The Honor Board hosted “Behind the Books,” on Wednesday evening in the S.C. Williams Library. The library’s four exhibit rooms, the Mary Stuart Stevens Room, the Lieb/DaVinci exhibit, the Frederick Winslow Taylor exhibit, and Sam’s Place, were open to all students between 8 PM and 10 PM.
The Mary Stuart Stevens Room is full of Stevens family relics and portraits. Notable items include a model of the America, the ship sailed by Rob Stevens and America’s Cup namesake, paintings of the Stevens family, an 1835 picture of New York and Castle Point as seen from Weehawken, and the Stevens’ prayer book. There were also several pieces from Martha Stevens, who played an influential role in establishing Stevens Institute.
Many DaVinci artifacts can be found in John Lieb’s room. Lieb, a Stevens alumnus and former professor, went to Italy to work with an Italian engineer on a dam. While he was in Italy, he became fascinated with DaVinci. Lieb began collecting DaVinci artifacts and brought them to Hoboken when he returned to the U.S. Included in the collection are models of DaVinci’s machine gun and self-propelled ship, the title page of the Divina Proportione, and a small library.
Frederick Winslow Taylor was a distinguished alumnus of Stevens. His room contains a few of his patents, including a metal cutting tool, tennis racket, and a unique golf club.
The Frederick Winslow Taylor and John Lieb rooms are both located on the second floor of the library.
Artifacts from the University can be found in Sam’s Room, located behind the circulation desk. Stevens banners from the 1940s were on display next to freshman handbooks from 1925 and 1947. Old lab equipment including a marine boiler and voltmeter can be found on the shelves. One table contained Coke bottle prototypes, Stevens’ first yearbook, and ∫(events)dt, an old university publication with cartoons and information on various activities happening on campus.
