University of Pittsburgh. Nationality Rooms Program. Syria-Lebanon Nationality Room Committee
Collection Number
UA.40.22
Extent
2 Linear Feet(2 boxes)
Date
1935-1941
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.
Language
English
.
Author
Kallie Sheets.
Publisher
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Address
University of Pittsburgh Library System Archives & Special Collections Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections Contact Us: www.library.pitt.edu/ask-archivist URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Copyright
All rights reserved. University of Pittsburgh.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Kallie Sheets in July 2017.
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.
Previous Citation
Syria-Lebanon Nationality Room Committee Collection, 1935-1941, UA.40.22, University of Pittsburgh Archives
Preferred Citation
Syria-Lebanon Nationality Room Committee Collection, 1935-1941, UA.40.22, University Archives, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Acquisition Information
Transferred from the Nationality Rooms Program Office.
Access Restrictions
No restrictions.
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.
Subjects
Corporate Names
University of Pittsburgh. Nationality Rooms Program
University of Pittsburgh. Nationality Rooms Program. Syria-Lebanon Nationality Room Committee
Nationality Rooms (Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Personal Names
Bitar, Nicholas H.
Mitchell, Ruth Crawford
Genres
Correspondence
Financial records
Minutes
Photographs
Other Subjects
University of Pittsburgh
Universities and colleges -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
Please contact us with any questions, comments or donation inquiries: 
Twitter
Facebook