Contents of the Cooper Union Engineering Building Cornerstone

Includes papers from ca. 1948-1960, chiefly 1959-1960.

Call Number:   C 5DC C816 Shelf P

Historical Note:

The cornerstone ceremony commemorated the start of construction on the former Cooper Union Engineering Building, which stood on Astor Place between 3^rd and 4^th avenues, to the north of Cooper Union's original Foundation Building.  This ceremony coincided with the 106^th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of The Cooper Union's original Foundation Building, which Peter Cooper built between 1853 and 1959.

Items related to the new Engineering Building, the history of Cooper Union and its current state, as well as examples of mid-twentieth-century technology, were placed into the cornerstone at a ceremony on September 17, 1959, and the cornerstone was sealed the following day.  Prior to the demolition of the building in 2011, the cornerstone was opened on July 20, 2011 and its contents were retrieved and transferred to the Cooper Archives.  Contents originally included two issues of the New York Times (Thursday, Sept. 17, 1959 and Friday, Sept. 18, 1959), which were not retained in the Archives. One of the scientific advances of the 1950s, a radioactive isotope of cesium, was removed for safety reasons.

Extent of Collection:  1 box;  0.5 linear ft.

Finding Aid prepared by Mitsuko Brooks, August 2011; updated by Carol Salomon, November 2016.  Some text in the historical note was adapted from the program for the Cornerstone Ceremony for the New Building of the School of Engineering, Sept. 17, 1959.