George F. Bateman Collection of Cooper Union Alumni Association Materials

Includes papers from ca. 1891-1940.

Call Number:  C  7CB32  C824  Shelf P

Biographical/Historical Note:

George F. Bateman (1887-1948) graduated from the day session of the School of Engineering atCooper Union in 1907, with a bachelor's degree in Engineering.  In 1917, he earned a degree in mechanical engineering at The Columbia University School of Mines.  During World War I, Bateman served as Lieutenant in the Naval Reserve and had charge of various departments of instruction at the Naval Steam Engineering School at The Steven's Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Holding successive posts at The Cooper Union of Instructor, Assistant Professor, and Professor of Mechanical Engineering, George Bateman was responsible for the inception and development of the Mechanical Engineering Department.  Under his direction and through his efforts, the various departmental laboratories were designed and equipped, and the present course in Mechanical Engineering was developed.  He was named Dean of the School of Engineering in 1933, and at the Cooper Union graduation in June 1947, he received a scroll of honor in recognition of forty years' service.  Dean Bateman died unexpectedly on January 29, 1948 at the age of 61.

The Cooper Union General Science Alumni Association was the first alumni group organized at Cooper Union.  It began in 1877 -- thirteen years after the first class was graduated in 1864, from what was then known as the Scientific Course.  From among these graduating classes -- a few members each year for thirteen years -- an alumni association was formed, originally called the “Cooper Union Alumni Association.”  Associate membership was available to those who had attended at least three years of the Scientific Course.  The Association gradually grew in membership and was incorporated in 1895.  Annual dinners were held on Founder's Day (February 12th, Peter Cooper’s birthday), and monthly meetings with instructive addresses and lectures were held during the school term.  The Association also established its own library and formed the Cooper Union Glee Club.

Around 1906 a new alumni association was formed to include the graduates of all departments at Cooper Union.  This new group took the name “Alumni Association” and the original group renamed themselves “the Cooper Union General Science Alumni Association.”

Following a period of dormancy during World War I, in April, 1918, the Cooper Union Alumni Association reactivated the association under a new constitution and a new name. This new body was called the Alumni Federation of Cooper Union, to represent all of the departmental associations and consisted of elected delegates from each of the departmental alumni societies.

[Information from booklet: Past Present and Future of The Cooper Union General Science Alumni Association, 1923. See Folder 7].

Brief Description of Contents:

Box contains correspondence, programs, and by-laws of the Alumni Association / Alumni Federation.  Box also contains materials relevant to Cooper Union's Debating Class, Electrical Engineering Society, Electrical Engineering Alumni Association, The Student Council/Student League, Architectural Alumni Association, The Chemical Society, The General Science Alumni Association, and Founder's Day.

Extent of Collection:  1 box; 0.3 linear feet.

Related Materials in the Archive Collections:

The Cooper Archive is also the repository for a larger collection of the Papers of George F. Bateman.  For additional Alumni Association materials, see the Cooper Union Alumni Association Documents, with Records of the Class of 1897, which includes items from 1894-1914. See also the Papers of Edwin F. Gregg, which include Alumni Association materials from 1954-2002.




Finding Aid prepared by Mitsuko Brooks, November, 2010.