Guide to the Syria-Lebanon Nationality Room Committee Collection, 1935-1941 UA.40.22

Table of Contents

Summary Information

Biography/History

Scope and Content Notes

Administrative Information

Controlled Access Headings

Previous Citation

Collection Inventory

Summary Information

Repository

ULS Archives & Special Collections

Title

Syria-Lebanon Nationality Room Committee Collection

Creator

University of Pittsburgh. Nationality Rooms Program. Syria-Lebanon Nationality Room Committee.

Collection Number

UA.40.22

Date

1935-1941

Extent

2.0 linear feet (2 boxes)

Abstract

The Syria-Lebanon Nationality Room Committee was formed in 1935 to construct a classroom in the Cathedral of Learning that reflected the culture of all the Arabic speaking people in America. The committee acquired a library from Damascus and had it erected in the Cathedral. It was dedicated on June 28, 1941. This collection contains materials concerning the fundraising, acquisition and dedication of the Syria-Lebanon Nationality Classroom.

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Biography/History

The Syria-Lebanon Nationality Room Committee was formed in 1935 after Lily A. Arwady, secretary-treasurer of the Southern Federation of Syrian Clubs, contacted the University of Pittsburgh to inquire about how a room representing the culture of Syrian Americans could be included in the Cathedral of Learning. Dr. Nicholas H. Bitar, a graduate of Pitt’s School of Dentistry, was selected to head the committee. A Syrian Room Fund was created with money raised through dances, banquets and other events. In 1937, a cooperating committee in Beirut, led by American University professor Boulus Khawli, was established to help the committee in Pittsburgh.

The Federation of Syrian Clubs played an integral role in raising support for the room throughout the United States. In 1938, the organization changed its name to the Federation of Syria-Lebanon Clubs to better reflect the heritage of all the Arabic speaking people in America. The focus of the committee and the name of the room, then, followed suit.

The room, a library from the home of a wealthy citizen in Damascus, was disassembled, shipped across the Atlantic, and then reassembled in an art gallery in New York City. When they learned about the exhibit, representatives from the Syria-Lebanon Room Committee visited the room several times before acquiring it for the Cathedral of Learning. An inscription on a panel above one of the cabinets dates the painting of the room to 1782 and, at the time, it was the only completely intact antique room to be installed in the Cathedral. The room is ornately designed, implementing many characteristics of Arabic architecture, which led one visitor to describe the room as “a little jewel box.” It was dedicated on June 28, 1941.

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Scope and Content Notes

This collection contains correspondence and meeting minutes concerning the fundraising, acquisition and dedication of the Syria-Lebanon Nationality Classroom. Also included are photographs of several committee members and the room dedication.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

ULS Archives & Special Collections, October 2017

Access Restrictions

No restrictions.

Copyright

All rights reserved. University of Pittsburgh.

Acquisition Information

Transferred from the Nationality Rooms Program Office.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Kallie Sheets in July 2017.

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Controlled Access Headings

Corporate Name(s)

• Nationality Rooms (Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh, Pa.).
• University of Pittsburgh. Nationality Rooms Program. Syria-Lebanon Nationality Room Committee.
• University of Pittsburgh. Nationality Rooms Program.

Genre(s)

• Correspondence
• Financial records
• Minutes
• Photographs

Personal Name(s)

• Bitar, Nicholas H.
• Mitchell, Ruth Crawford, 1890-

Subject(s)

• Classrooms -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
• Universities and colleges -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
• University of Pittsburgh

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Previous Citation

Syria-Lebanon Nationality Room Committee Collection, 1935-1941, UA.40.22, University of Pittsburgh Archives

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Collection Inventory