The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, established in 1859 in Manhattan, New York, is among the nation's oldest and most distinguished institutions of higher education. The college offers an unparalleled education in art, architecture and engineering, and has given every admitted student a full tuition scholarship for 150 years. It was founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist, Peter Cooper.
Cooper (1791-1883) was a workingman's son who had less than a year of formal schooling. Yet he went on to become an industrialist and an inventor. Cooper made his fortune with a glue factory and an iron foundry. Later, he turned his entrepreneurial skills to successful ventures in real estate, insurance, telegraphy, and railroads. It was Peter Cooper who designed and built America's first steam locomotive, the Tom Thumb. Cooper also invented instant gelatin (for which he received a patent in 1845).
As a boy, Peter Cooper learned carpentry, beer brewing, and hat and coach making; but he was acutely aware of his lack of "even a common education." Though he later became one of America's richest men, he could not spell. In 1800, as a nine-year-old apprentice carriage-maker in New York City, he had unsuccessfully sought a place where he could learn scientific techniques and theory to supplement his innate inventiveness and manual skill.
As he grew up, Cooper never forgot his beginnings or his lack of education. He thought children of immigrants and the working class deserved access to education. Believing that education should be "as free as water and air" he spent the last 30 years of his life creating and nurturing a school for the "boys and girls of this city, who had no better opportunity than I."
As one of the first colleges to offer a free education to working-class children and to women, Cooper Union was a pioneer long before access to education became public policy. At first, Cooper Union provided night classes for men and women in the applied sciences and architectural drawing.
In addition, the college's Female School of Design, open during the day, offered free art classes as well as training in the new occupations of photography, telegraphy, "type-writing" and shorthand. Those free classes — a landmark in American history and the prototype for what is now called continuing education — evolved into three distinguished schools that make up The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art: the School of Art, the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture and the Albert Nerken School of Engineering.
Cooper, however, founded more than a college. From the beginning, Cooper Union also provided a public reading room and library, and a meeting place for artists and inventors. In the historic 900-seat Great Hall, the public heard social and political reformers as well as free lectures on science and government.
Today, the Great Hall continues as a home for public forums, cultural events and community activities. Cooper Union is also the place where Thomas Edison and Felix Frankfurter were students; where the Red Cross and NAACP were organized and where Susan B. Anthony had her offices. Peter Cooper's dream was to give talented young people the one privilege he lacked—a good education. He also wanted to make possible the development of talent that otherwise would have gone undiscovered.
Since 1859, Cooper Union has educated thousands of artists, architects and engineers, many of them leaders in their fields. “My hope is that the love and desire for scientific knowledge will cause unborn thousands to throng the hall of Cooper Union to learn the beauties and to obtain the benefits provided in nature for the use and elevation of mankind. These will be known and enjoyed where men keep, subdue and hold dominion over the world and all that is in it. I trust the young will here catch the inspiration of truth in all its native power and beauty and find in it a source of inexpressible pleasure to spread its transformed influence throughout the world."
Cooper Union kwa ajili ya Maendeleo ya Sayansi na Sanaa, ilianzishwa mwaka 1859 katika Manhattan, New York, ni miongoni mwa taasisi za taifa ya zamani na bora zaidi ya elimu ya juu. Chuo hicho kinatoa elimu isiyo na kifani katika sanaa, usanifu na uhandisi, na kimetoa kila mwanafunzi aliyekubaliwa na udhamini kamili wa masomo kwa miaka 150. Ilianzishwa na mvumbuzi, mfanyabiashara na mfadhili, Peter Cooper. Cooper (1791-1883) alikuwa mwana wa mfanyakazi ambaye alikuwa na chini ya mwaka mmoja wa shule rasmi. Hata hivyo, baadaye akawa mfanyabiashara na mvumbuzi. Cooper alipata utajiri wake kutokana na kiwanda cha gundi na kiwanda cha kutengeneza chuma. Baadaye, alitumia ustadi wake wa ujasiriamali kufanikiwa katika biashara ya mali isiyohamishika, bima, telegrafu, na reli. Peter Cooper ndiye aliyebuni na kujenga gari-moshi la kwanza la mvuke la Marekani, Tom Thumb. Cooper pia alivumbua gelatin ya haraka (ambayo alipokea hati miliki mnamo 1845). Alipokuwa mvulana, Peter Cooper alijifunza kazi ya mbao, kutengeneza bia, na kutengeneza kofia na magari; lakini alijua sana kwamba hakuwa na "hata elimu ya kawaida". Ingawa baadaye akawa mmoja wa watu matajiri zaidi wa Marekani, hakuweza kuandika herufi. Mwaka 1800, akiwa na umri wa miaka tisa, alikuwa akijifunza kutengeneza magari ya kukokotwa huko New York City, lakini hakufaulu kutafuta mahali ambapo angeweza kujifunza mbinu za kisayansi na nadharia ili kuongeza ubunifu wake wa asili na ustadi wake wa mikono. Alipokuwa akikua, Cooper hakusahau kamwe mwanzo wake au ukosefu wake wa elimu. Alifikiri kwamba watoto wa wahamiaji na wa tabaka la wafanyakazi walipaswa kupata elimu. "Kwa kuamini kwamba elimu inapaswa kuwa ""bure kama maji na hewa,"" alitumia miaka 30 ya mwisho ya maisha yake kuunda na kukuza shule kwa ""wavulana na wasichana wa mji huu, ambao hawakuwa na fursa bora kuliko mimi.""" Kama moja ya vyuo vikuu vya kwanza kutoa elimu ya bure kwa watoto wa wafanyakazi na wanawake, Cooper Union ilikuwa ya kwanza muda mrefu kabla ya upatikanaji wa elimu akawa sera ya umma. Mwanzoni, Cooper Union ilitoa madarasa ya usiku kwa wanaume na wanawake katika sayansi ya kutumika na uchoraji wa usanifu. Shule ya Wanawake ya Ubunifu, iliyofunguliwa wakati wa mchana, ilitoa madarasa ya bure ya sanaa na mafunzo katika kazi mpya za kupiga picha, telegraphy, "kuandika-maandishi" na stenography. Shule hizo za bure - alama katika historia ya Marekani na mfano wa kile ambacho sasa huitwa elimu ya kuendelea - zilibadilika kuwa shule tatu za kipekee ambazo zinaunda Muungano wa Cooper kwa Maendeleo ya Sayansi na Sanaa: Shule ya Sanaa, Shule ya Usanifu wa Irwin S. Chanin na Shule ya Uhandisi ya Albert Nerken. Hata hivyo, Cooper hakuanzisha tu chuo kikuu. Tangu mwanzo, Cooper Union pia ilitoa chumba cha kusoma cha umma na maktaba, na mahali pa kukutana kwa wasanii na wavumbuzi. Katika ukumbi mkubwa wa kihistoria wenye viti 900, watu walisikiliza wasimamizi wa mageuzi ya kijamii na kisiasa na pia hotuba za bure juu ya sayansi na serikali. Leo, Jumba Kuu linaendelea kuwa nyumba ya vikao vya umma, matukio ya kitamaduni na shughuli za jamii. Cooper Union pia ni mahali ambapo Thomas Edison na Felix Frankfurter walikuwa wanafunzi; ambapo Msalaba Mwekundu na NAACP ziliandaliwa na ambapo Susan B. Anthony alikuwa na ofisi zake. Ndoto ya Peter Cooper ilikuwa kuwapa vijana wenye vipaji pendeleo moja alilokosa - elimu nzuri. Pia alitaka kuwezesha ukuzi wa vipaji ambavyo vinginevyo vingeweza kutokezwa. Tangu 1859 Cooper Union imefundisha maelfu ya wasanii, wasanifu na wahandisi, wengi wao viongozi katika nyanja zao. """Natumaini kwamba upendo na hamu ya maarifa ya kisayansi itasababisha maelfu ya watoto ambao hawajazaliwa kuja katika ukumbi wa Cooper Union kujifunza uzuri na kupata faida zinazotolewa katika asili kwa matumizi na kuinuliwa kwa wanadamu." Hizi zitakuwa zinajulikana na kufurahia mahali ambapo watu wanashikilia, wanashinda na kushikilia utawala juu ya ulimwengu na yote yaliyomo ndani yake. "Natumaini vijana hapa watachukua msukumo wa ukweli katika nguvu yake yote ya asili na uzuri na kuipata katika chanzo cha furaha isiyoelezeka kueneza ushawishi wake wa kubadilisha ulimwenguni kote. """