Welcome Week 2021: Library Resources

As we get closer to the start of Welcome Week and the beginning of the 2021 – 2022 academic year, The Cooper Union’s Archives and The Cooper Union Library have created an opportunity for you to think more expansively about possibilities in the present through an exploration into the past.

This exploration will consist of three sessions that will provide you with an introduction to The Cooper Union archival material and library resources. During this time, we will unpack Peter Cooper's involvement with the 19th century development of policing in New York City and identify some of the many still relevant avenues of exploration around this historical moment.

Session One will introduce three primary source documents from the Cooper Union Archives and provides context for this exploration. This session will be 60 minutes. Choose one session to attend. Pre-registration required. Contact mary.mann@cooper.edu to register and receive links. Please include your full name and preferred time.

  • August 5, 2021, at 9 am EST
  • August 5, 2021, at 3 pm EST

If you cannot attend either session, the sessions will be recorded and the recordings will be made available.  

Session Two will include a discussion of questions these documents might have introduced, and the resources that Cooper students have access to for addressing these questions. This session will be 60 minutes. Choose one session to attend. Pre-registration required. Contact mary.mann@cooper.edu to register and receive links. Please include your full name and preferred time.

  • August 12, 2021, at 9 am EST
  • August 12, 2021, at 3 pm EST

Due to the interactive nature of these sessions, these sessions will not be recorded. Please make every effort to attend one of these sessions. If you are unable to attend, Session Three (see below) will provide an overview of what may have been missed.

Session Three will be an in-person dialogue about the subsequent research paths students take as they explore issues and questions. This session will not be recorded or available for remote participation.

As with all of our Welcome Week events, these events are designed for our new students. They are not required, but you will miss first-hand access to key information as well as opportunities and activities to start the bonds of friendship that will in many cases last a lifetime.

In addition, there will be a parent-specific Welcome Session on campus Tuesday, August 24. It will also be livestreamed and recorded for those who cannot attend in-person.

  • 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.