Philanthropist, industrialist and inventor--Peter Cooper (1791-1883) was a native New Yorker and workingman's son with less than a year of formal schooling, who became one of the most successful American businessmen of his day.
Peter Cooper dedicated his life and wealth to philanthropy, to ensure that immigrants and children of the working class would have access to the education that he never had. Believing that education should be "as free as water or air," in 1859 he established the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, a coeducational college which continues to provide students with full-tuition scholarships in architecture, art, and engineering. Celebrated features of the institution included a free reading room and the Great Hall, which provided the setting for one of Abraham Lincoln's campaign speeches on February 27, 1860.
In 1895 Cooper's descendants sold the site of the old glue factory to the City of Brooklyn for $55,000. Within a year the site, known as Cooper Park, was outfitted with a playground and landscaping. By 1905 the limestone and brick shelter pavilion had been erected. In the late 1930s construction carried out by the Works Progress Administration transformed Cooper Park into a modern recreational facility. New features included a roller-skating track, sitting area, horseshoe and shuffleboard courts, wading pool, play areas for children and tots, and two softball diamonds with bleachers.
A major reconstruction project in 1965 removed the track and wading pool and added basketball and handball courts, game tables, boccie courts, and painted games. New play equipment, representing 1960s innovations in playground design, included an arcade climber, spiral/helical slide, mountain climber, hexapod, and ups 'n downs.
