The archer did not see the giant game until he was right on top of it. Still, in this moment of high tension, he is poised while drawing his bow. His arrow, determined, fighting through dense brush until it finds its mark. The Bowman’s name was John and his arrow, the drive necessary to envision and construct a structure unlike any other university building in the world. Not only was this new building the tallest in the city, but more amazingly it was not built for commerce, but rather for the sole purpose of education. He fought through economic impossibilities to create a novel fundraising campaign that would collect more money than any other American community had ever voluntarily contributed to a civic project at one time (Alberts 95). Skeptics from his board of trustees and others would also stand in the way of accomplishing his massive goal. Through the construction of the Cathedral of Learning, Dr. John G. Bowman would change the thought of what was economically possible and completely overhaul the social view of the University of Pittsburgh.
Few chancellors can claim they have had such a lasting impact on a university as Dr. John G. Bowman had on the University of Pittsburgh. A 535 feet, 42 story, “tower” now stands as a monument to his outstanding achievements. When Bowman took over as chancellor in 1921, the University was not in great shape. The college was $1.024 million in debt and the influx of students far surpassed the amount of space the University had for classrooms and offices. Bowman quickly got to work with a plan to change the image of the University. He knew he needed an additional 14 million cubic feet of space to provide adequate facilities for the students and educators. After pondering the designs of many of the country’s elite universities, such as Harvard, Columbia, and Yale, he decided that these examples did not adequately tell the epic story of Pittsburgh. It was through the Gothic architecture of Ruskin that he came upon the idea of a tower that “would tell of the courage and spirit of Pittsburgh” (Alberts 85). He wanted a building that was not only an inspiration to the city of Pittsburgh, but also a place that would inspire students as he believed that “college years mark off a period of awakening; that during these years purposes grow clear, that ideals become as real to the imagination as grass and soap are to the physical experience” (Chancellor’s Report 24).
The years of 1922-1928 would contain his hardest challenge, the financing of the construction of the Cathedral of Learning. This undertaking would involve a massive $10 million fund-raising campaign, a phrase that was nonexistent at this time (Alberts 95). His plan would be to involve the whole region, saying that “the tall building would be an inspiration, a witness to the spirit of hope and achievement of Pittsburgh, both to itself and to the world” (Alberts 95). The phrase “to the spirit of achievement of Pittsburgh” would become an unofficial slogan for the campaign and be used extensively in various forms of fundraising. This campaign united a city towards what some might think is just an interesting building today, but to the world of the early 20th century, this monument of education seemed more like the eighth wonder of the world.
Bowman would call the months that followed the campaign “the summer of confusion” (Alberts 109). Even though his team had raised more money for the University in five months than all of the money given to the University by private donors in the past 138 years, protest still existed around the “skyscraper project” and “only $5.6 million had been raised that could be solely used for the building. As the 1920’s came to a close, further turmoil would hit the building project as the nation would enter into the longest and deepest economic depression in history.
The concept of the Nationality Rooms evolved as Bowman was faced with several problems in designing the interior space of the tall building. The first problem was making the interior of the Cathedral of Learning worthy of its dramatic exterior. The Chancellor’s second problem was persuading the Allegheny community to further help his cause and support the great undertaking of the building’s interior (Alberts 134). The basic concept arose of addressing individual nationalities separately for support. After all, in the Pittsburgh district, forty-three foreign countries were represented and at the University itself, one of every three students was foreign-born or the child of an immigrant (Alberts 134-136). Upon hearing of the distress in national communities about the loss of culture among the American-born generation, Bowman conceived the extraordinary idea of having each nationality finance the building of a special room inside the Cathedral that would be exclusively dedicated to the culture of that community. The project was well received by the communities and care taken to ensure the authenticity of the artists, designers, and materials used to create the rooms. It turns out that the Great Depression helped in the long run in that it gave Bowman and the Nationality Room designers the proper time to “plan and think” through the completion of the building (Alberts 139). Ruth Crawford Mitchell, Bowman’s partner in the creation of the Nationality Rooms, described their creation as “the first time that any university in the United States recognized the immigrant groups as brining something other than industrial brawn – that they too, had a cultural heritage which they would like to share” (Alberts 140).
For more information: The Nationality Rooms
Overall, Chancellor John G. Bowman should be considered one of the University of Pittsburgh’s greatest chancellors. His legacy stands at 535 ft. tall and has led to some of the most profound innovations in university policy in terms of fundraising campaigns and corporate philanthropy that this country has ever seen. He managed to sway the respect of the region’s elite and solidified the world’s view of the University of Pittsburgh. The Cathedral of Learning would go on to inspire a city toward the spirit of achievement in Pittsburgh, just as Chancellor Bowman intended. In Bowman’s original petition to the University’s Board of Trustees for the construction of the Cathedral of Learning, he includes a quote from the Honorary Elbert H. Gary, a key founder of U. S. Steel, to help convince the also industry minded Board. The quote would serve to perfectly sum up the legacy Bowman was trying to achieve in that, “The Cathedral of Learning will receive the admiration and the wonder of the world. Its physical height is limited to [535] feet, but the height and breadth of its influence can never be measured in figures or words. In many ways, it will not be surpassed” (The Cathedral of Learning 14).
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. 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.