Low Memorial Library - Columbia University - NY, NY
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neoc1
N 40° 48.476 W 073° 57.727
18T E 587541 N 4517954
The Low Memorial Library is at the center of the campus of Columbia University (formerly Kings College) at 116th St and Broadway in the upper west side of Manhattan. It was designed by Charles Follen McKim , recipient of the AIA Gold Medal in 1909.
Waymark Code: WM10A0V
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 03/30/2019
Views: 1
The Low Memorial Library was commissioned in 1895 by Columbia University President Seth Low. It was designed in the Neoclassical style by Charles Follen McKim, the 1909 recipient of the AIA Gold Medal, of the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White. The building was financed with a $1,000,000 donation by President Low. He named the library in memory of his father, Abiel Abbot Low.
Since the nearby Butler Library was completed in 1934 the building houses the central administrative offices of the university. The sculpture "Alma Mater" by Daniel Chester French on the steps of the Library has become the symbol of the University. A stone tablet embedded in the plaza is inscribed:
CHARLES FOLLEN MCKIM
ARCHITECT
MDCCCXLVII - MDCCCIX
DESUPER ARTIFICIS
SPECTANT MONUMENTA
PER ANNOS
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"THE MONUMENTS OF AN ARTIST LOOK DOWN UPON US THROUGHOUT THE AGES"
The Low Memorial Library was named a New York City landmark in 1967 and a National Historic Landmark in 1987.