Cooper to Cooper, Episode 3: Cooper's Archivists

POSTED ON: November 28, 2016

Cooper to Cooper: Conversations Across Disciplines continues with the school's three archivists—Alexander Tochilovsky, Carol Salomon and Steven Hillyer—describing some of their favorite objects from their collections. Although the three work come from different disciplines and work with very different materials, they share common challenges: properly maintaining fragile artifacts; finding funds for digitization, and getting the word out about the contents of their collections. 

Watch the video to see some highlights from the Cooper Archives, the Architecture Archive and the Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design Typography.

To see earlier episodes of Cooper to Cooper, click here.

 

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.