Guide to Lower East Side History Resources

The Voices from the Great Hall collection consists of sound and moving image recordings, photographs, press releases, announcements, and ephemera documenting public events in the Great Hall at The Cooper Union from 1858 through the present. Materials are added regularly and can be explored via the website greathallvoices.cooper.edu

From 1897-1934, the People's Institute ran free lecture series' in The Cooper Union's Great Hall, held training sessions for community workers, supported local labor unions and guilds, and advocated for affordable entertainment and education, among other things.

The collection of ledgers and orders contains the accounts of The Cooper Union from 1858 to 1956. The names of hundreds of local organizations - particularly unions and political groups - are recorded on these pages, as The Cooper Union was a favored site for meetings, particularly in the 19th and early 20th century.

The Carin Drechsler-Marx photograph collection consists of 180 photographic prints documenting the years 1972-1984 on the Bowery, a Manhattan street that runs from Chatham Square in the south to Cooper Square in the north. The collection also contains 98 photographic prints documenting the years 1971-1974 in Washington Square Park. These prints include images of musicians, performers in costumes, and families.