in the collection. There seems to have been little to no thought put into the placement of the items in the collection - everything is scattered about 2 floors (and a staircase/hallway) with no overarching theme or narrative. More damning though is the lighting - the entire museum is dimly lit to the point that individual items are often hard to grasp. That also makes some of the text placards difficult to read, which is a good segue.

The exhibit placards are not great. They often describe what an item is and sometimes where it came from (the name of a donor). They rarely provide any context or give the viewer any sense of how to grasp the significance of the item in relation to the life of Roberto Clemente or his impact on baseball, culture, Pittsburgh etc. The text could also be bigger as well.

The end result is that if you're not a baseball fan or a student of the game, you're unlikely to enjoy this museum very much. I'm not saying don't go. If you're a Pirates fan or a baseball history nut, you'll love this place. For anyone else though (including most children), this is probably not the...

This is a fantastic little museum tucked away at the end of the strip. It tugs at your heartstrings and makes you proud to have had such a wonderful man representing our hometown Pittsburgh Pirates. There is so much to see here and so much to learn... Impossible to see everything in one trip. Definitely a great private tour. Highly recommended for all sports fans in general (as there is far more than just baseball and Pirate memorabilia here)... Learn all about Roberto & his family, his childhood leading up to his career as a Pittsburgh Pirate, all of the wonderful things he did for other people in the world, and ultimately, the tragic accident that took him from us. See documents relating to his time in the military, the first contract he signed with the Pirates and his first meager salary, photos from his wedding album, outfits he wore and sports equipment he uses, art he created, historical pieces from Forbes Field and Three Rivers stadium... And SO much more! There are countless fascinating things displayed in this unique space, which was a firehouse many years ago. Great way to spend an afternoon with friends, family, or out of town is looking for something interesting to see and do in...