Peter Cooper Portrait
- Title:
- Peter Cooper Portrait
- Collection:
- Campus Artifacts, Art & Memorabilia
- Creator:
- Unknown
- Photographer:
- Espinosa de los Monteros, Pamela
- Location:
- Uris Library, Sumner M. Kirby Memorial Room, Cornell Library
- ID Number:
- artsdb_0226
- Accession Number:
- W84-21.1
- File Name:
- artsdb_0226.jpg
- Work Type:
- portraits
- Materials/Techniques:
- Oil
- Subject:
- Cooper, Peter, 1791-1883
- Description:
- Peter Cooper (1791-1883), inventor, industrialist and philanthropist. Although Cooper received only one year of formal education, he went on to become a successful business entrepreneur, inventor and developer of the American Iron Industry. Among his most notable inventions are the “Tom Thumb” locomotive and the first structural beam for fireproof (non-wooden) buildings. He served as President for the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company and invested heavily in establishing the first transatlantic cable. As a philanthropist, he founded The Cooper Union in 1859 as a free educational center for the working class of New York City. Cooper personal philosophy of life was “I have endeavored to remember that the object of life is to do good,” [Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Peter Cooper,” 1994. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.]. The philanthropic model of Cooper Union directly influenced the founding of Rice University, Tuskegee Institute, and Limestone College. Cooper’s philanthropic example impacted and inspired the charitable works of other business tycoons such as Mathew Vassar, Andrew Carnegie and Ezra Cornell, prompting them to use their wealth to benefit humankind.[“Mission Statement,” Friends of Cooper Union, accessed May 23, 2012, http://friendsofcooperunion.org/mission/
Walker, Nathan C. “Peter Cooper.” Online Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography, Universalist History and Heritage Society, accessed May 24, 2012, http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/petercooper.html.]. This portrait is part of the Sumner M. Kirby room dedicated and furnished by Allan P. Kirby as a memorial to his brother for the undergraduate library of Cornell University, now Uris Library. - Source:
- Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Peter Cooper,” 1994. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
“Mission Statement,” Friends of Cooper Union, accessed May 23, 2012, http://friendsofcooperunion.org/mission/
Walker, Nathan C. “Peter Cooper.” Online Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography, Universalist History and Heritage Society, accessed May 24, 2012, http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/petercooper.html - Repository:
- Cornell Library
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- The content in the Campus Artifacts, Art & Memorabilia Collection is protected by copyright, and the copyright holders are Cornell University Library and the Cornell Association of Professors Emeritus. This collection was created by Cornell University Library in 2010, with funding from a Digital Collections in Arts and Sciences Grant to Howard Howland. Cornell is providing access to the materials for research and personal use. The written permission of any copyright and other rights holders is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use that extends beyond what is authorized by fair use and other statutory exemptions. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item. Please contact the Cornell Association of Professors Emeritus at cape@cornell.edu for more information about this collection, or to request permission to use these images.