2 options
Mechanic to millionaireh[electronic resource] : the Peter Cooper story / produced and directed by Janet Gardner.
- Format:
- Video
- Author/Creator:
- Gardner, Janet.
- Series:
- Filmakers Library online
- Filmakers library online
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Cooper, Peter, 1791-1883.
- Cooper, Peter.
- Industrialists--United States.
- Industrialists.
- Philanthropists--United States.
- Philanthropists.
- United States.
- Genre:
- Documentary.
- Video recordings.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (57 min.)
- Place of Publication:
- New York, NY : Filmakers Library, 2009.
- Language Note:
- English.
- Summary:
- This well-researched film celebrates the life and legacy of Peter Cooper, the remarkable 19th century inventor, industrialist and philanthropist. Cooper had a rare combination of mechanical skills and entrepreneurship. Beginning work in a glue factory, Cooper developed the household uses of gelatin (Jello) and fashioned the iron I-beam from railroad rails, which enabled multistoried building construction. In 1828 he founded the Canton Iron Works in Baltimore which made his fortune. A champion of 20th century communication, he helped fund the first transatlantic telegraph cable and built the first American steam locomotive named "Tom Thumb."When business success brought wealth, Cooper used it to foster social justice. He founded The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in 1859, realizing his dream of free education for working people, regardless of ethnicity or gender. The college empowered thousands of women, a radical notion for the mid-19th century.The Great Hall in Cooper Union provided a platform for most major social movements of the 19th Century, most importantly, Abraham Lincoln's speech that won him his party's nomination for president in 1865. The early feminist leaders Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony also spoke there.
- Notes:
- Originally released as DVD.
- Title from resource description page (viewed May 24, 2011).
- Electronic reproduction. Alexandria, VA : Alexander Street Press, 2011. (Filmakers library online). Available via World Wide Web.
- OCLC:
- 747797054
- Access Restriction:
- Restricted for use by site license.
The Penn Libraries is committed to describing library materials using current, accurate, and responsible language. If you discover outdated or inaccurate language, please fill out this feedback form to report it and suggest alternative language.