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

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ABT UTHETITUH GUY GAYLOR CLARK The educaTion oT The ArT sTudenT is never compleTed, so remarked Guy Gaylor Clark upon assuming The direcTorship oT The Cooper Union ArT Schools. The New DirecTor has held Two Cornell scholarships and has done noTable work in The Tield oT adverTising design. DirecTor Clark would like To see closer cooper- aTion beTween The specialized phases OT arT and The adverTising and design world. BoTh True arT and The general sTyle oT commercial arT could beneTiT by such an associaTion. To be successTul in The com- mercial world, The arTisT musT have The views and criTicism oT his public consTanTly in mind. This does noT inTimaTe ThaT The arTisT should bow To The whims and Tancies oT The greaT masses buT should aTTempT To lead and educaTe These masses. The arTisT in The commercial world does noT have To obey The dic- TaTes oT The general public buT musT keep in mind The TacT ThaT his arT is meanT To be appreciaTed and does noT end wiTh The lasT sTroke oT The brush. The evoluTion OT The modern sTreamlined auTomobile has Tollowed The reguiremenTs and wishes OT The general public as well as The dicTaTes oT The engin- eer, neverTheless, The arTisT has exerTed his will all along The developmenT To produce a modern prod- ucT which is indeed arT and sTill saTisTies The uTiliTar- ian demands oT an advanced civilizaTion. I8

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Scudder's museum. Thus he ThOughT ThaT a similar museum would serve in raising The culTural sTandards OT his sTudenT body. He had even gone To The pains OT pur- chasing Tor The proposed collecTion a huge whale which had driTTed ashore in Long Island. However he was prevailed upon by his advisers TO modiTy This idea, and The whale was presenTed To The Museum OT NaTural HisTory where iT remained in The Oceanic Hall unTil I935. While some OT his plans were impracTical The general idea and purpose OT The insTiTuTiOn gradually Took shape. Thus, The cornersTOne OT The Cooper Union was laid in The early parT OT l854. The Type OT consTrucTion ThaT was planned was novel aT ThaT Time: iT was To be The TirsT TireprooT building uTilizing wroughT iron beams. BeTore Then, TireproOT buildings were consTrucTed OT heavy sTone which Took up much space and gave The inTerior a Torbidding appearance. The adverTisemenT This new Type OT consTrucTiOn received induced Colonel James Harper, whose publishing house had iusT burned down, TO order similar ones Tor The new Harper Building To be puT up aT CliTT STreeT and Franklin Square. The consTrucTiOn OT Cooper Union was delayed in Order ThaT The Tirm OT Cooper and HewiTT could roll beams Tor Colonel Harper. However, by ChrisTmas OT I856, The building was almosT cOmpleTed. The ToTal cosT was S630,000 and The Tounder gave an addiTional 530,000 Tor equipment As an example OT The vision and pracTical make-up OT PeTer Cooper, he leTT room in The building Tor an elevaTor, despiTe The TacT ThaT no really workable elevaTor had yeT been invenTed. This biT OT ToresighT which occurred Three-quarTers OT a cenTury ago is Typical OT The heriTage OT our insTiTuTiOn. lTs curriculum and iTs organ- izaTion ThroughOuT The many years OT exisTence has been conTinuOusly changing To meeT The requiremenT OT indusTry and Thereupon is iTs success as a pioneer educaTional insTiTuTion. The acT passed by The sTaTe legislaTure in Albany on February I7, I857 was To enable PeTer Cooper To Tound a ScienTiTic lnsTiTuTiOn in The CiTy OT New York. An amendmenT passed in l859 seT up six TrusTees To hold oTTice Tor liTe and To be selT- perpeTuaTing. The six were PeTer Cooper, Edward Cooper, Abram S. HewiTT, Daniel F. Tiemann, John E. Parsons and Wilson G. HunT. The TrusTees in laying down The principles upon which The school was To be operaTed expressed The Tollowing in The FirsT Annual ReporT: FirsT, ThaT The deTails OT The lnsTiTuTiOn in all The DeparTmenTs should be arranged wiTh especial reTerence To The inTellecTual wanTs and imprOvemenTs OT The working classes. And: second ThaT as Tar as mighT be consisTenT wiTh The TirsT principle, all in reTerence wiTh The plans or ObiecTs OT OTher exisTing insTiTuTiOns in This ciTy should be avoided. In a leTTer accompanying The deed OT TrusT To The TrusTees, PeTer Cooper expressed ThaT IT is my desire ThaT The sTudenTs shall have The use OT one OT The large rooms Tor The purpose OT useTul debaTe. The DebaTes were mainly To concern Themselves wiTh The causes ThaT OperaTe around and wiThin us, and The means necessary and mosT appropriaTe To remove The physical and moral evils ThaT aTTecT our ciTy, our cOunTry, and humaniTy. ln The Fall OT I859, classes were opened Tor enrOllmenT, and PeTer Cooper's dream Took shape. I 7

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MR. ESMOND SHAW Nighl supervisor During The lasT years The arT world has made sTrides Tor The expression of Treedom and liberalism. IT is noT only righT ThaT This has carried inTo The meThod oT Teaching of The arT TaculTy, buT was a necessiTy Tor The ever- demanding sTudenT. To Those who Take This field as Their profession, only The besT musT exisT and only The besT will survive. ThereTore The insTrucTors are direcTly responsible Tor The welfare oT These sTudenTs and Tor Their success in The Tielcl. Our insTrucTors are capable and Their sTudenTs have proven Themselves The same in This presenT-day world. THE ADVISORY COUNCIL Mrs. Ludlow S. Bull Mr. Thomas Craven Mr. J. Andre Fouilhoux Mrs. Sherman P. l-laighT Mrs. John Kean Mrs. WalTer S. Maclc Mrs. D. Percy Morgan, Jr. Mrs. l'larTord W. Powel Mrs. JohnsTon L. Redmond Mrs. Schuyler SchieTlelin Mrs. Cornelius Sullivan Miss EdiTh WeTmore Mr. John F. WharTon Mrs. Lucius Wilmerding, Jr.