University of Pittsburgh - Owl Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

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THE N7ITION71LITY ROOMS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

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A comprehensive statement of the meaning of die Nationality Rooms has been expressed by Dr. John (1. Bowman, President Honorarius of the L’niversity of Pittsburgh: “Warmth of heart, recognition of nobility in character and of beauty in homely, useful objects, respect for order ai fine craftsmanship, reverence for the true and lovely, intense feeling, and an extraordinary zest for doing are recaptured in their original energy throughout the materials and design of these rooms. Each room, itself an articulate expression of nobility by a people, speaks to faculty and to students: 'There is joy in books, in art, in ideas, in friends, and in common things. Education is learning to live in a world illuminated with kindness, wonder, and g!adncs$|The joy in these is yours to understand, to perfect within yourself, to live by, and to pass on.’ ” These panes show nineteen classrooms, each one devoted to a particular people’s ideals. When the Cathedral of Learning was erected, the people who made possible the city of Pittsburgh and the University created the Nationality Rooms, arranging them in beauty around the Commons Room. Dedicated to the ideal of preserving national heritages, the rooms are a lastin monument to Pittsburghers of all origins. At the University of Pittsburgh we may see at close hand the work of those who developed the principles by which we live. VIII

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THE CATHEDRAL OF LEARNING % :f A spearhead of truth and knowledge, the jutting Cathedral springs heavenward with the enthusiastic impetus of a people’s search for a more fulfilling life. These striving people representing many creeds and cultures, united with one another in the desire to improve themselves and to further the advantages of their children with the learning so vitally necessary to a city as rich in resource and as typical of world progress as Pittsburgh. Their dream over the last one hundred and sixty-eight years has grown in step with the great metropolis that it serves to advance. This towering forty-two story skyscraper in Gothic design—the tallest college building in the world epitomizes in its influence and prestige the world at Pitt. Technical research laboratories, clinics, hospitals, and the myriad schools and institutions are also an integral part of the University campus in the cultural and recreational center of Pittsburgh, the health and industrial capital of the world. Symbolizing our Alma Mater in the purpose of its existence and sweep of scope, the Cathedral, consecrated to the highest aspirations of reasoning man, remains a constant bulwark of international cooperation and understanding, an instrument of increasing benefit to the misfortunes of mankind, and a universal refuge for the freedom of thought and expression from which man reaches the fountainhead of eternal wisdom.