Coordinates: 40.44417° N 79.95306° W Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... A typical plaque showing entry on the National Register of Historic Places. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 793 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (920 × 696 pixel, file size: 77 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) The Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh. ... Nickname: Motto: Benigno Numine (With the Benevolent Deity) Location in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Coordinates: , Country United States Commonwealth Pennsylvania County Allegheny Founded November 25, 1758 Incorporated April 22, 1794 (borough)   March 18, 1816 (city) Government  - Mayor Luke Ravenstahl (D) Area  - City 151. ... Charles Klauder was an American architect known for his work on university buildings. ... A typical plaque showing entry on the National Register of Historic Places. ... November 3 is the 307th day of the year (308th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 58 days remaining. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related, doctoral/research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. ... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...

The Cathedral of Learning, a local and national landmark[2][3], is the centerpiece of the University of Pittsburgh's main campus in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Standing at 535 feet (>163 m)^[2], the 42-story Late Gothic Revival Cathedral is the tallest educational building in the western hemisphere and the second tallest educational building in the world. (Moscow State University's main building in Russia, while only 36 stories, has very tall floors and stands at 240m, including a 57m spire).^[3] The Cathedral was commissioned in 1921 and finished in 1937, and has 2,529 windows. An impressive scenic building, the Cathedral of Learning is often used by the University in photographs, postcards, and other advertisements. The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related, doctoral/research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. ... The Cathedral of Learning dominates the Oakland skyline Oakland is the academic center of Pittsburgh and the third largest downtown area in the state of Pennsylvania, behind only Center City Philadelphia and the Central Business District (Downtown Pittsburgh). ... Nickname: Motto: Benigno Numine (With the Benevolent Deity) Location in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Coordinates: , Country United States Commonwealth Pennsylvania County Allegheny Founded November 25, 1758 Incorporated April 22, 1794 (borough)   March 18, 1816 (city) Government  - Mayor Luke Ravenstahl (D) Area  - City 151. ... Victoria Tower at the Palace of Westminster, London: Gothic details provided by A.W.N. Pugin The Gothic Revival was an architectural movement which originated in mid-18th century England. ... Moscow State University M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (Russian: Московский государственный университет имени Ðœ.Ð’.Ломоносова, often abbreviated МГУ, MSU, MGU) is the largest and the oldest university in Russia, founded in 1755. ... Generally speaking, advertising is the paid promotion of goods, services, companies and ideas by an identified sponsor. ...

Usage

The basement through floor 36 are used for educational purposes. These floors include theaters, computer laboratories, classrooms, and departmental offices. The first and third floors are home to 26 "Nationality Rooms", classrooms designed by members of the Pittsburgh community in the styles of different nations. The building houses the Department of Philosophy [4], considered one of the top five in the United States [5], and the Department of History and Philosophy of Science [6], long considered the best in its field [7] [8]. Other departments in the Cathedral include English and Religious Studies. Additionally, the University Honors College is located on the 35th and 36th floors. Floors 38-42 are closed to the general public, as they contain electrical wiring for the building; they also house a nesting pair of Peregrine Falcons. A view from the top is available via a webcam [9]. On the 40th floor is the Babcock Room, a large conference room with a panoramic view of downtown Pittsburgh, the rest of the University, and Carnegie Mellon University. The philosopher Socrates about to take poison hemlock as ordered by the court. ... The history and philosophy of science (HPS) is an academic discipline that encompasses the philosophy of science and the history of science. ... Binomial name Falco peregrinus Tunstall, 1771 Global range (shaded green, dark dots on islands) The Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus), occasionally known in North America as the Duck Hawk, is a medium-sized falcon about the size of a large crow: 380-530 millimetres (15-21 in) long. ... A Creative webcam A web camera (or webcam, real camera) is a real-time camera (usually, though not always, a video camera) whose images can be accessed using the World Wide Web, instant messaging, or a PC video calling application. ... Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ...

History

Commons Room of the Cathedral of Learning.

In 1921, John Gabbert Bowman traveled to the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to become the tenth chancellor of the University. At that time, the school consisted of a series of short, small buildings, with some classes being held in "temporary" buildings from World War I. The story goes that as he entered the city, he asked a streetcar driver to take him to the University. When that driver had no idea what he was talking about, Bowman decided he had to do something to make sure the University made an impression on the city. He then began to envision what would be called the Cathedral of Learning. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1536x2048, 1032 KB) The interior study hall of the Cathedral of Learning. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1536x2048, 1032 KB) The interior study hall of the Cathedral of Learning. ... John Gabbert Bowman was the tenth chancellor (1921-1945) of the University of Pittsburgh. ... Nickname: Motto: Benigno Numine (With the Benevolent Deity) Location in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Coordinates: , Country United States Commonwealth Pennsylvania County Allegheny Founded November 25, 1758 Incorporated April 22, 1794 (borough)   March 18, 1816 (city) Government  - Mayor Luke Ravenstahl (D) Area  - City 151. ... Capital Harrisburg Largest city Philadelphia Area  Ranked 33rd  - Total 46,055 sq mi (119,283 km²)  - Width 280 miles (455 km)  - Length 160 miles (255 km)  - % water 2. ... For other uses, see Chancellor (disambiguation). ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... a historic postcard showing electric trolley-powered streetcars in Richmond, Virginia, where Frank J. Sprague successfully demonstrated his new system on the hills in 1888 A streetcar is a railway vehicle designed to carry passengers on tracks, usually laid in city streets. ...

His reasoning is summarized in this quote:

In attempting to find a suitable place for this building, Bowman's eyes were drawn to a 14-acre (57,000 m²) plot of land named Frick Acres. In November of 1921, with aid from the Mellon family, the University bought the plot, and began plans for a proper university building on the site. An acre is the name of a unit of area in a number of different systems, including Imperial units and United States customary units. ... Mellon portrait Andrew William Mellon (March 24, 1855–August 27, 1937) was an American banker, industrialist, philanthropist, and Secretary of the Treasury from March 4, 1921 until February 12, 1932. ...

One of the foremost Gothic architects of the time, Philadelphian Charles Klauder, was hired to design the tower. The design took two years to finish, with the final plan attempting to fuse the idea of a modern skyscraper with the tradition and ideals of Gothic architecture. The plans received strong resistance from the community and from some University officials, who felt it was too tall for the city. Interior of Cologne Cathedral Gothic architecture is a style of architecture, particularly associated with cathedrals and other churches, which flourished in Europe during the high and late medieval period. ... Nickname: Motto: Philadelphia maneto - Let brotherly love continue Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: Country United States Commonwealth Pennsylvania County Philadelphia Founded October 27, 1682 Incorporated October 25, 1701 Government  - Mayor John F. Street (D) Area  - City 369. ... Charles Klauder was an American architect known for his work on university buildings. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Local legend states that to counteract this resistance Bowman ordered that the construction of the walls would start at the top floor and work their way down, so the project could not be canceled. This has been traced to an account in the November 21st, 1943 issue of At Ease, a tabloid related to local military personnel on campus, which stated that "the masonry was started from the top downward." Construction photographs show that this was not the case, and that some stonework was done on the first floor before any other stonework was begun. One engineer with the company working on the Cathedral explained that the exterior walls of the Cathedral are not load-bearing. Because of this, many similar buildings would start construction at the third or fourth floors. Practically, this makes sense, as it allows easy movement of building materials and equipment into and out of the building. Instead, in the Cathedral's case, the issue was one of the stone that would be used in lower stories. In fact, the quarry was not prepared to deliver the stone on schedule, so construction was delayed, and work begun on the higher stories. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Funding

Fundraising for this project came in many forms, including donations from industries, corporations, individuals and foreign governments. To raise public views of the Cathedral, and at the same time finance the construction, Bowman started a fundraising campaign in 1925.

An important part of this campaign was a project reaching out to the children of the city entitled "Buy a Brick for Pitt". Each schoolchild sent a dime ($0.10) and a letter to the University, explaining how they earned the dime for the building. In exchange, the child received a certificate for one brick contained in the Cathedral. A total of 97,000 certificates were issued to children. “Children” redirects here. ... The dime is a coin with a face value of ten cents, or one tenth of a United States dollar. ... ISO 4217 Code USD User(s) the United States, the British Indian Ocean Territory,[1] the British Virgin Islands, Cambodia, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the insular areas of the United States Inflation 2. ... An old brick wall in English bond laid with alternating courses of headers and A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction and sized to be layed with one hand using mortar. ...

Nationality rooms

The Austrian Room

The Cathedral is home to 26 nationality rooms (twenty-four working classrooms and two display rooms), on the first and third floors. Each nationality room is designed to celebrate a different culture that had an influence on Pittsburgh's growth. There are currently seven rooms in the process of being approved and funded. Virtual Tours of the existing rooms are available on the Nationality Rooms official site. [10] Image File history File links Austrianroom. ... Image File history File links Austrianroom. ...

Bowman decided that he wanted to involve the community as much as he could in constructing the Cathedral, so he proposed that each nationality that had a significant number of people in Pittsburgh would be allowed to design their nationality's room for the Cathedral. Each group had to form a Room Committee, which would be responsible for all fundraising, designing, and acquisition. The University provided only the room, while all other materials, labor, and design were provided by the individual committees. These were sometimes provided by foreign governments which, "...responded with generous support, often providing architects, artists, materials, and monetary gifts to assure authenticity and superb quality in their classrooms." [11]

A typical room on the 1st floor (those built between 1938 and the 1957) took between three and ten years to complete, and cost the equivalent of $300,000 USD in 2006 dollars. More recent rooms have cost in the range of $500,000 USD.

A second plan was proposed to create rooms modeled after each era of American history. These would primarily be on the third floor. Although the plans for the series of rooms were drawn up, only one room in the group was made; it is now known as the Early American room.

Set in the Cathedral of Learning's cornerstone in 1937, is a gift from the Nationality Room Committee chairpersons to the University: a copper plate engraved with these thoughts:

Faith and peace are in their hearts. Good will has brought them together. Like the Magi of ancestral traditions and the shepherds of candid simplicity, they offer their gifts of what is precious, genuine and their own, to truth that shines forever and enlightens all people. [12]

Since 1944, tours of the nationality rooms have been given to visitors by Quo Vadis (meaning Where do you go?); they guide over 30,000 tourists a year. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... // Quo vadis is a Latin phrase meaning Where are you going? It is used as a proverbial phrase from the Bible (John 16:5). ...

Trivia

• The largest room is the English room. The fireplace with the initials V.R. for Victoria Regina, the linenfold paneling, four stone corbels with the Tudor Rose, and other accoutrements were gifts from the British government salvaged from the World War II bombed ruins of the House of Commons. A brick from 10 Downing Street serves as the room's cornerstone. Portraits of University of Pittsburgh alumnus and former Ambassador to the Court of St. James's, Andrew Mellon, and the former Earl of Chatham, William Pitt, after whom the City and the University were named, flank the stained glass windows in the rear. ^[4]

• The smallest the Irish room.^{[citation needed]}

• The first four rooms to be dedicated were the Scottish, Russian, German, and Swedish rooms in 1938. The newest room is the Indian room, dedicated in 2000.^{[citation needed]}

• The heaviest room is the Armenian room, weighing 22 tons. The second floor underneath the room was reinforced so that it could support the weight.^{[citation needed]}

Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India from 1 May 1876, until her death on 22 January 1901. ... The lower parts of the walls of the 16th century dining hall of St Johns College, Cambridge are covered with wood panelling in a linenfold design. ... In Medieval architecture a corbel names a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. ... When Henry Tudor took the crown of England from Richard III in battle, he brought about the end of the Wars of the Roses between the House of Lancaster (Red Rose) and the House of York (White Rose). ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney stand in front of the famous main door to Number 10. ... Cornerstone has several possible meanings and uses: Look up cornerstone in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Court of St Jamess is the popular name of the royal court of the United Kingdom. ... Mellon portrait Andrew William Mellon (March 24, 1855–August 27, 1937) was an American banker, industrialist, philanthropist, and Secretary of the Treasury from March 4, 1921 until February 12, 1932. ... The Earl of Chatham was a peerage given to William Pitt the Elder in 1766, after which he became Lord Privy Seal. ... William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham PC (15 November 1708 – 11 May 1778) was a British Whig statesman who achieved his greatest fame as Secretary of State during the Seven Years War (aka French and Indian War) and who was later Prime Minister of Great Britain. ...

Display rooms

• Early American (3rd floor): This room is usually locked, although it is occasionally opened for tours. The room contains a hidden upper floor, accessed via a staircase behind the fire place. This room is often said to be haunted.
• Syrian-Lebanon (1st floor)

Classrooms

Proposed rooms

The University is planning eight nationality rooms to add to the current 26. The first will be the Turkish room, which will be completed by 2008. Ömer Akin, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, will oversee the architectural plans. The Welsh room will follow. The Welsh and Turkish rooms are slated to cost more than $300,000 [13] Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ...

Commons room

Commons Room

The main part of the Cathedral's first floor is the Commons room, a Gothic-style hall that covers half an acre (2,000 m²) and extends upwards four stories, reaching 52 ft (16 m) tall. The room was a gift of Andrew Mellon. It is a piece of true Gothic architecture; no steel supports were used in the construction of its arches. Each arch is a true arch, and they support their own weight. Each base for the arches weighs five tons, and it is said that they are so firmly placed that each could hold a large truck. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (600 × 800 pixel, file size: 78 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (600 × 800 pixel, file size: 78 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Mellon portrait Andrew William Mellon (March 24, 1855–August 27, 1937) was an American banker, industrialist, philanthropist, and Secretary of the Treasury from March 4, 1921 until February 12, 1932. ... It has been suggested that Voussoir, Keystone (architecture) be merged into this article or section. ...

This perfection was insisted upon by Chancellor Bowman. The architect, Klauder, objected due to the increased costs of this construction method. Bowman responded with the comment: "You cannot build a great University with fraud in it."

Joseph Gattoni designed the stonework, much of which depicts western Pennsylvania plant life. The walls are made of Indiana limestone and the floor is green Vermont slate. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Divisions Green algae Chlorophyta Charophyta Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta—liverworts Anthocerotophyta—hornworts Bryophyta—mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) †Rhyniophyta—rhyniophytes †Zosterophyllophyta—zosterophylls Lycopodiophyta—clubmosses †Trimerophytophyta—trimerophytes Pteridophyta—ferns and horsetails Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta—seed ferns Pinophyta—conifers Cycadophyta—cycads Ginkgophyta—ginkgo Gnetophyta—gnetae Magnoliophyta—flowering plants... Official language(s) English Capital Indianapolis Largest city Indianapolis Area  Ranked 38th  - Total 36,418 sq mi (94,321 km²)  - Width 140 miles (225 km)  - Length 270 miles (435 km)  - % water 1. ... -1... Official language(s) None Capital Montpelier Largest city Burlington Area  Ranked 45th  - Total 9,620 sq mi (24,923 km²)  - Width 80 miles (130 km)  - Length 160 miles (260 km)  - % water 3. ... Slate Thick slate fragment Slate roof Slate is a fine-grained, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low grade regional metamorphism. ...

The wrought iron in the room, including the large gates leading to the elevators, were a gift from George Hubbard Clapp, and were designed by the ironworker Samuel Yellin. Over the gates are two lines from an untitled poem by Robert Bridges: Samuel Yellin (1885 -1940) Samuel Yellin, 1927 Biography American blacksmith, born in Galicia Poland where, at the age of eleven he was apprenticed to an iron master. ... Bridges on the cover of Time in 1929 Robert Seymour Bridges, OM, (October 23, 1844 – April 21, 1930) was an English poet, holder of the honour of poet laureate from 1913. ...

“Here is eternal spring; for you the very stars of heaven are new.”^[5]

University Honors College

The University Honors College, dedicated in 1986, is housed in a 2002-2003 renovated space on the 35th and 36th floors of the Cathedral. The Honors College provides support and enriched opportunities for scholarship among the University's undergraduates and offers a Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil) degree.[14]

The 2002-2003 renovation, by Rothschild Doyno Architects in Regent Square, created a two-story arched window that's visible at night for miles around. The four-leaf medieval quatrefoil medallion at the top of the Cathedral is a central motif in the design of Honors College. Stained glass behind the reception desk at the center of the space was design by Glenn Greene Glass of Regent Square and centers on a design representing the four seasons, done in polished agate. Wrought ironwork was produced by Vic Reynaud of Technique Manufacturing in the spirit of Samuel Yellin who did the Commons Room ironwork.[15]
The University of Pittsburgh Honors College (termed the Honors College by students and often abbreviated UHC) is an undergraduate program of advanced study at the Oakland campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ... Samuel Yellin (1885 -1940) Samuel Yellin, 1927 Biography American blacksmith, born in Galicia Poland where, at the age of eleven he was apprenticed to an iron master. ...

The Croghan-Schenley Ballroom

The Croghan-Schenley room, situated on the first floor of the Cathedral in room 156, is actually two adjoining rooms, the Ballroom and the Oval Room, connected by a hidden passageway in the Ballroom's fireplace. The rooms were originally part of William Croghan Jr.'s mansion built in 1830 in the area known as Stanton Heights, in Pittsburgh. Stanton Heights is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvanias east city area. ... City nickname: The Steel City Location in the state of Pennsylvania Founded 1758 Mayor Tom Murphy (Dem) Area  - Total  - Water 151. ...

His daughter, Mary Elizabeth, went to boarding school in New York, but in 1842 at the age of fifteen she eloped with 43-year-old Edward Wyndham Harrington Schenley, a captain in the British military. The elopement caused a family schism. Mary would not visit often, and in an effort to convince her to move back to Pittsburgh, the new rooms were commissioned. Following the death of William Croghan in 1850, the mansion was run by caretakers with no permanent residents for some 60 years. William S. Miller, then president of Steelwood Corp., purchased the Croghan mansion following World War II and it was soon leveled for a new housing development, but the Croghan-Schenley rooms were spared. Mary Croghan Schenley Mary Elizabeth Croghan Schenley (1826—1903) is best remembered as a major philanthropist to the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

In 1955, the rooms, donated by Miller, were dismantled and rebuilt in the Cathedral, except that the original ceilings had to be lowered about 8 inches to accommodate the available space.

In 1982, the rooms were refurbished to their 19th century glory. Highlighting the ballroom are the hand-cut glass chandelier and four wooden, hand-carved Greek columns, surviving examples of western Pennsylvania’s Greek classical revival period popular with those of means in the 1830s.

The Croghan-Schenley rooms are the last extant vestiges of the estate of Mary Schenley, who before she died gave much of her holdings and property to the city of Pittsburgh — including Schenley farms, where the Cathedral sits, and Schenley Park.[16] Mary Croghan Schenley Mary Elizabeth Croghan Schenley (1826—1903) is best remembered as a major philanthropist to the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. ... The Cathedral of Learning is visible from Panther Hollow Lake Schenley Park is a large municipal park located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania between the neighborhoods of Oakland, Greenfield, and Squirrel Hill. ...

The rooms are purported to be haunted.

Darlington Memorial Library

The Darlington Memorial Library on the sixth floor of the Cathedral of Learning was given to the University of Pittsburgh by the daughters of William McCullough Darlington and Mary Carson Darlington. The initial gift of eleven thousand volumes was made in 1918 by Mary O'Hara Darlington and Edith Darlington Ammon. This was followed by Mary O'Hara Darlington's bequest in 1925 of the remainder of the family's library and a large part of the family estate. The Darlington family's tremendous interest in historical research was the force behind the creation of what was said to be the largest private library west of the Alleghenies. The collection is particularly rich in material pertaining to the French and Indian War and to the history of Western Pennsylvania and the Ohio Valley. Both William and Mary Darlington researched and published in these areas. The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related, doctoral/research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. ... Combatants France First Nations allies: * Algonquin * Lenape * Wyandot * Ojibwa * Ottawa * Shawnee Great Britain Iroquois Confederacy American Colonies Strength 3,900 regulars 7,900 militia 2,200 natives (1759) 50,000 regulars and militia (1759) The French and Indian War was the nine-year North American chapter of the Seven Years... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

While the main focus of the collection is American history and literature, other highlights of the collection include rare maps and atlases, works on ornithology and natural history, and early travel narratives. The Darlington's son, O'Hara Darlington, amassed fine collections of Victorian literature, sporting books and works of illustrators and caricaturists. Over the years the collection has been enriched through the generosity of many individuals and organizations, enabling the library to fill in gaps, particularly those relating to the history of this region.[17]

A virtual tour of the Darlington Memorial Library is availble for the entrance and the main room.

The Braun Room

Following the opening of the Cathedral of Learning, the offices of the Dean of Women moved to the twelfth floor of the Cathedral in 1938. The interior was unfinished but Dean Amos envisioned a dignified and beautiful space for women to meet.

When Dean Amos died in 1941, the new quarters were still unfinished. The Alumnae Association created the Thyrsa W. Amos Fund to plaster the walls and to furnish Room 1217 in her name. Room 1217 was never finished, but after World War II the other rooms on the twelfth floor were completed. Mrs. A.E. Braun, along with her daughter and son-in-law, donated the furnishings and wood paneling in 1946

Dean Helen Pool Rush and her successor, Dean Savina Skewis, carried on the traditions of Dean Amos until the Dean of Women's Office was closed in 1969, and its functions and quarters were assumed by other departments.[18]

Studio Theatre

The Studio Theatre, a facility utilized by the Department of Theatre Arts, is located in the basement of the Cathedral. The Studio Theatre is a black box space that can be configured for almost any set requirements. It is home to student-directed laboratory productions, play readings, Dark Night Caberet, and plays host to Pittsburgh's longest-running theatre show, Friday Nite Improvs, started in 1989 by graduate theatre students.[19] Friday Nite Improvs, or FNI, is a long-running weekly improvisational comedy show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ...

Recent, proposed changes to the Cathedral

In the early 2000s, there was some controversy over whether University funds should be used to illuminate the Cathedral at night, or to clean the building's façade. The cleaning was abandoned because it was too costly, and the building is now illuminated at night. Many Oakland residents spoke out against the cleaning, stating that the years of soot should stay as an homage to Pittsburgh's industrial past. However, the University approved nearly $5 million for cleaning and restoration of stonework on February 28, 2007. The work will be completed by the end of 2007, restoring the exterior of the building to its original condition.

In the wake of September 11th, the Cathedral was deemed "at risk" because terrorists could easily drive a vehicle into the ground floor. To address this concern, the University has since installed bollards that rise out of the sidewalk. Also, the University is currently working toward air-conditioning the first four floors, which contain many classrooms. [20] They plan to complete the effort to centrally cool the entire Cathedral by the end of the decade. Around 200 window air conditioners operate in the building. // A bollard is a short vertical post. ...

References

• Alberts, Robert C. (1987). Pitt: The Story of the University of Pittsburgh 1787-1987. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 0-8229-1150-7. 
• Brown, Mark. The Cathedral of Learning: Concept, Design, Construction, University of Pittsburgh Nationality Rooms Program
• Bowman, John G. Unofficial Notes
• Nationality Rooms Guide Training Material
• University of Pittsburgh Website^[6]
• Starrett, Agnes Lynch (1938). The Darlington Memorial Library. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. 

The University of Pittsburgh Press is a scholarly publishing house and a major American university press. ... The University of Pittsburgh Press is a scholarly publishing house and a major American university press. ...

Notes

Bridges on the cover of Time in 1929 Robert Seymour Bridges, OM, (October 23, 1844 – April 21, 1930) was an English poet, holder of the honour of poet laureate from 1913. ...

See also