The Cathedral of Learning, Carnegie Museum of Art/History, Phipps Conservatory, and other things in Oakland, PA

Oakland, PA is just down the road from downtown Pittsburgh. You can spend the whole day and still have things to do.

Home to three universities and a leader in advancements in medical technologies but it is a great place to visit just for history, art, and learning. The food in this area is great as well.

The Cathedral of Learning-Nationality Rooms

Built in 1926, the Cathedral of Learning was built to solve the Universities problems with space and to visibly inspiration all those who approached and carry the message that education was the results of aspiring great heights.

As you enter the Cathedral of Learning, you are taken back to the medieval times or Harry Potters School. The building is incredible and it makes you feel like an ant.

I use this building to know were I am all around the city. It is my marker on finding my way home when I make a wrong turn. Plus it is just beautiful as it rises 535 feet into the sky.

Going to the top of the tower over 30 stories and viewing the city is breath taking. It is like being on top of the world. On a clear day, you see not just Pittsburgh but the park and farm land outside the city limits.

Inside the Cathedral is Nationality Rooms which are used as classrooms and are located on the first and third floors. Each room is designed to represent the culture and are built with cultural groups and the support from governments around the world.

During the school year, the rooms are closed as they are being used as classroom but weekend they are open. Currently, they have recorded tours for $4 for Adults and $2 for children 6 to 18 years old and free for younger children. They also have room tours online but only a few of them.

I very much enjoyed the rooms. The room that I liked the least was the Africa room but only because it was representing the continents of Africa rather then a country. It seem like it was trying to do to much in one room.

The English room was one of my favorite and the largest of all the rooms. During WWII, the London’s House of Commons was bomb and many of the pieces of this room are from the bombed building which was a gift from England.

Another room that I really enjoyed was the Syria-Lebanon Room. This is the only room that is not used as a classroom. It was originally a library in a home built in 1782, in Damascus. It has satin cushions, marble floors, inlaid mother of pearl, and incredible reds, silver, and golds.

The Armenian room is another wonderful room is based on a library in a monastery. It has the Armenian alphabet is carved in the wall. Simple in design, it is the only stone room in the building. But each of the small items in the room means so much.

The Turkish room is very interesting. As you enter, you have a hallway that you would take off your shoes had this been actually in Turkey and the classroom have benches but they the ability to put down desk like tables if needed.

Each room is so different and from a different time periods that means the most to that culture or country. The work done in each room is extensive and all rooms have a hidden chalkboards and newer rooms have a hidden media centers.

Each items in the room has a special meaning down to the paint color and the wood work. For example, the Swiss room only has four tables to represent major regions of Switzerland and 26 chairs represents the Cantons, i.e states, of Switzerland.

This tour is a quick history lesson of the cultures and countries and those things that they value. Because each room works with the government and people of foreign cultures and countries; this is not an American version but rather the version that they want us to see. Except that oriental rooms do have chairs and not mats which they Americanized. New rooms are added yearly but the process of doing a room is overwhelming.

The tour can take as long as you want to look at things and listen to the recording or just throw your head in and look around. I took about 2 hours plus…I was not really paying attention until my stomach wanted lunch.

On the bottom floor, there is a cafeteria if you need a drink, lunch, or a snack.

Heinz Memorial Chapel

The Heinz Memorial Chapel is located just outside the Cathedral of Learning across the yard. This is a beautiful structure. H.J. Heinz family gave this chapel to the University of Pittsburgh in 1938.

Tours are available at 10 am on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. 12 pm on Tuesday and Thursday. Admission is free and donations are welcome. But chapel docent are available when the church is open when events are not going on to do tours or just for you to look around.

Look for the Bride and Groom. The Chapel has at least 70 weddings a years. Almost every weekend you can see the wedding party taking pictures in the park and in front of the church.

The stained glass is mostly blue with white, red, and green scene of . The wood work is so detailed and the stone work is just wonderful.

Carnegie Museum of Natural History & Carnegie Museum of Art & the Carnegie Library of Oakland

The building in the picture below houses the Carnegie Museum of Art, Carnegie Museum of History, the Carnegie Library, and the Carnegie Hall of Music Oakland.

Tickets to the Museum of Art and History are sold together. Check into membership if you will be in town for a few days because the membership include the Andy Warhol Museum and the Carnegie Science Center for a year.

The cost for all those are about $60 but a membership is $75 and includes fee admission and/or to 300 participating ASTC science centers and over 250 Reciprocal Organization of Associated Museums. Plus discounts at the museum cafes and purchase at museum stores.

Plus if you have a Dual Membership, i.e. for two people, the cost is $100 and that is a straight $20 saving to go to all the museums and science center. And for a family of two adults and at least two children even bigger savings at the cost of $150…Plus you can leave and come back the next day.

I love this museum. It has so many different things. I was lucky enough to be around for a few special exhibits including one where a crowned prince was having issue within his country for allowing the items to go on tour.

I love the section that has doll house furniture, the gems (I call it the rock room), so many of the paintings in their collection just leave you breathless.

There is so much here that I can’t even list everything. But I love the Rock Room. Some of the rocks that they have in the collection are just wonderful. I wish I was a geologist when I go. Plus they display them so wonderfully.

They also have a Egyptian area with mummy cats, an Native America area with the Tlingit (an Alaska Native Indian tribe) and other Native American, dinosaurs, and one of the greatest collection of stuffed birds.

One of the stuffed birds is the Dodo bird which was a flightless bird. They lived on the Island of Mauritius which is about 700 miles east of Madagascar. The Dodo bird had no predators until humans found out that they were easy to kill for food. They were not even that tasty according to settlers. They became extinct within 65 years of the Dutch settlers arriving on Mauritius. The last confirmed sighting was in 1662.

The Carnegie Library is my favorite place. Where else can you read a book and see a dinosaur at the same time????? Ask where the dinosaur is in the library. They have dinosaur foot steps you can follow and see below. The library also has a cafe, outdoor reading area, computers, and other classes and events.

The Carnegie Library of Oakland was opened in 1895. Andrew Carnegie had granted money to Pittsburgh to build it but Pittsburgh had to donate the land and maintenance of the library.

But was renovated in 1907. It is a beautiful library with Tennessee Marble staircases that you can see the wear of all the people that came through and up the stairs.

The library had windows every where to the point that you would not need electric lights when it was first built.

History Brief

Andrew Carnegie credited Colonel James Anderson for providing an opportunity for “working boys” with the ability to improve themselves. Colonel Anderson would open his collection of books to his workers on Saturday which included Carnegie.

The philosophy at the time was that books were for the wealthy. As most homes only had the family bible in them. The family bible was a great cost to the family but it was passed down with births, deaths, marriages, and other items put between the pages for the family.

The Gutenberg Bible, first printed in the 1400’s, was one of the first books printed on the printing press. The copies sold for a cost of about three years wages for a clerk but that was even cheaper then books before that as the books where hand printed.

The price a book in 1787 was about equal to 2/3 the wages of a labor. Lending library were available but only for a price. Most or those could only be accessed to the middle classes. Most people had to know someone with a home library that was willing to allow them to use books in it.

Andrew Carnegie was a leading industrialist during the American steel expansion and became one of the riches men in America history. During the last 18 year of his life, he donated around $350 million to charities, foundations, and universities. (In 2019 dollars that would be about $10.6 billion dollars.)

His philanthropic efforts included over 3,000 libraries in 47 states and several countries including Britain, South Africa, Ireland, Australia, Canada, etc.

Carnegie practically created the United States library system. By 1919, his construction grants helped build over 1,689 libraries in the United States which was over half of the libraries opened at that time.

In the Southern states, African Americans were not allowed into libraries but Carnegie did not insisted that his libraries be integrated but rather funded separate grant to groups such as the Colored Library Association of Savannah. This group created a library which U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas used frequently as a boy.

Grants would be approved based on the libraries unique styles which were chosen by the communities. Most had entry staircase which symbolized a person’s elevation by learning and a lamp post or lantern for enlightenment.

The Carnegie formula required a financial commitments from the town/city that received the donation. Carnegie required the local government to:

• demonstrate the need for a public library
• provide the building site
• pay staff and maintain the library
• draw from public funds to run the library
• annually provide 10% of the cost of the library’s construction to support operations
• provide free service to all

Carnegie also created the open-shelf or self-service policy. Most libraries were closed stacks which means that you would have to ask a librarian to go into the stacks and get you the book that you want. But Carnegie, to save on operating cost, allowed patrons to go into the stacks themselves.

Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

The Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is a wonderful place to see different environments of places from the tropical forest to the desert to the Japaneses garden.

Before you even enter, the gardens on the outside are a site to be seen. All around the Conservatory with statutes and water ponds on the left, flowers and trees in the front and sides, and the building itself.

As you enter the welcome center stop by or come back for a nice snack, lunch, or dinner. The food is incredible with salads, soups, sandwiches, and pizzas. But this is not fast food but delicacy like Roasted Eggplant Bruschetta Sandwich, Cuban Chickpea Stew, Hummus Sampler Plate, Wild Mushroom & Garlic Pizza, and so much more.

Check the menu that before you go because it changes all the time. The cafe uses organic, local, and sustainable foods with vegan and vegetarian options. They use 100% compostable paper products and 96% of food and material waste is recycled or composted. Don’t look for unhealthy options here, it is not going to happen. But they don’t have sodas but they do have beer and wines available.

The welcome center and gift shop has wonderful gifts many that are sustainable. It is a great little place for a Christmas gift or something to take home.

As you walk through the door into the conservatory, you enter the Palm Court. The palms are over your head and if not for the walls, you would be outside. You have the choose of going straight, to the left, or to the right. All three are the right choose.

If you head straight, you run into a pond which during Christmas they have a train. Behind that pond is the Tropical Forest Conservatory. I love it in here as it is warm with waterfalls, two level so that you can look down on the trees, a place to view river fish, and lots of trees and plants. If you have children, then they also have some great interactive items in this area.

The conservatory also has a wonderful outdoor children’s garden with play areas and an indoor area where they have an area where the children can play with fake food and other items as learning tools.

My second favorite is the Japanese Courtyard Garden. The Garden include bonsai and a landscapes with a pond and beautiful colors from different kinds of trees. This area is a bit hidden so it always seems peaceful.

Keep an extra close eye on children and clothing that hang in the Desert Room otherwise you might get poked by something.

The Stove Room includes Butterflies during the spring to the fall. Watch closely that you don’t step on them. The Fern Room separated the Stove Room from the Orchid Room. The Orchid Room has a wonderful selection of different types of orchid. I enjoy this room.

The best time to go to the Conservatory is every time of year. Each season even each month is different and has great changes in a lot of the plants. One plant in the Conservatory only blooms once a year for a short time.

The Festive Nights of Winter Lights is a wonderful time to go through. It a great light show that even when cold out. I walked outside to see even the lights in the garden and my fingers were turning blue.

Also, check out the Center for Sustainable Landscapes. This building in on the conservatory grounds and has received the Platinum LEED certification, Four Stars Sustainable SITES Initiative, and other awards. It is net-zero energy which means that the amount of energy the building uses in a year is equal to the amount of renewable energy created on site.

The building is the one of the ‘greenest’ buildings in the world. The building produces all its own energy and all the water captured on site is treated, used, and reused. This is the way of the future.

Brief History

Henry Phipps was a childhood friend of Andrew Carnegie and later became a partner in Carnegie Steel Company. In In 1901, Carnegie Steel was sold and Phipps received $48 million ($1.3 billion in 2020).

Along with the Carnegie Steel Company, Phipps also had may properties and other investments. The Phipps believe that those who achieved great wealth should give back.

In 1893, Phipps gifted the city of Pittsburgh the Phipps Conservatory and construction began. The conservatory consisted of nine display rooms and opened on December 7, 1893. Through the years, additions have been made.

His other works include the The Henry Phipps Psychiatric Clinic at John Hopkins Hospital which was the first inpatient facility in the US for the mentally ill as part of an acute care hospital. Phipps Institute for the Study, Treatment, and Prevention of Tuberculosis at the University of Pennsylvania.

In 1905, Phipps funded non profit Phipps House to build affordable housing in New York City. The Phipps House still operates with his great grandson Stuart S Janney III on the Board of Trustees.

Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum

I kept meaning to get to this but I just never found the time. But Covid 19 has it closed so I hope to go back to it one day and update this post.