The Cathedral of Learning was once the highest higher education building in the world. Chancellor Bowman’s vision in building it was one of great height that would represent the quality of education that the University of Pittsburgh offered. While this is true, Bowman’s vision was much more far-reaching than that. The Cathedral of Learning not only plays an important role in the University of Pittsburgh student and faculty body, but is also an inclusive space that welcomes and represents the Pittsburgh community. This massive construction project became a unifying goal that the people of Pittsburgh and the university sought to accomplish together. The Cathedral would become a point of architectural pride and glory for every citizen of the city whose presence would later become internationally renowned.
From the very beginning the cooperation between the university and the cities community was extensive. Early letters from the Faculty of the School of Business Administration document their desire that “every effort be made to win the cooperation of the public and of the press” (A Letter to Dr. Bowman). Since the beginning, faculty remained interested in steering the building’s purpose in a communal direction, and this was well recognized. The faculty also mentioned their desire to “attract visitors and conventions to this city”. This influx of visitors would prove to help the local economy as well as consistently attract the brightest minds to the university. With overcrowding and $1.24 million in debt, Bowman needed to turn the university around and this was something he strove to do alongside the Oakland community from day one (Brown 1).
The public’s involvement with the Cathedral began with correspondences like the ones documented by Chancellor Bowman’s Memorial Office with a woman named Mrs. Stegeman. As a retired public school teacher who made 12 contributions fueled by her “devotion to the ideal of education the tall building stands for” she was one of many small Pittsburgh contributors. In fact, by 1934 the Sun Telegraph reported a whopping $2,600,000 in expenditures by the Pittsburgh community alone. This figure, however, does not even include all of the yearly funds that came from all of the nationality room committees.
The Nationality Room committees are run in order to maintain a cultural community much like the Czechoslovak Nationality Room Committee whose annual Slovak Festival has been run on a volunteer base for over a quarter century. These types of events are open to the public and promote pride for many various cultural heritages. Often times these events are run by volunteers who are members of the corresponding communities. Christine Metil, for example has been the organizer for the Slovak Festival for more than a decade and a half. The concept of the Cathedral of Learning was that the committees will get a room which the committee may decorate in a cultural representation of their country. The committees pay for the decoration, design, and upkeep but having their own platform in the magnificent cathedral is an excellent way for them to integrate that community into Pittsburgh. It gives them a space to be represented in the pride of the city as a whole that breeds inclusiveness. The fact that they hold a room in the cathedral also has a standard raising effect. The committees and people of the community understand that it is an honor to have that position and this mirrors the prestige and investment from the university that they maintain. The Czechoslovak Nationality Rooms Committee was able to have influential Slovak community members like Mr. Andrew Valuzek, the former national president of Sokol U.S.A., a very well renowned youth sports movement founded in Prague. This type of speaking engagement would have arguably not been possible without the explicit community inclusion catalyzed by their platform inside one of Pittsburgh’s most prominent structures. The symbiotic relationship of having communally used space inside the Cathedral serves to make people of all walks of life feel welcomed, but also stimulates planning of diverse events and activities. In many universities, the community is excluded from the campus. This alienates the community and fosters an “us vs. them” mentality. It is easy to see the effects of an integrated community on a university campus when you compare Pitt to Temple University. Compared to other universities like Temple University, the University of Pittsburgh offers a much more community inclusive atmosphere and while Pittsburgh is still a gruff city, the two intertwine much more fluidly. The University of Pittsburgh is mostly publicly accessible unlike Temple and while it is still a university catering to its students, it does not explicitly exclude anyone. At Temple, many buildings are only accessible with a university ID and are staffed with security guards much like a government building. The segregated layout affects both the student and community body negatively. This type of mentality is not conducive to the ideology of the Cathedral. In 1970, black Oakland citizens were up 4% from the national average already (University of Pittsburgh Neighborhood Alliance) and the Asian population today is also above average proving the communities dedication to promoting diversity. Not only are the communities racially diverse, but importantly the interaction crossing these racial lines is welcomed as opposed to being divided by a key card barrier. Where inclusiveness is promoted, people of all walks in the city feel welcomed and not alienated. This mentality is partly thanks to the vision of Chancellor Bowman and his coordination with the community which includes the local businesses as well.
Large construction projects like this are bound to get financial assistance from local businesses that are also looking to promote the community of their workforce. The Cathedral is no exception to this. In 1933 during a standstill in construction due to lack of funds, the Civil Works Administration made a $300,000 contribution. This contribution put 1000 unemployed people in the community back to work (Bowman Office box 16 Folder 128). Over the years the construction of the Cathedral employed several thousand Pittsburghers. The lasting tourism increase due to the Cathedral is also welcomed by the community as all local businesses profit from this. Some of these businesses were the same businesses that an open letter from Bowman to the community mention by name: Kaufmann’s Department Stores Inc., Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing, United States Steel Corporation, Aluminum Company of America and many more (Bowman Office box 20 Folder 155). These fiscal contributions were also accompanied by local businesses who “gave large gifts of steel, cement, elevators, glass, plumbing and heating elements” (Nationality Rooms). These are obviously donations that are associated with much more Pittsburgh personality. The difference is almost comparable to buying someone a gift card and making them something as a gift. The former requires little effort and care whereas the latter requires thought of what the person might like and requires a substantial amount of time and effort. The donated resources had to be coordinated with the management of the construction. Working together on this also literally led to a space built on a tightly knit community. This made these community businesses much more connected to the formation of the space that would become the completed Cathedral of Learning.
Even after the community lead construction of the Cathedral, with deliberate purpose, the community continually revises the common uses of this very much shared space. Some community members are able to take advantage of the Cathedral of Learning for completely unexpected reasons like athletics. A majority of the students only use the stairs in order to make it to their next class. During off hours, however, people like Daniel Chew scale the stairs in order to prepare themselves for sporting events (PPG). Hikers, bikers, runners and other athletes that do not need to be affiliated with the university take advantage of the public welcoming skyscraper. Local groups like Meetup group “The Pittsburgh Social Club!” for example do stair climbing days in the Cathedral stairwell and follow it up with dinner in local Oakland restaurants. While still part of the university, everything about the Cathedral is more welcoming than a corporate or lawyer building like many downtown where such activities are not welcomed like they are in the Cathedral. In fact in 1974 it was even named an official city landmark for the historical and cultural value that it adds to the city of Pittsburgh (Memorials Office of the Chancellor (John G. Bowman Office box 16 Folder 128). As Mrs. Stegeman once wrote to the memorial office, “Pittsburgh’s leading citizens will have had their lives tempered, qualified, heightened, by the influence of that building – its mood, its memorials, and teaching in it” (Stegeman). This couldn’t be a more accurate description of the impact that this building had, currently has and will have on the Pittsburgh community.
The more people that you meet from Pittsburgh, the increasingly clear it becomes that the Cathedral offers immeasurable benefits for the university community and the city as a whole. The effects of this building are internationally reaching and serve as a representation of the diverse Pittsburgh community. Pittsburgh has wisely used this massive construction project to display to the world the open minded and inclusivity of this community.
Works Cited
Alberts, Robert C. Pitt: The Story of the University of Pittsburgh, 1787-1987. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1986.
Bowman, John Gabbert, 1877. The Cathedral of Learning of the University of Pittsburgh. United States:, 1925.
Bowman. Open Letter from Chancellor Bowman. UA.2.10.1921-1945. Box 20, Folder 155. MS. Memorials Office of the Chancellor (John G. Bowman) Office Files. University of Pittsburgh Archive Service Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Campbell, V.W.H., Jr. “Climbing to Fitness.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 14 Feb. 2007. Accessed 16 Apr. 2016.
“Cathedral of Learning.” Nationality Rooms. www.nationalityrooms.pitt.edu. Accessed 16 Apr. 2016.
“Cathedral and Smithfield Street Named Official City Landmarks 10 Years Ago.” UA.2.10.1921-1945. Box 16, Folder 128. Unidentified Newspaper [Pittsburgh] 29 May. 1984. Memorials Office of the Chancellor (John G. Bowman) Office Files. 15 Apr. 2016.
Chancellor John G. Bowman.1928. Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh – Historic Pittsburgh Image Collection.
“Civil Works Administration Puts 1000 Unemployed Back to Work.” Unidentified Newspaper. UA.2.10.1921-1945. Box 16, Folder 128. MS. Memorials Office of the Chancellor (John G. Bowman) Office Files. University of Pittsburgh Archive Service Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Czechoslovak Nationality Room Committee. May Newsletter 1997. UA.40.05. Box 7, Folder 1-2. MS. Czechoslovak Nationality Room Committee Collection. University of Pittsburgh Archive Service Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
“Expresses City’s Pride.” UA.2.10.1921-1945. Box 14, Folder 115. Sun Telegraph [Pittsburgh] 3 Jan. 1934. Sun Telegraph. Memorials Office of the Chancellor (John G. Bowman) Office Files. Accessed 15 Apr. 2016.
Faculty of the School of Business Administration. Letter to Dr. Bowman. UA.2.10.1921-1945. Box 14, Folder 114. MS. Memorials Office of the Chancellor (John G. Bowman) Office Files. University of Pittsburgh Archive Service Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Russian Nationality Room Committee. 1938. Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh – Historic Pittsburgh Image Collection.
Stegeman. Letter to Memorials Office of Chancellor Bowman. UA.2.10.1921-1945. Box 14, Folder 114. MS. Memorials Office of the Chancellor (John G. Bowman) Office Files. University of Pittsburgh Archive Service Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
University of Pittsburgh. Chancellor. Report of the Chancellor to the Trustees. University of Pittsburgh, Digital Research Library, 1924-1926.