Post by kaima on Sept 27, 2015 7:23:01 GMT -7
Eyewitness 1940: Lithuanian room at Pitt lacked a country
September 27, 2015 12:00 AM
Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning.
By Len Barcousky / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
When Lithuania’s nationality room was dedicated 75 years ago, it became another “room without a country” in Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning.
That was the phrase used in an Oct. 3, 1940, story in The Pittsburgh Press about the ceremonies marking the completion of the classroom. “Joining the Polish and Czechoslovak rooms as among those without a country … will be the Lithuanian room,” the story said.
The Czechoslovak room had been dedicated on March 7, 1939, and the Polish classroom on Feb. 16, 1940. By that time, most of Czechoslovakia was occupied by Nazi Germany, while Poland had been divided by the Third Reich and the Soviet Union. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia had all been forced to accept Red Army bases in 1939. By the summer of 1940 all three nations had been occupied and their governments replaced by Moscow-approved puppets.
The Lithuanian room was the 10th of a planned 17 classrooms to be finished. “Dedication of the Lithuanian room will be highlighted by the presence of Paul Zadeikis, the nation’s minister to the U.S.,” The Press story said. Mr. Zadeikis was “still holding to his post despite his country’s capitulation to Soviet Russia.” Mr. Zadeikis remained in the job, representing independent Lithuania, until his death in 1957.
The Lithuania diplomat would be the main speaker for the event at which Pitt Chancellor John Bowman would take ownership of the room on behalf of the university. “Chancellor Bowman also will accept six gifts, all to be typically Lithuanian and to be presented by children dressed in native Lithuanian costume,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on Oct. 4, the day of the event.
A photograph taken at the event shows a young boy, Lawrence Marculaitis, presenting a model of a wayside cross to Chancellor Bowman. A young girl standing nearby was ready to give him a rue plant. The herb, called “ruta” in Lithuanian, is used often in folk art designs and worn by brides.
The classroom was designed by a Lithuanian architect from Kaunas named Antanas Gudaitis. His folk design included walls covered with hand-woven linen and white and black oak trim. The names of six prominent Lithuanian artists, writers and composers were carved into the woodwork. On the back wall of the room was a larger-than-life-sized reproduction of a painting by Mikalojus Ciurlionis called “The Two Kings.”
“Old World memories were awakened as a Lithuanian bard sang the sad folk songs of his people,” a 1942 story about the dedication by Ruth Crawford Mitchell said. The future was represented by “the most precious possessions” of the Lithuanian immigrants – their children and grandchildren, who would attend classes at the university.
Len Barcousky: lbarcousky@post-gazette.com or 724-772-0184. Find other stories in this series by searching “Barcousky” and “eyewitness” on post-gazette.com.
www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2015/09/27/Eyewitness-1940-Lithuanian-room-at-Pitt-lacked-a-country/stories/201509270050
September 27, 2015 12:00 AM
Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning.
By Len Barcousky / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
When Lithuania’s nationality room was dedicated 75 years ago, it became another “room without a country” in Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning.
That was the phrase used in an Oct. 3, 1940, story in The Pittsburgh Press about the ceremonies marking the completion of the classroom. “Joining the Polish and Czechoslovak rooms as among those without a country … will be the Lithuanian room,” the story said.
The Czechoslovak room had been dedicated on March 7, 1939, and the Polish classroom on Feb. 16, 1940. By that time, most of Czechoslovakia was occupied by Nazi Germany, while Poland had been divided by the Third Reich and the Soviet Union. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia had all been forced to accept Red Army bases in 1939. By the summer of 1940 all three nations had been occupied and their governments replaced by Moscow-approved puppets.
The Lithuanian room was the 10th of a planned 17 classrooms to be finished. “Dedication of the Lithuanian room will be highlighted by the presence of Paul Zadeikis, the nation’s minister to the U.S.,” The Press story said. Mr. Zadeikis was “still holding to his post despite his country’s capitulation to Soviet Russia.” Mr. Zadeikis remained in the job, representing independent Lithuania, until his death in 1957.
The Lithuania diplomat would be the main speaker for the event at which Pitt Chancellor John Bowman would take ownership of the room on behalf of the university. “Chancellor Bowman also will accept six gifts, all to be typically Lithuanian and to be presented by children dressed in native Lithuanian costume,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on Oct. 4, the day of the event.
A photograph taken at the event shows a young boy, Lawrence Marculaitis, presenting a model of a wayside cross to Chancellor Bowman. A young girl standing nearby was ready to give him a rue plant. The herb, called “ruta” in Lithuanian, is used often in folk art designs and worn by brides.
The classroom was designed by a Lithuanian architect from Kaunas named Antanas Gudaitis. His folk design included walls covered with hand-woven linen and white and black oak trim. The names of six prominent Lithuanian artists, writers and composers were carved into the woodwork. On the back wall of the room was a larger-than-life-sized reproduction of a painting by Mikalojus Ciurlionis called “The Two Kings.”
“Old World memories were awakened as a Lithuanian bard sang the sad folk songs of his people,” a 1942 story about the dedication by Ruth Crawford Mitchell said. The future was represented by “the most precious possessions” of the Lithuanian immigrants – their children and grandchildren, who would attend classes at the university.
Len Barcousky: lbarcousky@post-gazette.com or 724-772-0184. Find other stories in this series by searching “Barcousky” and “eyewitness” on post-gazette.com.
www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2015/09/27/Eyewitness-1940-Lithuanian-room-at-Pitt-lacked-a-country/stories/201509270050
