Columbia University - Columbian Yearbook (New York, NY)

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MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS fl C3reat Cfultural Cfenter ?'mI'f 3ifi URING the last four or five years there has been such a feverish cam- paign of building going on in the city that the signincance of a :Q similar movement on Morningside is not appreciated by very many people. The sight of iron girders being swung into place by cranes gm 'ALA high up in the air is no longer a novel one. It is almost as ordinary as an expressman loading packages on a truck. It no longer draws a great deal of attention. But noticed or not noticed, appreciated or not, the fact remains that Morningside is rapidly approaching the dream of the men who selected it as the permanent site of the University. It is becoming one of the world's great cultural centers within a great cultural center, Columbia University in the City of New York. It is quite amazing when one stops to consider, the number of buildings that have been erected on the campus proper and on its immediate outskirts. It is also startling to think of the millions and millions of dollars that have been expended to construct and equip these buildings. In five years the following buildings have appeared on the campus: Business, Johnson, Physics, Chemistry Extention, Hewitt and John Jay. Uptown, at l68th Street on the top of the next hill, the new Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital Medical Center is rapidly nearing completion and will house the Greater College of Physicians and Sur- geons. . Each of these buildings is as modern as it possibly can be. The School of Business Hall contains, besides classrooms, Accounting, Banking, Advertising and many other laboratories and also some of the most complete libraries and reference collections in the country. It also contains the McMillin Academic Theater which is under the control of the Institute of Arts and Science. This Institute, which is part of the Extention Department, is itself a powerful force in advancing interest in cultural subjects. Through its efforts distinguished speakers, lecturers, artists and authorities are brought to the campus every year. The theater is a facility that the campus long lacked and it fills, along with the meeting rooms in John Jay, a decided need. The Physics Department had long since outgrown its cramped quarters in Payerweather Hall and the situation checked its research work. The Psy- chology Department, sandwiched into a few small rooms in the Geology De- partment's domain in Schermerhorn, also faced the same situation while the facilities for Astronomical observation offered by the old Wilde Observatory were absolutely inadequate. Therefore the University decided to erect a new home for these departments. The only possible place left was the Green. The plans of the fifteen story building looked forward to the future when the growth of the University will necessitate larger quarters than imperative at present. The work of the Chemistry Department was also hampered by inadequate space and the situation was remedied by the erection of a large ten story ad- dition to I-Iavemeyer. The laboratories in this building are arranged and equipped for the utmost convenience. Modern apparatus such as steam tables, 52041

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'T' HE MAPES GATE-on the western bank of the Green, leading to Broadway, Barnard, and long walks up Riverside Drive in early Spring. It is the last vision of the har- 9 monious conjunction of Nature and man cherished by students before entering the Gym for examinations twice a year. It is also the avenue through which Columbia keeps in ' touch with the younger generation via nurserymaids and their charges, amorous policemen and Horace Mann children. Now hemmed in between the Chemistry Annex and the Physics Building, its symbolic significance has, for some, been narrowed to the scope of a serviceable exit, without changing in any particular.

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electric stoves, steam and water mixers, air blasts and better ventilators are fur- nished in the undergraduate as well as in research laboratories. Splendid lab- oratories are also provided for Chemical Engineering Courses where work is done under circumstances almost identical with those of the commercial world. The need for more dormitory facilities was also apparent for as the enroll- ment of the University increased more and more students came from outside the city. To meet this need two buildings were constructed-Johnson Hall for graduate women and Hewitt Hall for the Barnard Undergraduates. John Jay Hall was to house the College men. The additional features of John .lay have been set forth in the previous article. The new Medical Center is located in such a position that its buildings are easily visible from the main campus and the subway provides a convenient and rapid connection between the two. The buildings cover several blocks, fronting on Riverside drive and the beautiful Hudson. They are all sky-scrapers. some of the towers being over thirty stories high. In immediate contact with the University and under its auspices have sprung up several national cultural centers. The Italian center was granted a plot of ground on Amsterdam Avenue and ll7th Street and endowments and gifts from many sources provided funds for the construction of a beautiful Casa Italiana. Here it is planned to have museums and collections to set forth the culture of Italy and also to provide homes for exchange students from Italian Universities, The French center is, at present, located in a private house on ll7th Street but plans are now under way 'to secure a new and splendid Maison Francaise. Other National groups are springing up, and while thus far their work has chiefly been limited to occasional exhibitions in Earl Hall and Avery, the University is sponsoring them and encouraging their growth and it is hoped that more centers such as Casa Italiana will be founded. At present, some such Work is being cared for by the Cosmopolitan Club in its International House over on Riverside Drive near Grant's Tomb. It seems that Morningside is also to become something of a Church Center too. The Cathedral of St. John the. Divine, which is located practically on one corner of the campus, is now being completed. The Union Theological Sem- inary, which has long been on Morningside and which, while not actually a part of it, works in close cooperation with the University, is now building one last section to complete its quadrangle of beautiful, stately Halls. Its large library has long been open to Columbia students and many of its courses are also open to them. On Riverside Drive between 120th and l2lst Streets the foundations are being laid for Dr. Fosdick's new church which will also foster events of cultural interest. Work has temporarily been suspended on the Sky- scraper Church-Community edifice that is to be put up on Broadway at l23rd Street. But when these undertakings are complete, Morningside will be an outstanding community for knowledge, culture, religion and civic activities. And all will center around the A'Columbia University in the City of New Yorkfl' 52053