Curtis Laws Wilson Library Trivia

Library History

  • Who was Curtis Laws Wilson and why did we name the library after him?
    • Wilson was the Dean of the Missouri School of Mines from 1941 through 1963. During his administration the size of the campus more than doubled, the number of faculty more than tripled and number of support staff went from 147 to over 800. He has been described as hardworking, well organized, efficient and fiscally conservative. There are also rumors that he was not the most popular of deans and was put in place by the UM administration to make sure that the Missouri School of Mines did not break away from the University of Missouri system. The Library building was unnamed from the time of its original dedication in 1968 until it was named in memory of Dean Wilson in a Founder's Day dedication ceremony in March of 1979.

Library Artwork

  • St. Patrick
    • Rudy Torrini, a St. Louis artist, chose to depict the saint in bishop's garb with his foot on the snake to clearly identify him as St. Patrick, the patron saint of engineers. It is eight and a half feet tall and was originally sculpted of plaster with a simulated bronze coating. The piece was presented to the university by the St. Pat's Board in October of 1970. In 2007, the St. Pat's Board raised the funds needed to have the plaster statue cast in bronze; the new bronze statue was not returned to the library but instead resides outside Toomey Hall. After nearly 40 years in residence, St. Pat has left the building.
  • Astrolabe
    • Who designed it?
      • This 14 foot in diameter work was commissioned by the library and installed as a finishing touch to the library renovation project in 1999. Jefferson City-based artist Thomas Schulte took his inspiration from the astronomical instrument, the astrolabe. Schulte's sculpture reflects both the Arabic origins and complex geometric patterns of the astrolabe with its graceful curves and interlocking forms. It is a celebration of interrelationships between the artistic and the technical, as well as the history and the future of science and technology.
    • What is an astrolabe, anyway?
      • An Astrolabe is measuring device perfected by the Arabs in the 9th century. The device can serve several functions, but were most commonly used to measure the position of celestial bodies, for navigating at sea and surveying. Early astrolabes consisted of a base plate, or mater; a rete, a disk that rotated on the mater around a center pin; and an alidade, a straight rule. Gauges on the astrolabe indicated positions of the moon, sun and stars at various times.
  • Albert Einstein
    • The bust of Einstein, by the Library Office door, was sculpted by local artist Louie Smart. It is a bronze casting that was donated to the University by the Friends of Einstein. It is rumored that you can raise your IQ by ten points for two hours by touching your forehead to his. This is unproven, and generally frowned upon by library staff.
  • Mervin J. Kelly Cap and Gown
    • The red cap and gown, on the second floor, belonged to distinguished Missouri School of Mines alumnus Mervin J. Kelly. After graduating from MSM he had a successful career and went on to become president of Bell Labs. Kelly wore the gown at a ceremony where he was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Lyon in France.