Charles Atkins was John Cowper's first impresario. He belonged to the ASEUT and was settled in Philadelphia when the young Englishman was handed over to him. Later he became the head of Brooklyn Institute, but Powys always remained on friendly terms with this "austere and competent steward.... who long ago took Dr. Johnson's advice and 'cleared his mind of cant.'" (Autobiography) His first manager...
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(Brooklyn Public Library) |
...In the Autobiography he remembers with some amusement:
Mr. Atkins thought it appropriate that we should wear our tall silk hats, ...as we went about Philadelphia.' He also recalls that 'under his auspices I had and kept - which was not the case with Philadelphia - an audience in Brooklyn that seemed prepared to listen to me till the day of doom.
The institute, founded in 1823 as the Apprentices' Library, started with 724 volumes and 150 pamphlets, contributed by citizens who carted them in wheelbarrows to the reading room at 143 Fulton Street. Soon a site was obtained for a new building at Cranberry and Henry Streets, and on July 4, 1825, the cornerstone was laid by General Lafayette, on his last visit to America. In 1843, the library, then in a building on Washington Street, was reorganized as the Brooklyn Institute for the purpose of "enlarging the knowledge in literature, science, and art."
After it was reorganized by its director, Franklin W. Hooper, and merged with other societies, the institute was incorporated in 1890 under its present name.
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