METRO, a non-profit member organization that works with New York City and Westchester County libraries and archives, has awarded The Cooper Union Archives & Special Collections a grant to digitize the Ledgers and Orders of The Cooper Union’s Great Hall. The ledgers document the accounts of this historic event space from 1858 to 1956 and offer invaluable insight into American history as well as the political and civic life of New York City. Notable records include payments made by Susan B. Anthony for the Women’s Loyal National League—the first national women's political organization established by Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a payment made by a sponsor for a speech given by renowned abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and rental of the Hall for the first meeting of the Chinese Civil Rights League. As the 19th century shifted to the 20th, these volumes document transitions in community concerns, including meetings held by the Jewish Council for Russian War Relief and Italian Anti-Fascists.

Upon completion of the 10-month digitization project, the ledgers will be added to Voices of the Great Hall, a digital archive supported by the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation that launched in May 2022, as well as to METRO’s Digital Culture of Metropolitan New York online portal and the Internet Archive. Additionally, the Archives & Special Collections will exhibit the physical ledgers to celebrate their universal digital access.