William Penn Life, 2010 (45. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

2010-05-01 / 5. szám

ians; about their past and present, about the people who represent the ancient Ural-Altaic culture and civilization; the people who are the descendants of the Akkadians, Urs, Medes, Uigurs, Scythians, and Ungs—the men and women who call themselves Magyars."

With Gomory's assistance, the university was able to attract the attention of Hungary's Ministry of Education to the project. The ministry gave the committee $5,000 towards the construction of the Hungarian classroom and provided funds for a design contest.

The award went to Dénes Györgyi, an internationally known architect whose previous designs included the Déri Museum in Debrecen and the Hungarian pavilions at the World Fairs in Barcelona and Brussels. Györgyi, like the designers of each of the rooms, was required to follow a set of principles established to ensure authenticity and the absence of political influence. Each room must illustrate one of the outstanding architectural or design traditions of the nation. The period depicted in the design should be prior to 1787, the date of the U.S. Constitution. Furthermore, to avoid political implications, the room may not have political symbols in its decorations nor the portrait or likeness of any living person.

It would be nearly a decade between the time Györgyi received his commission in 1930 until the Hungarian Room's dedication in 1939. In between, the success or failure of the project laid mostly in the hands of two people, Gomory and Ruth Crawford Mitchell, who had been appointed by then- University Chancellor John Bowman to oversee the planning of the Nationality Rooms. It was their task to raise the funds necessary to make the room a reality. Together, the two traveled to Hungarian churches, picnics and social halls, going wherever and whenever an opportunity arose to promote

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William Penn Life 0 May 2010 0 Tu <