Theodore Cooper

Civil Engineer

Centurion, 1888–1919

Proposed by
Joseph P. Davis and William Bispham

born January 13, 1839
Coopers Plains, New York

died August 24, 1919
New York (Manhattan), New York

elected December 1, 1888
Age forty-nine

buried Kensico Cemetery,
Valhalla, New York

proposer of

seconder of

Member portrait of Theodore Cooper — Member Photograph Albums CollectionAlbum 7, Leaf 41

To inquire about image use and/or publication, contact the Archivist.

Century Memorial

Before the collapse in 1907 of the bridge across the St. Lawrence at Quebec—an occurrence which was the tragedy of his life—Theodore Cooper was a familiar figure in the Century’s afternoon and evening groups. He was a recognized authority on iron and steel construction, had cooperated with Eads in building the St. Louis bridge in 1872, and was assistant engineer for constructing the first of the elevated railways in New York. Much later, he was consulting engineer for the New York Public Library. The fatal accident at Quebec—which, it was said, would have been averted if a telegram of warning sent by Cooper, but delayed in transit, had arrived in time—came as a heavy blow. Its effect upon him, as one of the constructing engineers, was to change in many respects even his habits of social life. But, though he came to the Club more rarely, he never relinquished his connection with the Century and never lost his loyalty to it.

Alexander Dana Noyes
1920 Century Association Yearbook

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