People's Poetry Gathering

Great Hall poetry exhibition

A new exhibition in the colonnade of the east side of the Foundation Building celebrates the history of poetry in the Great Hall since the room opened in the mid-19th century. This exhibition is presented in conjunction with the return of the People's Poetry Gathering for the first time in twenty years. A celebration of poetry throughout Lower Manhattan, the gathering was held at The Cooper Union in 2001 and 2003. This year's event celebrating the poet Sonia Sanchez is presented as part of The Cooper Union’s Gardiner Foundation Great Hall Forum series.

  • 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.