Low Library

The Low Memorial Library is the administrative centre of Columbia University. Built in 1895 by University President Seth Low in memory of his father, Abiel Abbot Low, and financed with $1 million of Low's own money due to the recalcitrance of university alumni, it is the focal point and most prominent building on the university's Morningside Heights campus. The steps leading to the library's columned facade are a popular hangout and meetingplace for Columbia students, as well as home to Daniel Chester French's sculpture, Alma Mater, a university symbol that is the subject of many rumors. Low Library was officially named a New York City landmark in 1967. Columbia University is a private university whose main campus lies in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of the Borough of Manhattan in New York City. ... 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Seth Low, born in Brooklyn, New York, (January 18, 1850 - September 17, 1916) was a U.S. educator and political figure. ... Morningside Heights is a neighborhood of the borough of Manhattan in New York City and is bound by the Upper West Side, Morningside Park, Harlem, and Riverside Park (some now consider it part of the Upper West Side). ... Daniel Chester French Signature, Daniel Chester French (April 20, 1850 – October 7, 1931) was an American sculptor. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission is the New York City agency charged with administering New Yorks Landmarks Preservation Law. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ...

Architecture

Low Library circa 1900

Designed by the accalimed firm of McKim, Mead, and White, Low's design melds elements of Athens' Parthenon and the Roman Pantheon, including the largest freestanding granite dome in the United States. In addition, it features windows modelled on those of the Baths of Diocletian. The columns on the library's front facade are in the Ionic order, suited to institutions of arts and letters. An inscription on the building's attic describes the history of the university. It reads: Low Plaza c1905 This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Low Plaza c1905 This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... 1900 (MCM) was an exceptional common year starting on Monday. ... From left to right: Will Mead, Charles McKim and Stan White McKim, Mead, and White was the premier architectural firm in the eastern United States at the turn of the twentieth century. ... The Parthenon seen from the hill of the Pnyx to the west. ... The Pantheon, Rome, in front of which stands the obelisk Macuteo, one of fourteen ancient Egyptian obelisks in Rome. ... Categories: Buildings and structures stubs | Ancient Roman architecture ... From ancient Greece (Ionic) An Ionian is a member of one of the four great divisions of the ancient Greek people. ... An attic is an area found above a house. ...

King's College Founded in the Province of New York
By Royal Charter in the Reign of George II
Perpetuated as Columbia College by the People of the State of New York
When they became Free and Independent - Maintained and Cherished from Generation to Generation
For the Advancement of the Public Good and the Glory of Almighty God

The interior abounds with classical references. At the entryway are bronze busts of Zeus and Apollo. The foyer contains a white marble bust of Pallas Athena, modeled after the Minerve du Collier at the Louvre. She is surrounded there by the twelve signs of the zodiac. The 106-foot tall rotunda, formerly the library reading room when the building was used for its original function, is lined with columns of solid green Connemara marble from Ireland, topped with gold capitals. Such figures as Demosthenes, Euripedes, and Sophocles stare down from the rotunda's heights. The rest of the interior is finished with Italian and Istrian marble. Statue of Zeus Phidias created the 12-m (40-ft) tall statue of Zeus at Olympia about 435 BCE. The statue was perhaps the most famous sculpture in ancient Greece, imagined here in a 16th-century engraving. ... Lycian Apollo, early Imperial Roman copy of a fourth century Greek original (Louvre Museum) In Greek and Roman mythology, Apollo (Greek: Απόλλων, Apóllōn; or Απελλων, Apellōn), the ideal of the kouros,[1] was the archer-god of medicine and healing and also a bringer of death-dealing plague; as... ... This article is about the goddess Athena. ... I.M. Peis Louvre Pyramid: one of the entrances to the galleries lies below the glass pyramid. ... Demosthenes (384–322 BC, Greek: Δημοσθένης) was a prominent Greek statesman and orator of ancient Athens. ... Euripides (c. ... A Roman bust. ...

Low Library's location, atop a plinth of stairs at the centre of campus, was meant to demonstrate the value of the secular pursuit of knowledge as opposed to religion, the role of which was minimised via the subsidiary placement of the university's religious buildings on Low's right and left flanks. Still, a Judeo-Christian influence is evidenced by the building's shape, in the form of a Greek cross. Judeo-Christian (or Judaeo-Christian) is a term used to describe the body of concepts and values which are thought to be held in common by Judaism and Christianity, and typically considered (along with classical Greco-Roman civilization) a fundamental basis for Western legal codes and moral values. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

A late-19th century real estate magazine, believing Low to be patterned after a French church by "the architect Rumpf", criticised the design, writing that "there is scarcely any original designing done in this city, except the vagaries of the incompetent. The rest is mostly a copybook reproduction of classical and other detail. Successful architects have too much to do to be pre-eminently artists -- they must be first-rate men of business."^[1]

History

The reading room of the formerly functioning Low Library

Low originally served as the university's main library, a role which ended when it was supplanted by the larger Butler Library in 1934, and it now only holds the university's archives in addition to its administrative offices. Confusingly, however, the building's facade is still etched with the words "The Library of Columbia University," leading many to believe that it retains its earlier role. Butler Library The Nicholas Murray Butler Library, commonly known simply as Butler Library, is the largest single library in the Columbia University Library System, which contains over 8. ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

During the 1968 Columbia protests, Low was occupied by students objecting to, among other things, the proposed construction of a university-owned gymnasium in Morningside Park as well as Columbia's involvement with the Vietnam War. Within Low, the students barricaded themselves inside the office of University President Grayson L. Kirk, where they sifted for documents. Dramatic scenes ensued, including attempts to catapult food to the protesters and efforts by their adversaries to cordon them off. The access of Columbia media outlets such as WKCR and the Columbia Daily Spectator that allowed them to break stories relating to the events in Low prior to national news organizations remains a mystery; many believe students had access to secret tunnels. The protesters were only removed after a controversially violent assault on the building by the New York Police Department. In early March 1967, a Columbia University SDS activist named Bob Feldman reportedly discovered documents in the International Law Library detailing Columbias institutional affiliation with the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), a think-tank affiliated with the US Department of Defense. ... Morningside Park is a New York City public park located at the east edge of Morningside Heights. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) United States of America South Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Peoples Republic of China Strength ~1,200,000 (1968) ~420,000 (1968) Casualties South Vietnamese dead: 230... Grayson Louis Kirk (October 12, 1903 - November 21, 1997) was president of Columbia University during the campus unrest that culminated in the student occupation of several buildings. ... WKCR is a college radio station in New York City The station is located at 89. ... The Columbia Daily Spectator is the daily newspaper servicing Columbia University and the neighborhood of Morningside Heights. ... This Article May Be Dangerously Innacurate For the reasons to follow, this article requires review, and any actions taken based on this article are likely both dangerous and illegal: Columbia University has the third largest tunnel system in the world, next to MIT and the Moscow Kremlin. ... The New York City Police Department (NYPD) , the largest police department in the United States, has primary responsibility for law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City. ...

In 2004 Low Library was placed on a US postage stamp in recognition of the university's 250th anniversairy. 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External Links

• Low Memorial Library information by the School of General Studies
• 360-degree view of the Low Library rotunda

References