On February 12, 2012, Friends of Cooper Union organized a visit to Green-wood Cemetery in Brooklyn to pay respects to Peter Cooper on his 221st Birthday. Cooper, his wife, children and their families are also buried there on a private grassy mound, on a small traffic island. Much chiseling was needed to carve these beautiful words that describe Cooper’s contributions to society. Here’s what was written, taking up multiple sides of this gravestone monument:
PETER COOPER
PATRIOT. PHILANTHROPIST. SAGE
PIONEER UNDER THE FREE
INSTITUTIONS OF A NEW NATION IN WORKS OF
INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISE
AND OF FAR SIGHTED BENEVELENCE.
FOUNDER OF THE COOPER UNION
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT
OF SCIENCE AND ART, WHICH HE
CONCEIVED WHEN A POOR
APPRENTICE AND REALIZED
AFTER MANY YEARS OF
SACRIFICE AND DEVOTION
THUS BECOMING THE FIRST
IN AMERICA PERSONALLY
TO ADMINSTER LARGE PRIVATE
FORTUNE FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD.
DISTINGUISEHED AS
MUNICIPAL LEGISLATOR
INVENTOR, MECHANIC,
AND MANUFACTURER,
HE WAS A LEADER IN PROVIDING
HIS NATIVE CITY WITH ITS POLICE
AND FIRE DEPARTMENTS,
ITS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM
AND THE CROTON WATER.
HE DESIGNED AND CONSTRUCTED
THE FIRST STEAM LOCOMOTIVE
BUILT IN AMERICA:
RECEIVED THE BESSEMER MEDAL
AS THE FATHER OF THE
AMERICAN IRON TRADE,
WAS ONE OF THE ORIGINATORS
OF THE TRANSATLANTIC CABLE
AND FURNISHED THE MEANS
BY WHICH THIS UNDERTAKING
WAS REVIVED AND ACCOMPLISHED.
SIMPLE AND DEVOUT IN SPIRIT,
INDUSTRIOUS AND HONORABLE IN BUSINESS,
HE DEVOTED HIS GENIUS AND ENERGY
NOT MORE TO USEFUL
PRIVATE ENTERPRISES
THAN TO THE DIRECT SERVICE OF
MANKIND, CHIEFLY THROUGH THE
GIFT OF EDUCATION, WHICH
LEADS TO SELF-HELP, SELF-RESPECT
AND GOOD CITIZENSHIP.
INSPIRED BY FAITH
IN INFINITE LOVE WORKING
THROUGH IMMUTABLE LAW,
HE LIVED TO A GREAT AGE
IN THE GRATITUDE AND AFFECTION
OF HIS FELLOW MEN.
BORN FEBRUARY 12, 1791
DIED APRIL 4, 1883
IN HIS NINETY-THIRD YEAR.
For more information about the current situation facing this historically tuition free college: visit the Friends of Cooper Union website. For additional posts on Cooper Union click here.