Czechoslovak Room Committee

On Sunday, March 22, 2026, the Nationality and Intercultural Exchange Programs at the University of Pittsburgh hosted a gala celebration marking the 100th Anniversary of the Nationality Rooms creation.

Coincidentally, our beautiful Czechoslovak Nationality Room was dedicated on March 7, 1939, on President Masaryk’s birthday and a week before the N***s invaded Czechoslovakia. His son Jan Masaryk gave the dedication speech: ….”May I say, that I thank you, that you have given this safe corner to the memory of the first President of Czechoslovakia, that the principles he lived for are safe in your gentle firm hands. …..
how proud I was this morning to walk into this Cathedral of Learning where I have seen rooms belonging to many nations and where I saw proud American children of parentage of these countries, inbibing in the free unbiased truth of learning. I am going to pray to God tonight that Europe some day will be like that - that we will be men and women of this or the other nationality or parentage or race or creed, but working together for the common good of ourselves and those who come after us……”

On March 1, Slovak journalist and stand-up comedian Tomas Hudak, spoke at the University of Pittsburgh. His subject was the “Amerikani”, Slovaks who came to the U.S. to work, save their wages, then return to their homeland.

Largely unused to industrial employment, they often found work as unskilled labor in Steel mills or mining. They were able to adapt to the demands of those new jobs and their inherent dangers.

What they did not get used to was the smoke, smell, and pollution of the mills. This contrasted greatly with the environment in Slovak farmlands. At times, the women who managed their boarding houses might serve as a surrogate mother figure. But they missed their own.

When “Amerikani” returned to their families, they had been changed. They had money to buy their own homes and land. They were no longer dependent on priests to help make their decisions. The women expected more influence at home and the community. Even their language had changed with the introduction of English words and phases. Even though communism eventually confiscated much of their property, the cultural changes survived.

Join us 1pm ET Sun March 1 in 113 Cathedral of Learning and via Zoom (ID: 992 2390 4410, passcode: 740949) for our annual Spring meeting, featuring a current Pitt graduate student discussing recent work on the committee's archives!
And stay afterward for Kukucka lecture in Cathedral 332 at 2:30 pm!

Coming March 1!

New in 2026... Instagram! Help welcome the Room to the 21st century!

Watch this story by Joanna Getting Spontak on Instagram before it disappears. 0 Followers, 2 Following, 0 Posts

The Czech town that invented the dollar After more than 230 years, the US stopped minting the penny this week. But long before that, the first dollar was coined – and it was created in a one-road town far away from the USA.

Velvyslanec Nicholas Merrick přeje občanům České republiky vše nejlepší ke Dni vzniku samostatného československého státu. Spojené státy si s úctou připomínají společnou historii a trvalé přátelství mezi našimi zeměmi. 🇺🇸🤝🇨🇿 #AmbMerrick

Theatrical Script Solicitation,
University of Pittsburgh Czechoslovak Nationality Room

September 2025

The University of Pittsburgh’s Czechoslovak Nationality Room Committee welcomes submissions of full-length scripts for production by the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Theatre Arts during the 2026-7 academic year. Submissions are requested by Friday, October 31, 2025.

Scripts should be in English and: (a) written by a living Czech playwright, and/or (b) about a Czech or Czechoslovak topic. Submissions will be reviewed by the Department of Theatre Arts’ Season Selection Committee, which will select the play to produce. The playwright of the work that is selected for production will be invited to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (USA), for a portion of rehearsals and the opening weekend of performances, with travel and lodging expenses covered by the Czechoslovak Nationality
Room Committee via the John and Jarmila Maiorana Foundation Trust. Other special events will be arranged during the playwright’s visit, such as talkbacks and class visits. Future performance rights remain the playwrights’, and show dates are negotiable.

Please send to Committee Chairperson Joanna Getting Spontak at [email protected]:
• Playwright’s email and phone contact information,
• Synopsis that lists all characters and if specific actor genders are required, and
• Full text of the script (PDF or Microsoft Word format).

All submissions will receive replies, with the selected playwright notified by January 1, 2026.