Czech officials visit Czechoslovak Nationality Room

Czech politicians choked up when they saw the words “Truth Will Prevail” in their native tongue next to the bronze portrait of Tomas Masaryk, the man their people regard as a symbol of independence..

In the room on the first floor of the Cathedral of Learning, nestled in a wrought-iron case by the window, is a letter by the same man.

“It is a very emotional room,” said E. Maxine Bruhns, the director of Pitt’s nationality rooms.

The Friday morning visit to the Czechoslovak Nationality Room was one stop 13 members of the Czech Republic’s government made in their five-day tour of Pittsburgh last week to mark the 95th anniversary of the Pittsburgh Agreement, which formed the state of Czechoslovakia. The visitors included one senator and 12 members of the country’s Chamber of Commerce.

Masaryk, the late philosopher, politician and professor, led the 1918 agreement, which merged two territories inhabited by the Czech and Slovak people into one independent state. In 1993, the two territories peacefully divided into two separate nations, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Tomas Grulich, a Czech senator, said the Pittsburgh Agreement was fundamental to the creation of Czechoslovakia.

“It is very emotional for us because we’ve always been a small country, ruled by various empires, and with the Pittsburgh Agreement we had the first pieces to becoming independent,” he said through interpreter Zdenek Hofman.

The members of the Czech delegation agreed that the juxtaposition of the gentle designs within the Czechoslovak room with the strength of the structure mirrors the history of the Czech and Slovak people. The room, dedicated in 1939, features delicate floral arrangements painted on the walls and hand-carved accents in the wooden chairs.

Ruth Crawford Mitchell, the late former director and planner of the nationality rooms, was a close friend of Masaryk’s daughter, Alice. Through their friendship, the Czech and Slovak people formed a connection to Pitt.

Grulich said that because of the strong alliance with the United States, many Czechs living in the country during the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia were able to obtain the resources to return to Czechoslovakia and help rebuild the country.

“The 1948 Czech coup to rid Czechoslovakia of the Russian occupancy and regain our independence began here in Pittsburgh. If you go through history, all of our triumphant events link back to the Pittsburgh Agreement,” Grulich said.

Over the course of their five-day stay in Pittsburgh, the visitors from the Czech Republic attended a private lunch, a tour of the Heinz History Center and a roundtable discussion with members of the Allegheny County business community.

Hofman, who translated for the members of the Czech government during their visit, said the tour of the Czechoslovak room was an emotional highlight of their stay in the United States.

“Czechs and Slovaks clearly played a fundamental role in the creation and independence of Czechoslovakia, but a lot of credit is due to America as well,” Hofman said.