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

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ln The midsT OT These improvemenTs and expansions, This period when The philosophy oT The Union had reached iTs peak oT clariTy, a world conTlagraTion Took place ThaT involved even Cooper Union. Keep away Trom Trouble and Trouble will keep away Trom you, some people say. The Cooper Union and iTs many sTudenTs cerTainly never meddled in Toreign aTTairsg yeT when The world was consumed in a ruThless, meaningless war, when Tlames oT paTrioTism led sane men To ThrusT Themselves inTo a bloody melange oT TorTure- Then aT Cooper Union Too, men wenT To baTTle, men sTudied how To desTroy insTead oT how To creaTe. BuT even during This chaoTic period The high sTandards oT The Cooper Union were mainTained. The courses were iusT as cliTFiculT, alThough a STudenTs Army Training Corps pracTised here. The homework was iusT as long alThough TrequenT boncl buying speeches were made in The classrooms. IT is diTTiculT even Tor sane, unemoTional engineers To keep ouT oT The sound and The Tury ThaT accompanies war propaganda. Perhaps iT is even more diTTiculT Tor The engineer who never has had any Training in recognizing and evaluaTing propaganda To resisT iTs drum and TiTe appeal. The war ended wiTh iTs ArmisTice, iTs Peace and iTs VicTory Tor nobody. The Cooper Union reTurned To The more peaceTul business oT Turning ouT ArTisTs and Engineers. The counTry, wounded and baTTle-scarred, scrapped iTs millions oT dollars worTh oT unproducTive war equipmenT. The people became biTTer, haTing war, haTing The powers ThaT broughT Them war. They became a nervous, shell-shocked people. The Jazz age was here. The chemisT played in his laboraTory wiTh TesT Tubes and burners. l-le Took a wasTe producT and made The elemenTal necessiTy oT The Jazz Age-brighT dyes Tor The ladies' cloThes7 a TesT Tube Tull oT wood and a new Tabric ThaT could be made in a chemical planT insTead oT grown on a Tield: rayon, cellophane, unbreakable glass: sTrong meTals ThaT weigh liTTle: medicines ThaT save lives, sulpha-pyridine, a magic pill ThaT kills The germ buT noT The paTienTg The chemisT plays wiTh his TesT Tube and anoTher hundred lives are saved: anoTher indusTry developed. The Trankness oT The PosT-War Age was reTlecTed in The ArT. Realism and iTs reacTion Surrealism waxed and waned. CriTics argued, painTers painTed, arTisTs ToughT. The Age-oT-The-AdverTising-Agency developed. Li++le children cried Tor WeT- Ties, The Ace BreakTasT Food: ArTisTs spenT days drawing commas so ThaT Junior will be delighTed wiTh his liTTle Red Book oT Red-Blooded Americans which he received Tree in reTurn Tor IOO box-Tops. BeauTiTul girls were creaTed To sell cigareTTes: beauTiTul ThoughTs were employed To sell Chewing Gum: GreaT ArTisTs were hired To design packages Tor Soap. The GreaT Commercial Age is Here! And aT Cooper Union resounding To The cry oT The Times are prospecTive engi- neers and arTisTs, sTudying, sTudying, sTudying. Finding guidance Trom a new DirecTor who knows These new Times. And looking Toward Edwin Sharpe Burdell To recharT Their lives aT Cooper Union according To The Times and according To The long Tour score year old TradiTion of This greaT, unique insTiTuTion-The Cooper Union. 7

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EUUPEH UNIUN1959-1999 T is TiTTing and proper ThaT in I939, The eighT- ieTh anniversary oT The Tounding oT Cooper Union ThaT The Cable be cenTered around an accuraTe hisTory oT This insTiTuTion. For eighTy years The Cooper Union has TuncTioned as a cenTer oT learning Tor Those who Toilp Tor a shorTer Time The Union has opened iTs doors To young men and women who did noT worlc and were ThereTore able To aTTend The Day School. Born in The mind oT The greaT humaniTarian, PeTer Cooper, a man whose very liTe made him lceenly aware oT The culTural needs oT The indusTrial worker, The Union Tlourished under The guidance oT greaT men oT The succeeding years. Cooper, l'iewiTT, T. A. Richards, G. W. PlympTon, AnThony, Pumpelly, R. W. Raymond, Francis lvl. l'larTmann, George BaTeman, Purvis, all names ThaT meanT some change in The Cooper Union, ThaT led Toward iTs presenT high sTandard. ATTer iTs period oT concepTion and birTh, The courses in Cooper Union gradually crysTallized as iTs purposes crysTallized in The minds oT iTs Founder. General absTracT courses were concreTizedg The aim oT The Union changed Trom providing a general educaTion in science Tor worlcingmenu To providing Tech- nical educaTion in arT and engineering Tor people worlcing in The ArT or Engi- neering Tields or Tor men and women who inTend To enTer These Tields. Indeed a lesson in The crysTallizaTion oT a philosophy! The success OT This philosophy was evidenT by The growTh in sTudenT aT- Tendance aT The insTiTuTe. Each year The aTTendance nearly doubled unTil Tinally The geomeTric size oT The quarTers became sTeel bindings ThaT prevenTed TurTher growTh oT The sTudenT body. DrasTic acTion had To be Talcen To cuT down The number oT sTudenTs admiTTed. Whereas beTore adverTising was necessary To aTTracT enough sTudenTs now iT was imperaTive ThaT mosT oT The applicanTs were Turned away. Finally These sTeel bindings were brolcen when The Armory on Third Avenue was renTed To Talce care oT some oT The classes. OuT oT This Armory grew The l-lewiTT Building. Perhaps noT as large as was planned, buT The Tunds raised did noT go as Tar as was expecTed. However, Tor a while, The T-lewiTT Building Took care oT The increased regis- TraTion. The pressure was released, The sTeel bindings loosened. A period oT expansion occurred. The NighT School was divided inTo Tive specialized lines oT sTudy. Over ThirTeen diTTerenT courses oT sTudy were being pursued in The Union.

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NU I UILU B UN I U!-XT N UU or P Elilj, L FL if rig QL I I ' In ILW 1, 1 4 - I r I 'FF IFF Learning and knowledge Of p com ass and paleHe Do you dissipale. A dream you were once l y lower Thai' poin+s 'Io +l1e cloudless sky Bul now you sfand ln solid wifness Thaf dreams can slill be filled. M.D.W