Painting the Czechoslovak Nationality Room

Marie and Karel Svolinsky complete a wall fresco in the Czechoslovak classroom at the University of Pittsburgh Cathedral of Learning. The Czechoslovak room emphasizes education, leadership and a love of nature. It was designed by Dr. Bohumil Slama. In the back of the room is the proclamation that King Charles the IV issued when he created Prague's Charles University in 1348. The murals near the windows depict animals and plants interacting, which were painted by artists Karel and Marie Svolinski from Prague. The Czechoslovak room was dedicated March 7, 1939. This room, along with twenty five other Nationality Rooms all with different architectural styles, was conceived in the 1920s by sociologist Ruth Crawford Mitchell as a means of linking the university with the immigrant culture of the steel working families.