Cooper Branch Library at Johnson Park - Camden, NJ
N 39° 56.910 W 075° 07.518
18S E 489296 N 4422048
Local inventor and philanthropist Eldridge R. Johnson, founder of the Victor Talking Machine Company, donated the Neo-Classical Cooper Library and the surrounding Johnson Park to the city of Camden.
Waymark Code: WM5XJN
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 02/25/2009
Views: 4
Eldridge R. Johnson Park, and the Cooper Library which stands at the park’s center, represent one of the most significant and unique cultural, historic, and artistic resources in the City of Camden and the State of New Jersey. Built between 1914 and 1930, the park occupies an entire block near Camden's waterfront. When it opened in 1918, the site became Southern New Jersey's foremost cultural center. Today, the library houses the Walt Whitman Cultural Arts Center and is owned by Rutgers University. In roman numerals, carved in the granite (or possibly marble) in back of the huge columns can be found the date this library was opened, MCMXVI. On top of the engraved date is a massive mosaic depicting Europe's contributions to our country.
Eldridge Johnson commissioned D'Ascenzo Studios of Philadelphia to design and produce the magnificent frieze at the Library and the beautiful stained glass window, the “Nipper" window, in the RCA-Victor building in Camden, New Jersey. It took two years to complete the work.
"JOHNSON PARK, Cooper St. Between 2nd and Front Sts., is an attractively landscaped block in the shadow of tall buildings of the RCA-Victor plant. In the center stands the Cooper Branch Library (open 9-9 weekdays), a neoclassic building erected in 1919 from the plans of Karcher and Smith, Philadelphia architects. Behind a row of six Iconic columns is a mosaic frieze of opalescent glass, depicting America Receiving the Gifts of the Nations Composed of 100,000 pieces, the mosaic was executed in the D'Ascenzo Studios, Philadelphia." --- New Jersey, a Guide to Its Present and Past, 1939; page 230
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