The Honor Board, in conjunction with the Samuel C. Williams Library, hosted “Behind the Books,” an annual event for which rooms in the library normally not available to the public are opened, on Wednesday. The rooms for this occasion were the Mary Stewart Stevens room, Sam’s Place, the Fredrick W. Taylor room, and the Leonardo da Vinci room.
The doors to each room acted as time travel capsules: portals to a unique time and place in history. The Mary Stewart Stevens room contained artifacts primarily donated by Mary Stuart Stevens, many of which were from the 19th century, and all of which represented some piece of Stevens or Hoboken history. There was even a copy of the first Stevens freshman handbook, containing the original Honor Code and its bylaws.
Elena Piper, current Chair of the Honor Board, said it’s important for the Honor Board to interact with students, and also noted that because the Honor Board is rooted in Stevens history, they felt a need to showcase Stevens history; and this event did just that.
Fredrick W. Taylor was part of the second-ever Stevens graduating class. Called the father of scientific management, Taylor was obsessed with efficiency and ergonomics. Some of his inventions include a two-handed golf putter, which was banned due to its extreme effectiveness, and a tennis racket optimized for ease of use. An avid tennis player, Taylor won the first ever U.S. Open in 1881.
Next to the Fredrick W. Taylor room was the Leonardo da Vinci room, a 40-year endeavor of the late Professor Lieb to collect every da Vinci artifact he could. The crown jewel of this collection is a third-edition printed notebook of da Vinci’s, one of only four in the world. Lieb put together a timeline of da Vinci’s actions, whereabouts and inventions, which is exhibited in the room along with numerous tomes from the 16th century and beyond.
Many students were not aware that these rooms existed in the library, nor that the artifacts housed in them represent a significant part of Stevens history. Although this is an annual event, the turnout and enthusiasm on Wednesday night may convince the Honor Board to host one per semester, rather than once per year.
On May 5, the Honor Board will be screening a documentary film titled “A Fragile Trust: Plagiarism, Power and Jayson Blair at the New York Times” in Babbio 122. There will be food, snacks, good company, and a lengthy discussion of the film’s ramifications directly afterwards.
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