Fraternity-Testvériség, 2008 (86. évfolyam, 1-3. szám)
2008-07-01 / 3. szám
i THE HUNGARIAN CLASSROOM IN PITTSBURGH'S CATHEDRAL OF LEARNING each other in political and ideological differences failed to deter the various ethnic groups from their goal of completing the rooms. Called the Nationality Rooms, they express timeless human values. In wood, glass, iron, stone, fabric, color and artifacts with poignant quotations carved throughout, the concepts of all groups are clearly expressed; honesty, courage, love of nature, order, faith, freedom, respect for learning, creativity and beauty. There’s bits of Athens during the time of Pericles, Beijing’s Forbidden City, Ghana’s Asante temple, Slovakian mountains, Czech flowers, London’s House of Commons, and America’s New England home complete with hearth and spinning wheel. The President of the Board of Trustees at the University in 1957, Alan Magee Scaife, believed that the classrooms themselves are teachers because, as he wrote, “They represent the best and noblest heritage of the nationality groups which have helped make Pittsburgh an industrial and cultural capital of the world. They also represent the sacrifice, hopes and understanding of hundreds of people who strive to reach the highest wisdom and work for the greatest good of mankind.” University President Wesley W. Posvar from 1967-1991 believed that the Nationality Rooms epitomized the character of the school by “melding culture, beauty and learning while still preserving and honoring the ethnic identities of the area and symbolizing the nation’s unity.” By fostering scholarships, the community of Pittsburgh would be brought into the school. He wrote, “Each room is an artistic treasure, a major investment of talent and effort, so it is significant that the rooms are not museums but functioning, fully utilized classrooms.” However, the rooms have become more than just classrooms and tourist sites. The committees such as the Women’s International Club, the Nationality Council and the various fraternal benefit societies who give so generously each year co-sponsor intercultural exchanges, fund-raising events, distinguished international visitors, library book purchases, publication of volumes on comparative literature, scholarships awarded to students and faculty to study abroad, lectures, concerts, exhibits, and social events that highlight the nations of Eastern and West Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Even ethnic recipes were published in a Nationality Rooms cookbook available for purchase in the Commons Room. In 1938, the first four rooms were completed, and classes were held in them at various times of the day, just as they are now. Streams of people- often families of three generations- visit the world-famous rooms that evoke pride in their own heritage, elicit appreciation of other cultures, and foster curiosity about certain artifacts and architectural motifs. During my own time there, members of a religious order and architectural students along with interior designers were scheduling visits. In the planning stages are additional rooms to honor the cultures of Denmark, Switzerland, the Philippines, and Latin America. A couple of principles govern the creation of these new rooms to follow in the tradition of the rest. Each room must illustrate one of the outstanding architectural or design traditions of the particular nation that is formally recognized by the Department of State. The design of a given historical period must be cultural and aesthetic, FRATERNITY - TESTVÉRISÉG 21
