Here at Stevens, perhaps the most important aspect is knowledge, whether it be learning in class, gaining experience through Co-Op or internships, or conducting research in many of the labs. It is this quest for knowledge that fuels two of the largest and most significant buildings on campus: The Davidson Laboratory and the Samuel C. Williams Library.
During the years of President Harvey Davis, Stevens experienced an influx of new buildings and facilities to help the school grow, including dorms like Palmer and Jacobus (as discussed last week), and the addition of Peirce and Kiddie Halls conjoined to the existing Morton Laboratory to make a U-shaped complex. One new building during the term of President Davis that stands out is the innovative Davidson Laboratory.
For context, Mechanical Engineering professor Kenneth S.M. Davidson, after whom the lab will eventually be named, had been conducting experiments on different ship designs using models in the Walker Gymnasium swimming pool. As a part of the United States military’s preparations for the possibility of war in the 1930s, Professor Davidson was given funds to create a towing tank in the Navy Building (located where the Babbio Center currently is). With those funds, Davidson created Towing Tank #1 in 1935.
For the rest of the 1930s and into the early 1940s, Professor Davidson worked with the Navy to test different ship designs and the efficiency of the different hull types with great success. After the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, as America was thrust into a war on two fronts, the Navy needed more ships that were faster, more durable, and more powerful. To implement this, Professor Davidson was given the funds to construct two new towing tanks, dubbed Towing Tank #2 and Towing Tank #3, in a brand new structure that would give Davidson more control, simultaneously allowing for the security requirements needed for a program developing new ships for the Navy.
This new facility, which takes its namesake after Professor Davidson, sits along Hudson Street spanning most of the block between 6th and 7th street. It was designed by Voorhees Walker Foley & Smith and constructed by Hegeman and Harris, and features a low-lying design with linearly symmetrical windows. The building serves as a private building while also fitting well as the transition from the Stevens campus to Hoboken neighborhoods.
While Davidson serves as a center of discovery through experimentation, the other focus of this article serves as a center of learning through research: the Samuel C. Williams Library. While the school’s library had moved around over time — from Edwin A. Stevens Hall then moved to the Lieb building in 1932, President Jess Davis decided, in order to accommodate the increasing student population, to create a new library.
Located in the center of campus, it faces the Wittpenn Walk and the newly installed Torchbearers sculpture (installed in 1964 in collaboration with artist Anna Hyatt Huntington). Designed by Perkins and Will, the library is a great example of the combination of brutalism and the architecture of the early 20th century (many allusions to the famed Frank Lloyd Wright can be found throughout the structure). The ground for the building was broken in 1966 with the building being completed and opened in 1969.
The building’s name comes from Professor Samuel C. Williams. Williams was a graduate of the Stevens Class of 1919 and was the curator of the library and the main advocate for the construction of the new building. Sadly, Williams passed away shortly before the completion of the library in 1968. President Davis dedicated the library to Williams during the dedication ceremony on May 17, 1967.
Also installed in the library are a multitude of artistic works, the most famous of which is the Stevens Mobile and Hard To Swallow by mobile inventor and Stevens graduate Alexander Calder, along with Moon and Stars by Mary Callery. Both recognize the innovation of the university and pay homage to the humanities at Stevens.
The Davidson Laboratory and the Williams Library both represent the continued devotion Stevens has towards learning and innovating for the future, a true continuation of the legacy of Edwin A. Stevens and his “Institute of Learning.”
