Cooper Union College - Cable Yearbook (New York, NY)

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Li. COOPER UNION 1859-1929 S THIS year marks the Seventieth Anniversary of the founding of Cooper Union, it is only fitting that we devote a little space and time to the history of this great institution and the man who created it. It was Peter Cooper who, in the middle of the l9th century, had a vision which culminated in the founding of the college which bears his name. All his life he had dreamed a dream, and as a result of hard work and tenacity, he made his dream come true. Peter Cooper was a man of farsightedness and wisdom. He was virtually a self-made man , having had very little schooling and being forced early in life to assist his father in his business. lt was thus he conceived the idea of helping others in moderate circumstances to obtain the education he could not afford. His own success in life was due entirely to hard work and the ability to overcome obstacles. How truly unselfish of him then to choose as life's ambition the means of making success a little easier for others. He foresaw the need of a free institution of learning where young men and women of limited means could secure a college education without having to pay for it. In that era education was considered the privilege of the better classes, and to place it within the reach of the masses was looked upon an dangerous to the social system. So it was in opposition to public opinion, but with a determination characteristic of him, that Peter Cooper launched his project. In l853 he started work on what is now known as the Foundation Build- ing. When completed it was one of the most modern structures in New York City at that time. It is interesting to note that, although elevators were unknown, it contained the first elevator shaft installed in a building. Mr. Cooper looked into the future and visualized the day when elevators would be a reality. For some reason, however, the shaft was made cylindrical, so that a specially constructed elevator had to be placed in it when the time came. This building was also the first thoroughly fire-proof one ever built. The year 1895 saw the opening of the Museum for the Arts of Decora- tion, through the efforts of Peter Cooper's two granddaughters. Wishing to carry on the work of their ambitious and illustrious grandparent, these two young women sought to establish in this country a museum similar to the famous Musee des Arts Decoratifs of Paris. Not realizing the immensity of their task, and equipped with little more than their own willingness and the promise of an entire floor in Cooper Union for this purpose, they set to work. Today, augmented by the generous contributions of others, this Museum is one of the most complete of its kind in the world. In the Trustees Report of 1868 there appears the following statement, with reference to a Day School: E151 1 S 9 W WW: Q .'jf.,-,.L . .... -. Q-555 I Sciiqfil' .lv --1