View source for Cathedral of Learning

{{short description|Building at the University of Pittsburgh}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox NRHP | name = Cathedral of Learning
| nrhp_type = indcp | nocat = yes
| image = Cathedral of Learning stitch 1.jpg
| alt = A 42-story Gothic Revival skyscraper
| caption = The Cathedral of Learning at the [[University of Pittsburgh]]
| locmapin = Pittsburgh#Pennsylvania#USA
| location = [[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[United States|USA]]
| coordinates = {{coord|40|26|39|N|79|57|11|W|display=inline,title}}
| area =
| built = {{start date and age|1926}}
| architect = [[Charles Klauder]]
| architecture = [[Gothic Revival|Late Gothic Revival]] with some [[Art Deco]] influences
| added = November 3, 1975<ref name = nris/>
| refnum = 75001608<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>
| partof                 = [[Schenley Farms Historic District]]
| partof_refnum          = 83002213
| designated_nrhp_type   = July 22, 1983<ref name="nris"/>
| designated_other1_name = City of Pittsburgh Historic Structure
| designated_other1_date = February 22, 1977<ref name="CPHD list">{{cite web | url = http://www.phlf.org/historic-plaque-program/local-historic-designations/ | title = Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation: Local Historic Designations| date =May 1, 2002 | access-date = February 25, 2008 }}</ref>
| designated_other1_abbr = CPHS
| designated_other1_link = List of City of Pittsburgh historic designations
| designated_other1_color = black
| designated_other1_textcolor = gold
| designated_other2 = PHLF
| designated_other2_date = 1970: Croghan-Schenley Ballroom<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.phlf.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/Historic-Plaques-2010b.pdf | title=Historic Landmark Plaques 1968-2009 | page=3 | year=2010 | publisher=Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation | location=Pittsburgh, PA | access-date=June 25, 2010 }}</ref><br />1972: Cathedral of Learning interiors<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.phlf.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/Historic-Plaques-2010b.pdf | title=Historic Landmark Plaques 1968-2009 | page=5 | year=2010 | publisher=Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation | location=Pittsburgh, PA | access-date=June 25, 2010 }}</ref><br />1973: Cathedral of Learning<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.phlf.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/Historic-Plaques-2010b.pdf | title=Historic Landmark Plaques 1968-2009 | page=6 | year=2010 | publisher=Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation | location=Pittsburgh, PA | access-date=June 25, 2010 }}</ref>
}}

The '''Cathedral of Learning''' is a 42-story skyscraper that serves as the centerpiece of the [[University of Pittsburgh|University of Pittsburgh's]] (Pitt) main campus in the [[Oakland (Pittsburgh)|Oakland]] neighborhood of [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]]. Standing at {{convert|535|ft|m}},<ref name="emporis1">{{cite web|url=http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=121991|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040820065008/http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=121991|url-status=usurped|archive-date=August 20, 2004|title=Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh, U.S.A.|work=[[Emporis]]|access-date=August 2, 2010}}</ref> the 42-story [[Gothic Revival architecture|Late Gothic Revival]] structure is the tallest educational building in the [[Western Hemisphere]] and the second-tallest university building (fifth-[[List of tallest educational buildings|tallest educationally purposed building]]) in the world, after the [[main building of Moscow State University]].<ref name="emporis2">{{cite web|url=http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=111633|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040406233733/http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=111633|url-status=usurped|archive-date=April 6, 2004|title=Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia|work=[[Emporis]]|access-date=August 2, 2010}}</ref> It is also the second-tallest gothic-styled building in the world, after the [[Woolworth Building]] in [[Manhattan]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=1894 | title=Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh |publisher=SkyscraperPage.com |access-date=December 7, 2012}}</ref> The Cathedral of Learning was commissioned in 1921 and ground was broken in 1926 under general contractor [[Stone & Webster]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/02/26/85452800.pdf |title= C. A. Stone Is Dead |publisher=DailNew York Times Obituaries, page 21 |date=1941-02-26 |access-date=2019-07-09}}</ref> The first class was held in the building in 1931 and its exterior finished in October 1934,<ref>{{cite book | url=http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=pittmiscpubs;cc=pittmiscpubs;q1=cathedral%20of%20learning;rgn=full%20text;idno=00c50130m;didno=00c50130m;view=image;seq=0149 | first=Robert C. | last=Alberts | title=Pitt: The Story of the University of Pittsburgh, 1787-1987 | year=1986 | page=129 | publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press | location=Pittsburgh, PA | isbn=978-0-8229-1150-0 | access-date=November 10, 2009}}</ref> prior to its formal [[Opening ceremony|dedication]] in June 1937. It is a Pittsburgh landmark<ref name="CPHD list"/><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.phlf.org/plaques/locallist.html | title= Internet Archive: Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation: PHLF Plaques & Registries| date=January 27, 2007 | access-date= February 25, 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070127092030/http://www.phlf.org/plaques/locallist.html |archive-date= January 27, 2007}}</ref> listed in the National Register of Historic Places.<ref name="NRHP Allegheny County">{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/pa/Allegheny/state.html|title=National Register of Historical Places - PENNSYLVANIA (PA), Allegheny County|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=August 2, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url={{NRHP-PA|H001732_01H.pdf}} | title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Cathedral of Learning | year=1967 | access-date=June 8, 2010}}</ref>

Colloquially referred to as "Cathy" by Pitt students,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://pittnews.com/article/6096/archives/youtube-sensations-perform-at-bigelow-bash/|title=YouTube sensations perform at Bigelow Bash|first=Jessica|last=Iacullo|newspaper=The Pitt News|date=April 15, 2014|access-date=March 5, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2016/03/04/University-of-Pittsburgh-cathedral-of-learning-Pitt-Cathy-has-fans-classroom-tower-landmark/stories/201603040214|title=Pitt's "Cathy" gets people chatty about nickname|first=Bill|last=Schackner|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|location=Pittsburgh, PA|date=March 4, 2016|access-date=March 5, 2016}}</ref> the Cathedral of Learning is a steel-frame structure overlaid with [[Indiana limestone]] and contains more than 2,000 rooms and windows. It functions as a primary classroom and administrative center of the university, and is home to the [[Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences]], the [[University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work|School of Social Work]], and a number of its departments, as well as the [[Cathedral of Learning#Frederick Honors College|Frederick Honors College]]. It houses multiple specialty spaces, including a studio theater, food court, study lounges, offices, computer and language labs, 31 [[Nationality Rooms]], and a half-acre (2000 m<sup>2</sup>, 22,000&nbsp;ft<sup>2</sup>), 4-story-high, vaulted, gothic study and event hall. The building contains noted examples of stained glass, stone, wood, and iron work and is often used by the university in photographs, postcards, and other advertisements.

==Use==
[[File:CathedralFromSS.jpg|thumb|The Cathedral of Learning]]
The basement and floors up to (and including) floor 40 are used for educational purposes, although most floors above 36 house the building's mechanical equipment. These floors include theaters, computer laboratories, language laboratories, classrooms, and departmental offices. The basement contains a [[black box theater]] and the ground floor contains computer labs, language labs, classrooms, and the Cathedral Café food court.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pc.pitt.edu/dining/locations/index.html|title=Campus Dining Locations|work=Panther Central: Dining Services|publisher=[[University of Pittsburgh]]|access-date=August 2, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100103064650/http://www.pc.pitt.edu/dining/locations/index.html|archive-date=January 3, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://technology.pitt.edu/network-web/computing-labs/lab-hours.html|title=Locations, Equipment, and Hours|work=Information Technology: Computing Services and Systems Development|publisher=[[University of Pittsburgh]]|access-date=August 2, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100814151814/http://technology.pitt.edu/network-web/computing-labs/lab-hours.html|archive-date=August 14, 2010|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The lobby, comprising the first through third floors, contains a massive gothic Commons Room that is used as a general study area and for special events and is ringed by three floors of classrooms, including, on the first and third floors, the 31 [[Nationality Rooms]] designed by members of Pittsburgh's ethnic communities in the styles of different nations and ethnic groups. Twenty-nine of these serve as functional classrooms while more conventional classrooms are located on the second floor and elsewhere throughout the building. The first floor also serves as home to the offices of the Chancellor, Executive Vice Chancellor, and other administration offices, as well as the Nationality Rooms Gift Shop. The fourth floor, which was previously home to the main stacks of the [[Hillman Library|university's library]] and the McCarl Center for Nontraditional Student Success,<ref name="McCarl">{{cite web|url=http://www.cgspitt.org/mccarl-center.cfm|title=McCarl Center|year=2007|publisher=College of General Studies, [[University of Pittsburgh]]|access-date=August 2, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725154332/http://www.cgspitt.org/mccarl-center.cfm| archive-date=July 25, 2011|df=mdy-all}}</ref> now houses a mix of interdisciplinary studies programs. The fifth floor originally housed the main borrowing, reference, and reading rooms of the university library, and now houses the Department of English. The Pitt Humanities Center is housed on the sixth floor. The University's Frederick Honors College is located on the 35th and 36th floors.

The Cathedral of Learning houses the Department of [[Philosophy]],<ref name="Philosophy">{{cite web|url=http://www.philosophy.pitt.edu/|title=Department of Philosophy|date=January 6, 2010|publisher=[[University of Pittsburgh]]|access-date=August 2, 2010}}</ref> {{as of|2009|lc=y}} considered one of the top five in the United States,<ref name="Leitner">{{cite web |url=http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/overall.asp |archive-url= https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20100813142000/http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/overall.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 13, 2010 |title=The Philosophical Gourmet Report 2009: Overall Rankings |last=Leitner |first=Brian |year=2009 |work=The Philosophical Gourmet Report: Brian Leiter's Ranking of Graduate Programs in Philosophy in the English-Speaking World |publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell|Blackwell]] |access-date=August 2, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> and the Department of [[History and philosophy of science|History and Philosophy of Science]],<ref name="History and Philosophy of Science">{{cite web|url=http://www.hps.pitt.edu/|title=Department of History and Philosophy of Science|date=July 10, 2010|publisher=[[University of Pittsburgh]]|access-date=August 2, 2010}}</ref> consistently ranked at the top of the field.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/breakdown.htm#13l | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20021107005514/http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/breakdown.htm | url-status= dead | archive-date= November 7, 2002 | title= Internet Archive: The Philosophical Gourmet Report 2004-2006: Philosophy of the Sciences and Mathematics | year=2008 | access-date= March 26, 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/breakdown/breakdown14.asp |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120909203521/http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/breakdown/breakdown14.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 9, 2012 |title=The Philosophical Gourmet Report 2006-2008:Breakdown:Philosophy of Science |year=2008 |access-date=March 26, 2008 }}</ref><ref name="philosophylists">{{cite web|url=http://www.philosophylists.info/HPSDepartments.html|title=Graduate Programs in History and Philosophy of Science|year=2005|publisher=philosophylists.info|access-date=August 2, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080122045720/http://www.philosophylists.info/HPSDepartments.html|archive-date=January 22, 2008}}</ref> Other departments in the Cathedral include English, Religious Studies, Theatre Arts, and the School of Social Work which maintains the highest classrooms in the building located on the 23rd floor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cidde.pitt.edu/classrooms/cl.html|title=Media Enhanced Classrooms - Cathedral of Learning|publisher=Center for Instructional Development & Distance Education, [[University of Pittsburgh]]|access-date= August 2, 2010| url-status=dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100710203333/http://www.cidde.pitt.edu//classrooms/CL.html|archive-date=July 10, 2010|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref group="note">Although there are no classrooms higher than the 23rd floor, classes occasionally meet in rooms on higher floors, either temporarily (e.g., if a normal classroom is temporarily unavailable) or by consensus of the students and instructor if a class is small enough to meet in a professor's personal office or a student lounge.</ref> Floors 38–40 are closed to the general public, as they contain electrical wiring for the building, as well as the Babcock Room, a large conference room on the 40th floor used for meetings, seminars, and special events and which provides a panoramic view of [[Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|downtown Pittsburgh]] and the rest of the university. The 40th floor balcony also houses a nesting pair of [[Peregrine falcon]]s. A view from the top is available via a [[webcam]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tour.pitt.edu/cl_cam.html |title=Live Webcams: Cathedral |publisher=[[University of Pittsburgh]] |access-date=August 2, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100802022603/http://www.tour.pitt.edu/cl_cam.html |archive-date=August 2, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Golden lights, dubbed "victory lights," surround the outside of the highest floors and are lit following Pitt football wins and other notable victories, giving the upper part of the cathedral an amber glow.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alumni.pitt.edu/traditions/#victory|title=Alumni Traditions: Victory Lights|publisher=[[University of Pittsburgh|Pitt]] Alumni Association|access-date=August 2, 2010}}</ref>

The top of the building serves as the site for the transmitter of the student-run radio station [[WPTS-FM]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wptsradio.org/?do=about|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902163812/http://wptsradio.org/?do=about|url-status=usurped|archive-date=September 2, 2011|title=92.1 WPTS Pittsburgh|publisher=WPTS Pittsburgh|access-date=December 22, 2010}}</ref> as well as the amateur radio repeater W3YJ which is run by the Panther Amateur Radio club on a frequency of 443.45&nbsp;MHz.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pa-sitrep.com/ohara_repeater.htm|title=PA-SitRep.com (Pennsylvania Situation Report Web Site - O'Hara Township Amateur Radio Emergency Communications 443.45 Repeater)|access-date=December 22, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM8GB2_W3YJ_PARC_Repeater_Pittsburgh_PA|title=W3YJ - PARC Repeater - Pittsburgh, PA - Amateur Radio Repeaters on Waymarking.com|work=[[Waymarking]]|access-date=December 22, 2010}}</ref>

{| | class="wikitable collapsible" cellpadding="0" border="0" cellspacing="0" width="90%"
! colspan="5" style="background:#192857; color:white" | <span style="color:white;">Cathedral of Learning Use and Notable Spaces by Floor</span>
|- valign="top" style="background: white"
|
{| cellpadding="4" border="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"
! style ="background: #192857; border: 0px; text-align:center" | <span style="color:white;">Floor</span>
! style ="background: #192857; border: 0px; text-align:center" | <span style="color:white;">Use</span>
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | Subbasement || style ="border: 0px" | Tunnel to [[Stephen Foster Memorial]]
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | Basement || style ="border: 0px" | [[#Richard E. Rauh Studio Theatre|Rauh Studio Theatre]]
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | Ground || style ="border: 0px" | Cathedral Café, Computer labs,<br /> language labs, lecture halls, Testing Center
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 1 || style ="border: 0px" | [[#Commons Room|Commons Room]], [[Nationality Rooms]],<br />[[#Croghan-Schenley Ballroom|Crogan-Schenley Ballroom]],<br />Nationality Rooms Gift Shop,<br />Offices of University Chancellor and Vice Chancellor
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 2 || style ="border: 0px" | Commons Room, class and lecture rooms, [[#Mulert Memorial Room|Mulert Memorial Room]]
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 3 || style ="border: 0px" | Commons Room, Nationality Rooms,<br />[[#Frick Auditorium|Frick Auditorium]], class and lecture rooms
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 4 || style ="border: 0px" | [[#Cultural Studies, Film Studies, and GSWS program space|Cultural Studies, Film Studies, and GSWS program]]
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 5 || style ="border: 0px" | English Department, English Commons Room
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 6 || style ="border: 0px" | [[#Humanities Center|Humanities Center]]
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 7 || style ="border: 0px" | Office of the Chief Information Officer,<br/>IBM 360 display
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 8 || style ="border: 0px" | Office of the Provost
|}
| align="center" valign="top" |
{| cellpadding="4" border="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"
! style ="background: #192857; border: 0px; text-align:center"| <span style="color:white;">Floor</span>
! style ="background: #192857; border: 0px; text-align:center"| <span style="color:white;">Use</span>
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 9 || style ="border: 0px" | [[Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences]] main offices
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 10 || style ="border: 0px" | Department of Philosophy
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 11 || style ="border: 0px" | [[Center for Philosophy of Science]]
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 12 || style ="border: 0px" | Slavic languages, [[#Braun Room|Braun Room]],<br />Nationality Room and Intercultural Exchange Program office
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 13 || style ="border: 0px" | Departments of Hispanic, French, and Italian languages
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 14 || style ="border: 0px" | Department of Communication and<br />[[William Pitt Debating Union]]
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 15 || style ="border: 0px" | German Language, Classics
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 16 || style ="border: 0px" | [[University of Pittsburgh Stages|Department of Theater Arts]]
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 17 || style ="border: 0px" | CFO Institutional Research office
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 18 || style ="border: 0px" | Office of the Chief Financial Officer
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 19 || style ="border: 0px" | Financial Information Systems
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 20 || style ="border: 0px" | [[Center on Race and Social Problems]]
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 21 || style ="border: 0px" | [[University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work|School of Social Work]]
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 22 || style ="border: 0px" | School of Social Work offices
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 23 || style ="border: 0px" | School of Social Work classrooms
|}
| align="center" valign="top" |
{| cellpadding="4" border="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"
! style ="background: #192857; border: 0px; text-align:center"| <span style="color:white;">Floor</span>
! style ="background: #192857; border: 0px; text-align:center"| <span style="color:white;">Use</span>
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 24 || style ="border: 0px" | Office of University Counsel
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 25 || style ="border: 0px" | Office of University Counsel, Cyber Institute of Law and Politics
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 26 || style ="border: 0px" | Department of Religious Studies
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 27 || style ="border: 0px" | Department of Asian Studies
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 28 || style ="border: 0px" | Department of Linguistics
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 29 || style ="border: 0px" | ROTC
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 30 || style ="border: 0px" | Payment Processing and Financial Records
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 31 || style ="border: 0px" | Financial Information Administration, Accounting Research
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 32 || style ="border: 0px" | IT Business Solutions
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 33 || style ="border: 0px" | Purchasing Services and Supplier Management
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 34 || style ="border: 0px" | Purchasing Services
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 35 || style ="border: 0px" | [[#Frederick Honors College|Frederick Honors College]]
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 36 || style ="border: 0px" | Frederick Honors College
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 37 || style ="border: 0px" | Frederick Honors College
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 38 || style ="border: 0px" | Mechanical
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 39 || style ="border: 0px" | Mechanical
|-
| style ="padding:0.35em; text-align:center; border: 0px" | 40 || style ="border: 0px" | [[#Babcock Room|Babcock Room]]
|}
|-
| colspan="5" align="center" | <span style="color:#192857;">Refs:<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.utimes.pitt.edu/archives/?p=39896|title=Restacking the Cathedral of Learning|date=July 21, 2016|first=Kimberly K.|last=Barlow |newspaper=University Times|volume=48|issue=23|access-date=August 17, 2020}}</ref></span>
|}

==History==
In 1921, [[John Gabbert Bowman]] became the tenth [[Chancellor (education)|chancellor]] of the university. At that time, the school consisted of a series of buildings constructed along [[Henry Hornbostel|Henry Hornbostel's]] plan for the campus and included "temporary" wooden structures built during [[World War I]]. He then began to envision a "tall building", that would be later termed the Cathedral of Learning, to provide a dramatic symbol of education for the city and alleviate overcrowding by adding much needed space in order to meet present and future needs of the university.

His reasoning is summarized in this quote:

{{blockquote|The building was to be more than a schoolhouse; it was to be a symbol of the life that Pittsburgh through the years had wanted to live. It was to make visible something of the spirit that was in the hearts of pioneers as, long ago, they sat in their log cabins and thought by candlelight of the great city that would sometime spread out beyond their three rivers and that even they were starting to build.}}

Bowman looked at a {{convert|14|acre|ha|adj=on}} plot of land named Frick Acres. On November 26, 1921, with aid from the [[Andrew Mellon|Mellon]] family, the university was given the $2.5 million plot, and began plans for a proper university building on the site.<ref>[http://www.post-gazette.com/newslinks/timeline1919.asp Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - News Links]. Post-gazette.com. Retrieved on July 17, 2013.</ref>

One of the foremost [[Gothic architecture|Gothic architect]]s of the time, [[Philadelphia]]n [[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.

[[File:CathedralofLearningFountain.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Fountain outside of the Cathedral]]
Local legend states that to counteract this resistance, Bowman ordered that the construction of the walls would start at the top floor and work its way down, so the project could not be canceled. This has been traced to an account on November 21, 1943, issue of ''At Ease'', a [[Tabloid (newspaper format)|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{{who|date=October 2010}} explained that the exterior walls of the cathedral are not load-bearing. Because of this, 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 began on the higher stories.

{{quote box
|quote = ... in the literal sense of the word, Late Gothic Revival architecture culminated in the University of Pittsburgh's skyscraping Cathedral of Learning.
|source = —[[Marcus Whiffen]], architecture historian<ref>{{cite web |url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/75001608.pdf |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Cathedral of Learning |last=Trump |first=James D. |date=March 1973 |page=3 |access-date=December 19, 2024}}</ref>
|width = 350px
|align = right
}}

When construction started on the Cathedral of Learning in 1926, it was the [[List of tallest buildings in Pittsburgh|tallest building in Pittsburgh]], although the [[Gulf Tower]] (1932) was completed and surpassed it by the time the Cathedral of Learning was officially dedicated in June 1937. Today, it remains the tallest educational building in the Western hemisphere, the second tallest university building in the world behind the 36 story, 240 m (including a 57 m spire) [[Moscow State University]] main building completed in 1953,<ref name="emporis2"/> and the fourth tallest educational building in the world behind the Moscow State University and Mode Gakuen [[Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower|Cocoon]] (204 m)<ref name="emporis3">{{cite web|url=http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=tokyomodegakuen-tokyo-japan|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070223230334/http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=tokyomodegakuen-tokyo-japan|url-status=usurped|archive-date=February 23, 2007|title=Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower, Tokyo, Japan|work=[[Emporis]]|access-date=August 2, 2010}}</ref> and [[Mode Gakuen Spiral Towers|Spiral Towers]] (170 m),<ref name="emporis4">{{cite web|url=http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=nagoyamitsuibuildingeastsouthredevelopment-nagoya-japan|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130409111749/http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=nagoyamitsuibuildingeastsouthredevelopment-nagoya-japan|url-status=usurped|archive-date=April 9, 2013|title=Mode Gakuen Spiral Towers, Nagoya, Japan|publisher=[[Emporis]]|access-date=August 2, 2010}}</ref> both completed in 2008 and located in [[Japan]].

===World War II===
On July 26, 1940, as [[World War II]] was starting, a bomb threat was made against the structure with extra guards being posted to secure it and the authorities not ruling out possible wartime sabotage.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jHAhAAAAIBAJ&dq=skyscraper+pittsburgh&pg=4009,4855955|title=Reading Eagle - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com|access-date=March 15, 2018}}</ref>

During the war effort, the cathedral was assigned to house, feed and instruct roughly 1,000 of the Army Air Corps (forerunner of today's [[U.S. Air Force]]) as well as dozens of Army engineers. The building had at least 12 floors dedicated for military use from 1943 until 1945.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Q6AiAAAAIBAJ&dq=skyscraper+pittsburgh&pg=2620,162383|title=The Daily Times - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com|access-date=March 15, 2018}}</ref>

==Funding==
Fundraising for this project came in a number of 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 (United States coin)|dime]] ([[United States dollar|$]]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.

==Commons Room==
[[File:CoLCommonsRoomUPitt.jpg|thumb|right|325px|Commons Room]]
The main part of the cathedral's first floor, the Commons Room, called one of the "great architectural fantasies of the twentieth century", is a fifteenth-century English perpendicular Gothic-style hall that covers half an acre (2,000&nbsp;m<sup>2</sup>) and extends upward four stories, reaching {{convert|52|ft|m}} tall.<ref name="TokerNewPortrait">{{cite book|title=Pittsburgh: A New Portrait|first=Franklin|last=Toker|year=2009|publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press|location=Pittsburgh, PA|page=327|isbn=978-0-8229-4371-6}}</ref> 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 [[arch]]es. 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. The large central piers act only as screens for the structural steel that holds up the upper floors of the building.

Despite its heavy use, the Commons Room is kept quiet by the use of [[Guastavino tile|Guastavino]] acoustical tiles as the stones between the ribs of vaulting.<ref name="TokerNewPortrait"/> This feature 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."<ref name="bowman">{{citation|title=Unofficial Notes|first=John G.|last=Bowman|chapter=Commons Room|page=78|location=Pittsburgh|date=1963|oclc=2572578}}</ref>

Klauder considered the Commons Room to be his greatest achievement.<ref name="bowman"/>

Joseph Gattoni designed the [[stonework]], much of which depicts western Pennsylvanian [[plant]] life. The walls are made of [[Indiana limestone]] and the floor is green [[Vermont]] [[slate]].

The wrought iron in the room, including the large gates leading to the elevators, was a gift from George Hubbard Clapp and was designed by the ironworker [[Samuel Yellin]]. Over the gates are two lines by [[Robert Bridges]], from an untitled poem:<!-- The information on the UofP faculty newspaper website is wrong about this; please don't just check there and revert unless there is additional information!-->

<blockquote>Here is eternal spring; for you the very stars of heaven are new.<ref name="BridgesPoem">{{cite book|last=Bridges|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Bridges|title=Poetical Works of Robert Bridges Excluding the Eight Dramas|year=1912|publisher=H. Frowde, Oxford University Press |location=London|page=[https://archive.org/details/poeticalworksofr00brid/page/314 314]|url=https://archive.org/details/poeticalworksofr00brid |isbn=978-0-19-254114-7}}</ref><!-- The information on the UofP faculty newspaper website is wrong about this; please don't just check there and revert!--></blockquote>

Also located in the corridors surrounding the Commons Room are plaques featuring calligraphy designed and hand-cut in slate by [[Edward Catich]], including one featuring a poem by Lawrence Lee titled "The Cathedral,"<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=pittpressreleases;idno=pittpressreleases19760141;seq=1 |title=Lawrence Lee Poem/Plaque to be Dedicated at Pitt |first=Mary Lou |last=Burger |location=Pittsburgh, PA |publisher=University of Pittsburgh Department of News and Publications |date=June 2, 1976 |access-date=May 21, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120922084845/http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=pittpressreleases%3Bidno%3Dpittpressreleases19760141%3Bseq%3D1 |archive-date=September 22, 2012 |df=mdy }}</ref> as well as stained glass windows by [[Charles Connick]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/focus/s_599003.html|title=Pittsburgh stained-glass artist's work beautifies region|first=Sandra Fischione|last=Donovan|newspaper=Pittsburgh Tribune-Review|date=November 23, 2008|access-date=November 12, 2009|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120913080101/http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/focus/s_599003.html|archive-date=September 13, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Nationality Rooms==
{{main|Nationality Rooms}}

[[Image:AustrianRoom.jpg|right|thumb|The [[Nationality Rooms#Austrian|Austrian Classroom]], one of 31 [[Nationality Rooms]] in the Cathedral of Learning]]
[[Image:Chinese nationality room in the Cathedral of Learning 02.jpg|right|thumb|[[Nationality Rooms#Chinese|The Chinese Classroom]]]]
The cathedral is home to 31 Nationality Rooms located on the first and third floors: 29 working classrooms and two rooms used mostly for display or occasional special events. Each nationality room is designed to celebrate a different culture that had an influence on Pittsburgh's growth, depicting an era prior to (or in the singular case of the French Classroom, just after) 1787, the year of the university's founding and of the signing of the [[United States Constitution|U.S. Constitution]].

The Nationality Room programs began in 1926 when 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 responsible for all fundraising, designing, and acquisition. The university provided only the room and, upon completion, upkeep for perpetuity. All other materials, labor, and design were provided by the individual committees. These were sometimes aided by foreign governments and the rooms contain multiple authentic artifacts and materials from the country represented.<ref>[http://www.pitt.edu/~natrooms/pages/about_nr.html The Nationality Rooms: about nationality rooms] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028112138/http://www.pitt.edu/~natrooms/pages/about_nr.html |date=October 28, 2012 }}. Pitt.edu. Retrieved on July 17, 2013.</ref> A typical room on the 1st floor (those built between 1938 and 1957) took between three and ten years to complete and cost the equivalent of [[US$]]300,000 in 2006 dollars. More recent rooms have cost in the range of $750,000 and up.<ref name="Alberts1986">{{cite book|last=Alberts|first=Robert C.|title=Pitt: the story of the University of Pittsburgh, 1787-1987|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SzS7AAAAIAAJ|access-date=August 2, 2010|year=1986|publisher=[[University of Pittsburgh Press]]|isbn=978-0-8229-1150-0|page= 135}}</ref>

===Classrooms===
{|
|-
|valign="top"|
* [[African Heritage Classroom|African Heritage]]
* [[Armenian Classroom|Armenian]]
* [[Austrian Nationality Room|Austrian]]
* [[Chinese Classroom|Chinese]]
* [[Czechoslovak Classroom|Czechoslovak]]
* [[Nationality Rooms#Early American|Early American]] (Display)
* [[English Classroom|English]]
|width="33"|&nbsp;
|valign="top"|
* [[French Classroom|French]]
* [[German Classroom|German]]
* [[Greek Classroom|Greek]]
* [[Hungarian Classroom|Hungarian]]
* [[Indian Classroom|Indian]]
* [[Irish Classroom|Irish]]
* [[Israel Heritage Classroom|Israel Heritage]]
|width="33"|&nbsp;
|valign="top"|
* [[Italian Classroom|Italian]]
* [[Japanese Nationality Room|Japanese]]
* [[Lithuanian Classroom|Lithuanian]]
* [[Korean Classroom|Korean]]
* [[Norwegian Classroom|Norwegian]]
* [[Philippine Classroom|Philippine]]
* [[Polish Classroom|Polish]]
|width="33"|&nbsp;
|valign="top"|
* [[Romanian Classroom|Romanian]]
* [[Russian Classroom|Russian]]
* [[Scottish Classroom|Scottish]]
* [[Swedish Classroom|Swedish]]
* [[Swiss Classroom|Swiss]]
* [[Syria-Lebanon Room|Syrian-Lebanon]] (Display)
* [[Turkish Nationality Room|Turkish]]
|width="33"|&nbsp;
|valign="top"|
* [[Ukrainian Classroom|Ukrainian]]
* [[Welsh Classroom|Welsh]]
* [[Yugoslav Classroom|Yugoslav]]
|}

===Proposed rooms===
There are six nationality rooms in various stages of planning to add to the current 31.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pitt.edu/~natrooms/pages/rooms_in_planning.html |title=The Nationality Rooms - rooms in planning |publisher=[[University of Pittsburgh]] |access-date=August 2, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528115101/http://www.pitt.edu/~natrooms/pages/rooms_in_planning.html |archive-date=May 28, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
{|
|-
|valign="top"|
* Danish<ref name="Fedele">{{cite news|url=http://www.chronicle.pitt.edu/?p=65|title=The Cathedral of Learning: A History|last=Fedele|first=John|date=March 12, 2007|work=Pitt Chronicle|publisher=University News and Magazines, [[University of Pittsburgh]]|access-date=August 2, 2010}}</ref>
* Finnish<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pittsburghfinns.org/FinnishCommittee.html|title=Finnish Nationality Room Information|publisher=The Finlandia Foundation, Pittsburgh Chapter and The Finnish Committee, [[University of Pittsburgh]]|access-date=August 2, 2010}}</ref>
* Iranian<ref>{{cite web| url=http://iranianroom.org/| title=Iranian Nationality Room| date=November 18, 2010| access-date=December 16, 2010| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101226032725/http://iranianroom.org/| archive-date=December 26, 2010| df=mdy-all}}</ref>
|width="33"|&nbsp;
|valign="top"|
* Latin American & Caribbean<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heritageroom.org/|title=The Latin American & Caribbean Heritage Room ... Bienvenidos Amigos! Welcome Friends!|date=January 8, 2010|publisher=The Latin American & Caribbean Heritage Room committee, [[University of Pittsburgh]]|access-date=August 2, 2010|archive-date=May 11, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150511202827/http://www.heritageroom.org/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Moroccan<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nationalityrooms.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/documents/Spring%20%202014%20%28Newsletter%29_0.pdf|title=Message From the Director|first=E. Maxine|last=Bruhns|journal=Nationality Rooms Newsletter|volume=95|date=Spring 2014|page=3|publisher=Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs at the University of Pittsburgh|access-date=April 12, 2014}}</ref>
* Thai<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05132/503312-53.stm|title=U. of Pittsburgh Thai room planned|date=May 12, 2005|work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]|access-date=August 2, 2010}}</ref>
|}

==Other notable spaces==
[[File:BabcockRoomCoL 8234831057.jpg|thumb|upright|right|150px|Dedication panel of the Babcock Memorial Room]]
There are several other notable facilities and rooms within the Cathedral of Learning. In addition, these spaces do not fall under the auspices of the Nationality Rooms program.

===Babcock Room===
The [[Edward V. Babcock]] Memorial Room is a plush, carpeted, wood-paneled conference room constructed on the 40th floor for use as the university [[trustee|trustees']] [[boardroom]]. Funded by a Babcock family grant of $327,000 (${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US|327000|1958}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}) and dedicated in November 1958,<ref name="Alberts1986"/> all of the room's features are original, except for the lighting, furniture and carpeting.<ref name="TPNBabcock">{{cite news | url=http://pittnews.com/newsstory/top-of-cathedral-offers-rooms-great-view/ | first=Keith| last=Gillogly | title=Top of Cathedral offers rooms, great view | newspaper=The Pitt News | location=Pittsburgh, PA | date=February 28, 2011 | access-date=March 1, 2011}}</ref> The room's square shape is modified by four alcoves, in one of which is a portrait of Babcock by [[Malcolm Stevens Parcell]]. The walls, featuring intricate geometric patterns, are paneled in Appalachian [[Quercus macrocarpa|white oak]] with burled [[walnut]] inlays and touches of [[rosewood]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.pfaffmann.com/documents/PittCivicCenterConservation%20Plan_2006.pdf | title=University of Pittsburgh Civic Center Conservation Plan | date=September 2005 | page=62 | last=Pfaffmann | first=Rob | publisher=Pfaffmann + Associates, PC and the Getty Foundation Campus Heritage Program | access-date=January 27, 2010}}</ref> The windows, adorned by leaf-patterned curtains, boast a spectacular panoramic view of the surrounding area.<ref name="TPNBabcock"/><ref name="Holohan">{{cite web|url=http://www.pittmag.pitt.edu/fall2003/feature4.html|title=Standing Tall|last=Holohan|first=Meghan|date=Fall 2003|publisher=Pitt Magazine|access-date=August 2, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100616065342/http://www.pittmag.pitt.edu/fall2003/feature4.html|archive-date=June 16, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> The room is also adjoined by a kitchen.<ref name="UTBabcock">{{cite news|url=http://www.utimes.pitt.edu/?p=27 |title=Secrets of the Cathedral: Starting at the top |newspaper=University Times |publisher=University of Pittsburgh |location=Pittsburgh, PA |volume=36 |number=2 |access-date=August 1, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720033411/http://www.utimes.pitt.edu/?p=27 |archive-date=July 20, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Access to the room is limited to a spiral staircase and an elevator, both requiring a key, that originate on the 36th floor.<ref name="UTBabcock"/> During the early 1970s at the height of [[student activism]], a group of protesting students attempted to barricade the room during a trustees meeting.<ref name="Alberts1986"/><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.utimes.pitt.edu/?p=1895| title=Remembering Wes: Friends, family, former colleagues reminisce|first=William H. | last=Rea | newspaper=University Times | publisher=University of Pittsburgh | location=Pittsburgh, PA | volume=34 | number=1 | access-date=August 1, 2010}}</ref> Today, the trustees have outgrown the room and generally meet in the Assembly Room of the [[William Pitt Union]]. The Babcock room now serves as a seminar and meeting room and is also used for special events.<ref name="TPNBabcock"/> A pair of [[peregrine falcons]] nests on the balcony outside the room.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.utimes.pitt.edu/?p=6488 | title=For the birds | newspaper=University Times | publisher=University of Pittsburgh | location=Pittsburgh, PA | volume=40 | number=19 | date=May 29, 2008 | access-date=August 1, 2010}}</ref>

===Braun Room===
[[Image:CoL Braun Room.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The Braun Room in the Cathedral of Learning]]
Following the opening of the Cathedral of Learning, the offices of the Dean of Women moved to the 12th floor of the Cathedral in 1938. The interior was unfinished but Dean [[Thyrsa 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 including room 1201, now known as the Braun Room. Mrs. A. E. Braun donated the furnishings and floral carved [[mahogany]] wood paneling which she had purchased in 1941 from the library of the home of Grant McCargo in the East End of Pittsburgh. The Braun Room was dedicated in 1946 and serves, along with its furniture, as an example of a modern reproduction of [[Louis XV of France|Louis XV]] design. Original blue carpeting was replaced in 1955 with a Persian rug, named "The Iron Rug of Persia", that was donated by the daughter and son-in-law of A. E. Braun. Restored in 2015, the rug was made for a regional [[Khan (title)|Khan]] in the northern part of Iran around 1810.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.nationalityrooms.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/documents/Fall%202015%20%28Newsletter%29%20Nov%2010_0.pdf|title=Nationality Rooms Program Activities|first=Maryann|last=Sivak|journal=Nationality Rooms Newsletter|date=Fall 2015|volume=98|page=7|access-date=November 15, 2015}}</ref> Other features of the room include a low bookcase, bordered and topped with classic carving, that was crafted by university carpenters to replace the original fireplace whose inclusion was impractical on the 12th floor, along with two crystal drop chandeliers.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.pfaffmann.com/documents/PittCivicCenterConservation%20Plan_2006.pdf | title=University of Pittsburgh Civic Center Conservation Plan | date=September 2005 | page=63 | last=Pfaffmann | first=Rob | publisher=Pfaffmann + Associates, PC and the Getty Foundation Campus Heritage Program | access-date=January 27, 2010}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.provost.pitt.edu/whistory/twelfth/twelfth.html|title=The Twelfth Floor|work=The History of Women at Pitt|publisher=Office of the Provost, [[University of Pittsburgh]]|access-date=August 2, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110320071425/http://www.provost.pitt.edu/whistory/twelfth/twelfth.html|archive-date=March 20, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Braun Room is used for meetings and study abroad scholarship selection panels.

===Croghan-Schenley Ballroom===
[[Image:CoL Croghan-Schenley Ballroom.jpg|left|thumb|Croghan-Schenley Ballroom in the Cathedral of Learning]]
The Croghan-Schenley room, situated on the first floor of the Cathedral in room 156, is actually two adjoining [[Greek Revival]] 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, known as the Picnic House, built in 1830 in the [[Stanton Heights]] area of Pittsburgh. The rooms themselves were created in 1835 by the Philadelphia carver Mordecai Van Horn, and they have been regarded as being among the most lavish examples of Greek Revival designs in America.<ref name="TokerNewPortrait"/>

His daughter, [[Mary Schenley|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.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_EkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA122|title=Life Visits a Haunted House|magazine=LIFE|pages=122–125|date=June 11, 1945|access-date=May 26, 2014}}</ref>

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&nbsp;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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mac10.umc.pitt.edu/u/FMPro?-db%3Dustory%26-lay%3Da%26-format%3Dd.html%26storyid%3D1676%26-Find |title=Secrets of the Cathedral: The Commons Room |website=mac10.umc.pitt.edu |publisher=[[University Times]] (University of Pittsburgh) |access-date=June 9, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070720050412/http://mac10.umc.pitt.edu/u/FMPro?-db=ustory&-lay=a&-format=d.html&storyid=1676&-Find |archive-date=July 20, 2007 }}</ref>

[[Image:CathedralLecture324.jpg|right|thumb|The Frick Auditorium]]
Stories tell of a ghost, speculated to be that of Mary Schenley, that is said to roam the Ballroom and Nationality Rooms. The doors to the rooms are locked every night, but furniture is sometimes said to be found rearranged by daylight staff. The swinging of the chandelier has been said to indicate her presence.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://pittnews.com/newsstory/could-your-university-be-full-of-spooky-spirits/|title=Could your University be full of spooky spirits?|first=Greg|last=Heller-LaBelle|date=May 11, 2006|newspaper=The Pitt News|location=Pittsburgh, PA|access-date=August 1, 2011}}</ref><ref name="haunt">{{cite web|url=http://hauntsandhistory.googlepages.com/threerivershauntsandhistoryc|title=Three Rivers Haunts & History|page=8|access-date=November 25, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09060/952235-109.stm|first=Gene|last=Scott|title=The Next Page: Mansion of Ironies|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|location=Pittsburgh, PA|date=March 1, 2009|access-date=August 1, 2011}}</ref>

===Frick Auditorium===
The Frick Auditorium is a lecture hall in room 324 of the Cathedral of Learning. Originally conceptualized as the Fine Arts Lecture Room intended to complement the Fine Arts Department then located on the seventh floor,<ref>{{cite book|title=Planning the Pitt Campus: Dreams and Schemes Never Realized|chapter=A Different Approach: the Arts and Crafts Village|first=Jeannine|last=Gibel-Lukens|publisher=University of Pittsburgh|date=November 5, 1993}}</ref> the room was completed in 1939<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?xc=1;g=documentingpitt;didno=31735062128347;idno=31735062128347;view=image;seq=50|journal=Pitt|title=Documenting Pitt|number=27|date=Winter 1947|page=48|access-date=April 12, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160210060544/http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?xc=1%3Bg%3Ddocumentingpitt%3Bdidno%3D31735062128347%3Bidno%3D31735062128347%3Bview%3Dimage%3Bseq%3D50|archive-date=February 10, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref> and features stone [[mullions]], [[chambranle]], and other trim as well as wooden lecture seating and a [[coffer]]ed ceiling. A centerpiece element in the room is a Nicholas Lochoff reproduction of ''[[Resurrection (Piero della Francesca)|The Resurrection]]'' by [[Piero della Francesca]] that was purchased for the lecture hall by [[Helen Clay Frick]]. Frick would later donate a large collection of Lochoff reproductions to the university which are on display in the Nicholas Lochoff Cloister in the university's [[Frick Fine Arts Building]].<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.haa.pitt.edu/resources/documents/ffab.pdf |title=Frick Fine Arts Building & The Nicholas Lochoff Cloister |journal=Frick Fine Arts Library Library Guide Series |issue=25 |date=August 15, 2006 |access-date=November 19, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100627200101/http://www.haa.pitt.edu/resources/documents/ffab.pdf |archive-date=June 27, 2010 |df=mdy }}</ref>

===Humanities Center===
[[File:HumanitiesCenterPitt.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Entrance to the Humanities Center]]
The University of Pittsburgh's Humanities Center, part of [[University of Pittsburgh School of Arts and Sciences|School of Arts and Sciences]], is housed in the Cathedral of Learning's room 602, which was a sixth-floor space once occupied by the [[Darlington Collection|Darlington Memorial Library]]. Following digitization and protective storage of the library's materials, its space was renovated in 2009 by architect Rob Pfaffmann to house the center, which now includes office space for staff and visiting fellows.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.chronicle.pitt.edu/?p=4530 | title=Pitt's New Humanities Center To Foster Collaborative Work | first=Patricia Lomando | last=White | date=January 19, 2010 | newspaper=Pitt Chronicle | location=Pittsburgh, PA | publisher=University of Pittsburgh | access-date=January 20, 2010 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100617023913/http://www.chronicle.pitt.edu/?p=4530 | archive-date=June 17, 2010 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> The Humanities Center space retains much of the original character and a number of the antique furnishings originally bequeathed to the university by the Darlington family, and features moldings and green walls that are duplicated from the 18th mansion [[Graeme Park (Horsham, Pennsylvania)|Graeme Park]], a [[Province of Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania colonial-era]] governor's residence.<ref name="DLibStarret">{{cite book | url=http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=pitttext;cc=pitttext;rgn=full%20text;idno=00adg0067m;didno=00adg0067m;view=image;seq=13;node=00adg0067m%3A4;page=root;size=s;frm=frameset; | title=The Darlington Memorial Library | first=Agnes Lynch | last=Starret | page=3 | publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press | location=Pittsburgh, PA | year=1938 | access-date=November 18, 2009}}</ref> The Center for Humanities was finished in time for an open house that was part a conference hosted by the center on November 14–15, 2009.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.utimes.pitt.edu/?p=10412 | title= Humanities Center hosts inaugural conference | newspaper=University Times | publisher=University of Pittsburgh | location=Pittsburgh, PA | date=November 12, 2009 | access-date=November 18, 2009}}</ref>

[[File:HumanitiesCenterCoL.jpg|thumb|left|Humanities Center]]
The space served as the home of The Darlington Memorial Library from 1936 until its recent conversion to the Humanities Center.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://digital.library.pitt.edu:80/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=pittchancellor;cc=pittchancellor;g=documentingpitt;xc=1;xg=1;rgn=full%20text;idno=1934e36913;didno=1934e36913;view=image;seq=98;page=root;size=s;frm=frameset |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120813104245/http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=pittchancellor%3Bcc%3Dpittchancellor%3Bg%3Ddocumentingpitt%3Bxc%3D1%3Bxg%3D1%3Brgn%3Dfull%20text%3Bidno%3D1934e36913%3Bdidno%3D1934e36913%3Bview%3Dimage%3Bseq%3D98%3Bpage%3Droot%3Bsize%3Ds%3Bfrm%3Dframeset |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 13, 2012 |pages=95–96 |title=Report of the Chancellor to the Trustees July 1, 1934, to June 30, 1936 |date=October 15, 1936 |volume=33 |issue=2 |journal=University of Pittsburgh Bulletin |access-date=November 18, 2009 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> The library was entered through a memorial vestibule and consisted of a central room with eight alcoves. Among other notable furnishings, it contained a wrought iron entrance gate by [[Samuel Yellin]].<ref name="DLibStarret" /> The library 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 much of the family estate. The Darlington family's tremendous interest in historical research was the force behind creating what was said to be the largest private library west of the Alleghenies. The library collection is particularly rich in material about the [[French and Indian War]] and the history of [[Western Pennsylvania]] and the [[Ohio River|Ohio Valley]], as both William and Mary Darlington researched and published in these areas. While the collection's main focus is on American history and literature, other collection highlights include rare maps and atlases, works on [[ornithology]] and natural history, and early travel narratives. The Darlington's son, O'Hara Darlington, also amassed collections of [[Victorian literature]] sporting books and works of illustrators and caricaturists. The collection also has been enriched over the years by donations from other individuals and organizations, which especially have enhanced its content about the history of the Western Pennsylvania region.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.library.pitt.edu/libraries/darlington/darlington.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410223528/http://www.library.pitt.edu/libraries/darlington/darlington.html | title=Darlington Memorial Library | archive-date=April 10, 2008 | access-date=November 18, 2009}}</ref>

Before renovation of the original library space, its materials were digitized and placed online at The Darlington Digital Library.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://digital.library.pitt.edu/d/darlington/ | title=The Darlington Digital Library | publisher=University of Pittsburgh | access-date=November 18, 2009}}</ref> The original, sometimes fragile, materials of the library were placed in storage for availability to researchers upon request.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://mac10.umc.pitt.edu/u/FMPro?-db=ustory&-lay=a&-format=d.html&storyid=8825&-Find |title=What's New? Places |last1=Hart |first1=Peter |last2=Barlow |first2=Kimberly K. |newspaper=University Times |publisher=University of Pittsburgh |location=Pittsburgh, PA |date=September 3, 2009 |access-date=September 8, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100609205248/http://mac10.umc.pitt.edu/u/FMPro?-db=ustory&-lay=a&-format=d.html&storyid=8825&-Find |archive-date=June 9, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> A virtual tour of the Darlington Memorial Library as it previously existed in the Cathedral of Learning is available at the main entrance<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.library.pitt.edu/images/tours/darlington.mov|title=Darlington Memorial Library main entrance virtual tour|access-date=August 2, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520032719/http://www.library.pitt.edu/images/tours/darlington.mov|archive-date=May 20, 2011|df=mdy-all}}</ref> and the main room.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.library.pitt.edu/images/tours/maindarlington.mov|title=Darlington Memorial Library main room virtual tour|access-date=August 2, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520032836/http://www.library.pitt.edu/images/tours/maindarlington.mov|archive-date=May 20, 2011|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
{{Clear}}

===Cultural Studies, Film Studies, and GSWS program space===
[[File:CGSatPitt.JPG|thumb|right|upright|Former McCarl Center]]
Located on the fourth floor of the Cathedral of Learning, the current home of both the Cultural Studies, Film Studies, and Gender, Sexuality, & Women's Studies (GSWS) programs,<ref name="GSWS news">{{cite journal|url=http://www.wstudies.pitt.edu/news/gsws-programs-new-home-cathedral-learning|first=K. Briar|last=Somerville|title=GSWS Program's New Home in the Cathedral of Learning|issue=2|date=Summer 2015|journal=Gender, Sexuality, & Women's Studies Program|access-date=October 12, 2015}}</ref> was the prior home of the McCarl Center for Nontraditional Student Success until it moved to [[Wesley W. Posvar Hall]] in 2014.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.utimes.pitt.edu/?p=27002|first1=Kimberly K.|last1=Barlow|first2=Marty|last2=Levine|title=What's New at Pitt: Places|newspaper=University Times|publisher=University of Pittsburgh|location=Pittsburgh, PA|date=August 29, 2013|volume=46|number=1|access-date=September 12, 2013}}</ref> The space occupies what once housed two levels of the main stacks of the university's library.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stradallc.com/show_project.php?37|title=Strada - McCarl Center for Nontraditional Student Success|publisher=Strada, LLC|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080201050159/http://www.stradallc.com/show_project.php?37|archive-date=February 1, 2008 |access-date=August 2, 2010}}</ref> The {{convert|2500|sqft|m2|adj=on}} space was previously opened as the $537,000 McCarl Center in 2002.<ref name="About McCarl">{{cite web|url=http://www.cgspitt.org/about-the-mccarl-center.cfm|title=About the McCarl Center|publisher=College of General Studies, [[University of Pittsburgh]]|access-date=August 2, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725154349/http://www.cgspitt.org/about-the-mccarl-center.cfm|archive-date=July 25, 2011|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Made possible by a gift from F. James and Foster J.J. McCarl,<ref name="About McCarl"/> it was designed by Alan J. Cuteri and his architectural firm Strada, LLC, and includes wood finishes, double-height spaces with high ceilings and windows, a main corridor conceived as an interior street, and multiple elements that refer to the Cathedral of Learning's Gothic architecture including decorative painted metal columns with contemporary buttress-style arches.<ref name = "McCarl"/> Today the space includes a resource library, offices, and seminar room, and class room that are used by the Cultural Studies and GSWS programs.<ref name="GSWS news"/> Students in gender studies classes have access to the gender studies library, which houses classic and recent books on gender/sexuality, and to two gender studies classrooms. The GSWS faculty offices are also nearby. Also hanging in a hallway on the fourth floor outside the space, three unsigned and undated {{convert|7|by|3|ft|m|adj=on|1}} glass-encased murals that depict [[Renaissance]] painting styles and which have long belonged to the university but are of unknown origin.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.utimes.pitt.edu/?p=28 | title=Secrets of the Cathedral: From 38 on down | date=September 11, 2003 | volume=36 | number=2 | newspaper=University Times | publisher=University of Pittsburgh | access-date=August 1, 2010 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720033405/http://www.utimes.pitt.edu/?p=28 | archive-date=July 20, 2011 | df=mdy-all }}</ref>

===Mulert Memorial Room===
[[File:MulertMemorialRoomCoL.jpg|thumb|left|Mulert Memorial Room]]
Located in room 204, the walnut-paneled Mulert Memorial classroom was designed by Philadelphia architect Gustav Ketterer and university architect Albert Klimcheck.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=RncbAAAAIBAJ&pg=3017%2C2787625|title=Memorial Room is Dedicated in Pitt Ceremony|newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press|page=27|date=December 22, 1942|access-date=August 22, 2014}}</ref> The room features wood floors, fluted [[ionic column]]s, red velvet draperies, and student chairs with leather seats.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.cidde.pitt.edu/classrooms/cl_204.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100710035823/http://www.cidde.pitt.edu//classrooms/cl_204.html|archive-date=July 10, 2010 |title=Media Enhanced Classrooms: Cathedral of Learning - Room 204 | publisher=University of Pittsburgh Center for Instructional Development & Distance Education | access-date=August 22, 2014}}</ref> The room's doors have fluted jams and panelings of Greek rosettes. A Mulert family coat-of-arms and memorial inscription is located on the rear wall of the room.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=pittalumni;idno=31735062122431;seq=12|first=Lotte Olga|last=Lohstoeter|title=The Justus Mulert Memorial Room|journal=The Alumni Review|date=March 1943|page=10|access-date=August 22, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160210060544/http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=pittalumni%3Bidno%3D31735062122431%3Bseq%3D12|archive-date=February 10, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The room was provided for in the will of the late [[Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania|Mt. Lebanon]] resident Justus Mulert, the room was dedicated on December 21, 1942, and serves as a memorial to Mulert's wife, Louise and his son Ferdinand Max, who died in 1912 during his senior year at [[Washington and Jefferson College]].<ref>{{Cite news | title=Pitt Dedicates Mulert Room | newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | date=December 22, 1942 | page=12 | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19421222&id=PuUMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5424,2166468 | access-date=May 26, 2009 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

===Richard E. Rauh Studio Theatre===
[[File:CathedraloL blackbox.jpg|thumb|right|100px|Studio Theatre]]
The Richard E. Rauh Studio Theatre, a facility utilized by the [[University of Pittsburgh Stages|Department of Theatre Arts]], is located in the basement of the cathedral. The Rauh Studio Theatre is a [[black box theater|black box space]] that can be configured for almost any set requirements. It is home to student-directed laboratory productions, play readings, Dark Night Cabaret, and played host to Pittsburgh's longest-running theatre show, [[Friday Nite Improvs]], started in 1989 by graduate theatre students.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.play.pitt.edu/about/facilities.html |title=Performance Spaces |publisher=Department of Theatre Arts, [[University of Pittsburgh]] |access-date=August 2, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091202052852/http://www.play.pitt.edu/about/facilities.html |archive-date=December 2, 2009 |df=mdy }}</ref> In 2017 the Studio Theatre was named in honor of Pitt alumnus Richard E. Raugh who donated $1 million to support it and the university's theater productions.<ref>{{cite press release|url=https://www.pittwire.pitt.edu/news/alumnus-gifts-1-million|title=Alumnus Gifts $1 Million to Theatre Arts|publisher=University of Pittsburgh|date=July 28, 2017|access-date=July 28, 2017}}</ref>

===Frederick Honors College===
[[File:Pitt Honors College staircase.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Staircase between the 35th and 36th floors of the Frederick Honors College.]]
The Frederick Honors College, dedicated in 1986, is housed in a 2002-2003 renovated space on the 35th and 36th floors of the cathedral. The Frederick Honors College provides support and enriched opportunities for scholarship among the university's undergraduates and offers a Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil) degree.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.honorscollege.pitt.edu/|title=University Honors College|publisher=[[University of Pittsburgh]]|access-date=August 2, 2010}}</ref>

The 2002-2003 renovation, by Rothschild Doyno Collaborative of Pittsburgh's Strip District, showcased an existing two-story arched window that is 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 the Honors College. Stained glass behind the reception desk at the center of the space was designed 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.honorscollege.pitt.edu/about/architecture.html |title=About UHC: Architecture |publisher=University Honors College, [[University of Pittsburgh]] |access-date=August 2, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100609100834/http://www.honorscollege.pitt.edu/about/architecture.html |archive-date=June 9, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

<gallery>
File:CathedralfromFrick.jpg|South face of the cathedral from the [[Frick Fine Arts Building]]
File:CathedralLawn1.jpg|The Cathedral Lawn to the east
File:Cathedral of Learning stitch 2.jpg|Cathedral and the [[Stephen Foster Memorial]] from across [[Schenley Plaza]]
File:CathoLearn.jpg|Northwest side of the cathedral from across the lawn of the [[Soldiers and Sailors National Military Museum and Memorial|Sailors and Soldiers Memorial]]
File:TopofCathedralofLearning.jpg|Detail of top floors on the western face
File:CathedralLearningEarlyevening.jpg|North face top floors
File:CathedralofLearninglookingup.jpg|Panther fountain on the west entrance
File:PittCathedralLearningfromHeinzChapel.jpg|East side
File:CathedralFromSouthSideSlopes.jpg|View from the South Side Slopes
File:CathedralofLearningLampDetail.jpg|[[Samuel Yellin]] ironwork lamp
File:CathedralofLearningentrance.jpg|South entrance detail
File:CathedralofLearningstoneworkDetail.jpg|Exterior quatrefoil stonework detail prior to 2007 cleaning
File:QuoVadisClassof1940Window.jpg|[[Charles Connick]] designed Class of 1940 Window in the Quo Vadis niche
File:Cathedralcloister.jpg|Lightwell containing the painted ceramic sculpture "Third Century" by Jerry Caplan
File:CathedralofLearning1stFloorArchwayDetail.jpg|Detail of Joseph Gattoni stonework on a first floor archway
File:Commons Room (Cathedral of Learning) - Pitt - IMG 0469.jpg|Detail of Commons Room furniture carvings
File:CoLCommonsRoom.jpg|Commons Room ceiling vaults
File:CommonsRoominCathedralofLearn.jpg|Commons Room
File:UpittCOL2.JPG|Commons Room
File:PittCathedralLearningWindows.jpg|Looking west from the Frederick Honors College
File:VictoryLightsPitt.jpg|Cathedral of Learning lit up with the victory lights
File:Forbes Field about 1963.jpg|Forbes Field about 1963 from Cathedral of Learning
File:Cathedral of Learning Daytime.jpg|Cathedral seen from [[Wesley W. Posvar Hall]]
</gallery>

==Recent proposed changes to the Cathedral==
[[Image:Pitt Honors College staircase.jpg|right|thumb|150px|[[University of Pittsburgh Honors College|University Honors College]] on the 35th and 36th floor]]
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. Some 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 was completed at the end of 2007, restoring the exterior of the building to its original condition.

In the wake of the [[September 11 attacks]], the cathedral was deemed "at risk" because no obstacles were in place to prevent a vehicle from driving into the entrances of the building. To address this concern, the university installed [[Bollard (traffic)|bollard]]s that rise out of the sidewalk.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.utimes.pitt.edu/?p=8762 | title=Making Pitt Work: Josh Cochran |first=Kimberly K. |last=Barlow | newspaper=University Times | publisher=University of Pittsburgh | location=Pittsburgh, PA | volume=41 | number=8 | date=December 4, 2008 | access-date=August 1, 2010}}</ref>

{{As of |2001}}, around 200 window air conditioners operated in the building. During the 2000s, the university focused upon providing air-conditioning to the first four floors, which contain a number of classrooms. The plan called for the complete central cooling of the entire Cathedral of Learning by the end of the decade.<ref name="Steele">{{cite web|url=http://www.pitt.edu/utimes/issues/33/010322/14.html|title=Plans call for a cooler and less congested Cathedral of Learning|last=Steele|first=Bruce|date=March 22, 2001|work=University Times|publisher=[[University of Pittsburgh]]|access-date=August 2, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060920215817/http://www.pitt.edu/utimes/issues/33/010322/14.html|archive-date=September 20, 2006}}</ref>

In 2014 the Property and Facilities Committee approved a plan for a $10.4 million upgrade of the building's [[elevator]] system.<ref>{{cite web|last=Erdley |first=Debra |url=http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/5709992-74/million-university-pitt |title=Going up: Pitt OKs elevator upgrade at Cathedral of Learning |publisher=TribLIVE |date=2014-03-05 |access-date=2016-03-12}}</ref> This is the second major upgrade of the elevators implemented in the building's history. Originally manually controlled and later automated to [[Westinghouse Electric (1886)|Westinghouse]] Selectomatic in 1971, the system was completely modernized into [[Otis Elevator Company|Otis]] Compass+ [[destination dispatch]] in 2016.

==References in popular culture and student life==
{{in popular culture|section|date=September 2024}}
[[File:Cathedral of Learning - Pittsburgh Festival of Lights.jpg|thumb|upright|The Cathedral of Learning lit up during the fall of 2008 for the Pittsburgh Festival of Light in celebration of the city of Pittsburgh's 250th anniversary. The mosaic, created by French artist Lucette de Rugy, was inspired by [[Johannes Gutenberg|Gutenberg's]] 15th-century [[printing press]]]]
[[File:365CathedralsAlumniHall.jpg|thumb|right|''One A Day: 365 Views of the Cathedral of Learning'', painted by [[Felix de la Concha]], a permanent exhibit at the University of Pittsburgh's [[Alumni Hall (University of Pittsburgh)|Alumni Hall]]]]
* The Cathedral of Learning is described in [[Michael Chabon]]'s novel ''[[The Mysteries of Pittsburgh]]''.
* In [[Bethesda Softworks|Bethesda Softwork's]] ''[[Fallout 3#The Pitt|Fallout 3: The Pitt]]'', the Cathedral of Learning appears as the headquarters of the rulers of a post-apocalyptic Pittsburgh.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09291/1006490-53.stm | title=Pittsburgh's profile rising in video games | first=Maria | last=Sciullo | date=October 18, 2009 | newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | location=Pittsburgh, PA | access-date=October 18, 2009}}</ref>
* The Cathedral of Learning was profiled on ''[[John Ratzenberger's Made in America]]'' TV show on the [[Travel Channel]].<ref name="Leff">{{cite web|url=http://www.chronicle.pitt.edu/?p=1329|title=Cathedral of Learning to Be Featured April 16 on Travel Channel's Made In America|last=Leff|first=Amanda|date=April 14, 2008|work=Pitt Chronicle|publisher=[[University of Pittsburgh]]|access-date=August 2, 2010}}</ref>
* The Cathedral of Learning and Nationality Rooms were featured on the Canadian French language travel channel [[Évasion]] in the Pittsburgh episode of ''15 bonnes raisons d'aller à ... '' that first aired in September 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.evasion.tv/emissions/15_bonnes_raisons_daller_a/episodes/pittsburgh_0n9w3|title=Pittsburgh - 15 bonnes raisons d'aller à ...|publisher=[[Évasion]].tv|year=2012|access-date=February 5, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.nationalityrooms.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/documents/pdfs/Newsletter%20Volume%2092%20Fall%202012.pdf|title=Events|editor-first=E. Maxine|editor-last=Bruhns|journal=Nationality Rooms Newsletter|volume=92|date=Fall 2012|page=8|access-date=February 5, 2013}}</ref>
* The cathedral is sometimes referred to by Pitt students as the "drunken compass" due to its prominence of visibility throughout the neighborhood of Oakland that is used to guide students returning from parties back to the dorms or apartments.<ref name="Rosengarten">{{cite journal|last=Rosengarten|first=Richard|title=Secrets of the Cathedral|journal=[[The Original Magazine]]|issue=4|page=50|url=http://www.originalmag.com/original4_web.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091229084019/http://www.originalmag.com/original4_web.pdf|archive-date=December 29, 2009|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
* Along with the [[Nationality Rooms#Early American|Early American Nationality Room]], and the Croghan-Schenley Ballroom, the Cathedral Café food court on the ground level is purported to be haunted.<ref name="haunt" /><ref name="Rosengarten"/>
* Portions of the movie ''[[Roommates (1995 film)|Roommates]]'' (1995), starring [[D. B. Sweeney]], [[Peter Falk]], and [[Julianne Moore]] and directed by [[Peter Yates]], were filmed in the Cathedral of Learning, including room 324.<ref name="movies">{{cite news | last = Steele | first = Bruce | url = http://www.utimes.pitt.edu/?p=1673 | title = Lights-camera-action: "Mothman" invades Pitt campus | newspaper = University Times | volume=33|issue=13|date=March 8, 2001 | access-date = June 30, 2011 }}</ref>
* [[Richard Gere]]'s character in ''[[The Mothman Prophecies (film)|The Mothman Prophecies]]'' (2002) appears in a scene where he is sitting on a bench on the Cathedral of Learning lawn.<ref name="movies" />
* The Cathedral of Learning can be seen in the background of the climactic scene in which [[Jackie Robinson]] heads for home base at [[Forbes Field]] in the biographical film ''[[42 (film)|42]]'' (2013),<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.philly.com/2013-04-12/news/38494348_1_crosley-field-ebbets-field-jackie-robinson|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607041115/http://articles.philly.com/2013-04-12/news/38494348_1_crosley-field-ebbets-field-jackie-robinson|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 7, 2013|title='42' offers stadium nostalgia|first=Gar|last=Joseph|newspaper=Philadelphia Daily News|date=April 12, 2013|access-date=May 9, 2013}}</ref> as well as in the backdrop of the graduation scene, filmed on the lawn of [[Soldiers and Sailors National Military Museum and Memorial|Soldiers and Sailors Memorial]], for fictional Rosman University in the movie ''[[Sorority Row]]'' (2009).<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08302/923347-60.stm | title=City sets the scene for sorority thriller | last=Owen | first=Rob | date=October 28, 2008 | newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | location=Pittsburgh, PA | access-date=September 15, 2009 | archive-date=June 28, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628184221/http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08302/923347-60.stm | url-status=dead }}</ref> It can also be seen in the movie ''[[Wonder Boys (film)|Wonder Boys]]'' (2000), a film adaptation of Pitt alumnus [[Michael Chabon]]'s 1995 [[Wonder Boys|novel of the same title]],<ref name="movies" /> as well as in the original 1951 version of ''[[Angels in the Outfield (1951 film)|Angels in the Outfield]]''.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001NMKAWW | title=Free Preview: Angles in the Outfield (1951) | website=Amazon | access-date=October 28, 2009}}</ref>
* Artist Harry Scheuch painted the Cathedral of Learning during its construction in the 1930s as a series for the [[Public Works of Art Project]]. The works are now part of the [[Smithsonian American Art Museum|Smithsonian American Art Museum's]] exhibit entitled "1934: A New Deal for Artists".<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/results/?id=4294 | title=Smithsonian American Art Museum: Harry W. Scheuch | publisher=Smithsonian Institution | access-date=May 31, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716231351/http://www.americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/results/?id=4294 | archive-date=July 16, 2011 | url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Artist [[Felix de la Concha]] painted the Cathedral of Learning 365 times, in ''One a Day. 365 Views of the Cathedral of Learning''. The collection is now on display at the [[Alumni Hall (University of Pittsburgh)]], a building just in front of the cathedral.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://old.post-gazette.com/magazine/19990828thomas6.asp|title=Art Reviews: Felix de la Concha finds every day's a good day for painting|website=old.post-gazette.com|access-date=December 2, 2022|archive-date=December 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202183831/https://old.post-gazette.com/magazine/19990828thomas6.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://old.post-gazette.com/columnists/19990729walk.asp|title=Walkabout: Painting as an act of devotion|website=old.post-gazette.com|access-date=December 2, 2022|archive-date=December 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202183831/https://old.post-gazette.com/columnists/19990729walk.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* In one of the most famous photographs in baseball history by [[George Silk]] and published in [[Life (magazine)|''Life'' magazine]], students from the University of Pittsburgh are seen cheering on the [[Pittsburgh Pirates]] in the [[1960 World Series]] from their vantage atop the Cathedral of Learning high above [[Forbes Field]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://blog.photoshelter.com/2010/10/the-10-greatest-world-series-photos-of-all-time.html | title=The 10 Greatest World Series Photos of All Time | first=Brad | last=Mangin | publisher=Photoshelter | date=October 26, 2010 | access-date=March 29, 2011 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101030045616/http://blog.photoshelter.com/2010/10/the-10-greatest-world-series-photos-of-all-time.html | archive-date=October 30, 2010 | df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine | url=http://www.life.com/gallery/40812/image/50694464/lifes-best-baseball-pictures#index/7 | title= LIFE's Best Baseball Pictures: Above It All | magazine= Time | access-date=March 29, 2010}}</ref>
* [[Assumption University (Thailand)|Assumption University]] in [[Thailand]] has constructed a 39-story, {{convert|522|ft|m|adj=on}} building that is modeled and named after the Cathedral of Learning and serves as the centerpiece of their [[Suvarnabhumi]] campus.<ref>{{cite web | title=Emporis.com: Cathedral of Learning, Bangkok | publisher=Emporis | url=http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=abactoweri-bangkok-thailand | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130409064420/http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=abactoweri-bangkok-thailand | url-status=usurped | archive-date=April 9, 2013 | access-date=May 5, 2009}}</ref>
* The Cathedral of Learning features in [[Chris Kuzneski]]'s 2009 novel, ''[[The Prophecy (Kuzneski novel)|The Prophecy]]''.
* On October 27, 2018, the cathedral was darkened following Pitt's victory over Duke out of respect for the 11 victims killed in the [[Pittsburgh synagogue shooting|Tree of Life synagogue shooting]] which had occurred earlier that day in nearby [[Squirrel Hill (Pittsburgh)|Squirrel Hill]].
* The Cathedral of Learning features in the [https://open.spotify.com/album/23zajPVUPw1LrACtGRRsmD?si=kFvF04qjRWyNhVj_ZIvlKQ song "Cathy" by Dhyan], released in 2019 as a single, from the album ''My Hero''.
* In 1987, the Cathedral of Learning appears in a panel of The Amazing Spider-Man issue 292, where Spider-Man goes to Pittsburgh.

==Notes==
<references group="note"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last=Alberts|first=Robert C.|title=Pitt: the story of the University of Pittsburgh, 1787–1987|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SzS7AAAAIAAJ|year=1986|publisher=[[University of Pittsburgh Press]]|isbn=978-0-8229-1150-0}}
* {{cite book|last=Bowman|first=John G.|title=Unofficial notes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g46DGQAACAAJ|year=1963}}
* {{cite book|last=Brown|first=Mark McCullough|title=The Cathedral of Learning: concept, design, construction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i90iNQAACAAJ|year=1987|publisher=University Art Gallery, Henry Clay Frick Fine Arts Building, University of Pittsburgh}}
* {{cite book|last=Starrett|first=Agnes Lynch|title=The Darlington Memorial Library: University of Pittsburgh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0ndEAAAAMAAJ|year=1938|publisher=[[University of Pittsburgh Press]]}}
* Nationality Rooms Guide Training Material

==External links==
{{commons}}
* [http://www.tour.pitt.edu/tour-categories/cathedral-of-learning Cathedral of Learning Virtual Tour]
* [http://www.treasures.pitt.edu/history/index.html History of the Cathedral of Learning]
* [http://www.nationalityrooms.pitt.edu/ Nationality Rooms homepage]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130201183540/http://www.pitt.edu/~natrooms/pages/allnr.html Nationality Rooms Virtual Tour]

Panoramas
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080626105414/http://postgazette.com/pg/08116/876609-429.stm 360° panorama of the Cathedral]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110928015939/http://postgazette.com/pg/09038/947677-429.stm 360° panorama of the Commons Room]
* [http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/26733 180° panorama Gigapan of the Commons Room]
* [http://www.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=2027 Gigapan of the Cathedral's Commons Room]
* [http://www.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=2120 Gigapan of the Austrian Nationality Room]
* [http://www.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=200 Gigapan from the 36th floor of the Cathedral]
* [http://www.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=3620 Gigapan of a somewhat squished front of the Cathedral of Learning]

Video
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjOdkFw0BX4 Cathedral of Learning feature on John Ratzenberger's Made in America]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080715184404/http://www.wqed.org/ondemand/onq.php?cat=6&id=46 WQED OnQ: Pitt Preservation Project: Cathedral of Learning]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091105215713/http://www.wqed.org/ondemand/onq.php?cat=6&id=587 WQED OnQ: E. Maxine Bruhns & The Nationality Rooms]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110714160042/http://www.naturefootage.com/video_clips/BF21_027 Nature Footage: Aerial Of University Of Pittsburgh, Cathedral Of Learning]
* [http://www.post-gazette.com/multimedia/?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=5963663 Post-Gazette.com: The Cathedral of Learning's Peregrine falcon chicks]

{{S-start}}
{{succession box | before = [[Bellefield Hall]] | title = [[List of University of Pittsburgh buildings|University of Pittsburgh Buildings]]<br />Cathedral of Learning | years = Constructed: 1926-1937 | after = [[Falk School#Building|Falk School]]}}
{{succession box
| before=[[525 William Penn Place]]
| title=[[Pittsburgh Skyscrapers by Height]]
| years=535 feet (163 m) <br />42 floors
| after=[[Tower at PNC Plaza]]
}}
{{succession box
| before=[[Gulf Tower]]
| title=[[Pittsburgh Skyscrapers by Year of Completion]]
| years=1936
| after=[[525 William Penn Place]]
}}
{{S-end}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania}}
{{University of Pittsburgh}}
{{Pittsburgh}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cathedral Of Learning}}
[[Category:University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Skyscrapers in Pittsburgh]]
[[Category:Gothic Revival architecture in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Gothic Revival skyscrapers]]
[[Category:Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmarks]]
[[Category:City of Pittsburgh historic designations]]
[[Category:University of Pittsburgh academic buildings]]
[[Category:University and college administration buildings in the United States]]
[[Category:Art Deco architecture in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:University and college buildings completed in 1936]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Pittsburgh]]
[[Category:Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:1936 establishments in Pennsylvania]]