University of Pittsburgh - Owl Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

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Alwoyt • IfOII paw . tK» Umv tily ho% l»U«d hompM««h.p '•omt linn |K« tv n «l ih v » ry in mn « ikw i».lv« ip n On •P(Mf« pof y v w« a Xixk mnl W i m IhntiM Not. « |K« • vipmnni On tfcn poy» • nl» « • »•« I ploy»d m Intel R W, in 191 . bd«m KilandfmSHM ftel unnitMmniky »• « ynnn undergoing rapid growth as a civic center. Soldiers and Sailors Hall, the Syria Mosque, the Masonic Temple, and the Bureau of Mines now had head quarters in Oakland. The University was also growing. In 1911, enrollment was two thousand three hundred. By 1921, it had bounded to fourteen thousand. Pitt was now home for more than half of all students in higher education from Western Pennsylvania. In 1921 when John Gabbert Bowman became chancellor, the University was crowded into one-fourth the space it needed for laboratories, offices and classrooms. The school was deeply in debt. The first summer sessions had been introduced in 1912. The first evening school, the School of Business Administration, the School of Education and the Extension Division had become integral parts of the university mission. Expansion was needed on a larger scale for the Academy had outgrown even the fondest dreams of its creators. Studies showed that eight or ten larger buildings would be necessary to serve the ever expanding needs of the school. Estimates of the gigantic expense of construction and maintenance of such a building program and the difficulty of finding a suitable site, prompted Bowman toward an alternate solution. The Acropolis plan was scratched and plans made to build the University up instead of out were drawn up. Despite constant opposition, even from the Board of Trustees, Chancellor Bowman held out for his dream. He accepted a donation of a fourteen acre tract known as Frick Acres . He envisioned a high tower which in addition to housing classrooms and administrative offices, would serve as a visible symbol of an emerging metropolitan University. Bowman insisted that the structure is to be . . . forceful, unafraid, sublime, with a sense of upwardness. Its lift, buttress after buttress, rising, but never arriving at a spire, will suggest force enough to go still beyond ... to go ahead in a physical world and in a world of spirit. Philadelphia architect Charles Z. Klander finally produced a three inch sketch of the Chancellor's dream at a meeting which lasted until 4 A.M. Women's groups opposed the tower citing as arguments fears that students would tumble from the high windows as the structure swayed in the breeze. Others opposed the University undertaking such a massive project when in such debt. Undaunted and still committed. Bowman raised more than nine million in contributions for the structure. Corporate contributions, then a new idea, led the way. Ninety-seven thousand school children made ten cent contributions and received certificates. The effort began to attract nation wide attention, including a full-page spread in the New York Times. 19

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The returning Dr. Holland paid the junior class fine and became part of the 1889 class slogan, Holland, he pays the freight”. After a spectacular eight year tenure, Holland resigned in 1900 to be replaced by Dr. John A. Brashar. Personal business interests compelled that he also resign in 1904, despite his valiant attempts to carry on. Dr. Samuel Black McCormick became the elected Chancellor. When he was elected to office, the University was rapidly approaching another milestone. The student body numbered over nine hundred; the faculty one hundred and forty; the alumni two thousand and five hundred; endowments were approaching a half a million dollars; and property valued at more than one million. On July 11, 1908 the Western University of Pennsylvania became the University of Pittsburgh. Three months later, on October 2, 1908, Dr. McCormick laid the cornerstone for the first University building on the Oakland campus, the School of Mines. The cornerstone for Soldiers and Sailors Hall was set on the same day. Oakland was perfect as a building point for the University; all departments and schools could be unified. A magnificent array of Gothic structures were designed, at an estimated cost of $10,000,000. McCormick attempted earnestly to raise the money, and completed the construction of three buildings by 1911. Oakland was the area of Schenley AW Th 1415 rut «» «■ T—m OW,K(P p) Wwa . m '• •••■ C fW«, and 4w 4 v »«' ►» y a» Pm MI vnWt n winning It mwgKl f»»n.» Thn Warn » arinawtedgad m n 4 IK MM’I M dMUn I . At IK ttom ,ncl,M Jack SvtKwtand. wh l t . fathmg in 1 14. gmng Pin 1} y wt •4 faatball wpiMwy. and Ida k c«n» g h 4 A Sl W Farms located two miles outside of the city proper. The name Oakland” first appeared in 1839 in a local paper called the Harris Intelligencer. The May 25 issue reports that in 1836 James Chadwick sold his one hundred and sixty nine acre farm. B.A. Fahnstock, a physician, purchased a few plots and named it Oakland. As downtown expanded and became more congested, population shifted toward Oakland. In 1886, the city annexed Oakland township. The area was still largely undeveloped commercially. Many estates were still intact, the largest belonging to Mrs. Mary Schenley, the great grand-daughter of George Groghan, who had received 200,000 acres of land from the Indians in 1749. In 1889, Mrs. Schenley donated 300 acres to the city for the park which bears her name. In the late 1890's, Andrew Carnegie built a museum, library and lecture hall on the estate. He also gave a SI million donation to build the Carnegie Institute nearby. Next he offered the city money to construct and staff a technical school east of his museum. The school opened in 1905, and in 1912 was granted a charter giving it authority to award advanced degrees under the name Carnegie Institute of Technology. Old northside neighbors, the Pirates, came to Oakland and Forbes Field in 1909. The next decade found Oakland 18

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Bowman sent bulldozers to the scene for an unannounced ground-breaking in early 1926. A lawsuit over the Darlington bequest caused delays and a shortening of the structure by ten stories. Bowman had planned a 52-story building, which was now cut to 42. To prevent further shortening, Bowman ordered masons to begin work at the top and proceed downwards. Federal monies enabled workers to finish the exterior stonework by 1934. Insisting on a pay-as-we-go method, Bowman had incurred no further debts. The exterior of the Cathedral defined a gross volume of more than 9,000,000 cubic feet. It was designed to house 91 classrooms, 67 teaching labs, 52 research labs, 13 large lecture rooms, 15 departmental offices and 78 faculty offices. It also contained space for the faculty club, student lounges, the University library (three floors) and a cafeteria and a theater. The forty-second floor is the glass-walled Babcock Room, where administrative bodies sit in council. Dr. Bowman had invited Pittsburgh's nationality groups to decorate and furnish the seventeen classrooms which circle the great Commons Room. Designed by architects abroad, the rooms are unique. Each room captures an important period in the history of that nation. The first rooms were dedicated in 1938. The final one. The Irish Room, was dedicated in 1957. Today, the African Heritage Room is being planned alongside the Early American Room on the third floor. When complete, twenty cultures will be represented. The committees continue to this day to sponsor lectures, exhibits, exchange students and scholarships for students and faculty. They also decorate the rooms on holidays according to Old World style. 20