Constructed in 1901, the Conway Public Library (initially named the Jenks Memorial Library), still maintains much of its original structural components. Some of the most striking elements that were part of the original building include the quotes inscribed on the walls, the stained-glass windows, the intricate fireplace, and the detailed woodwork found not just along the walls, but as exhibited in some original pieces of furniture as well!
Writings on the Walls and Ceilings
Our plastered walls are frescoed near the top moldings. These writings in gold leaf are quotes from the following people.
A moment in the realm of Thought and a new Miracle is wrought. ---George Frederick Wheeler
Evolution is God's Way of doing things. --- John Fisk
By the harness that galls the load is drawn. ---Rev. Cyrus Bartol
Every one is the son of his own works. ---Cornantes
Beware when the great God lets loose Thinkers on this planet. ---R.W. Emerson
The essence of Genius is the capacity for taking pains. ---Carlyle
Nothing is more terrible than active ignorance. ---Goethe
Advantages are obligation. ---Rev. J.M. Chadwick
Diligence is the Mother of Good luck. --- Franklin
I can feel farther than I can see. ---Theodore Parker
The secret of success is Constancy of purpose. ---Dis
The body is a mere appendage to the soul, entirely devoid of great qualities. ---Cicero
Command large fields but cultivate small ones. ---Virgil
I cease to be depressed by learning slowly if I am to learn forever. ---William Ellery Manning
We see only what we animate. ---R.W. Emerson
Every ultimate fact is only the first of a new series. ---R.W. Emerson
He who relies on assumption and not on ultimate facts weaves cobwebs but no cloth. --- Theodore Parker
Isto Perpetua.. Praise God and Be Cheerful..---Rev. M.M. Newall
Stained Glass Windows
Our church-like windows contain the names of many as follows:
REFERENCE ROOM: (small) Phidias, M Angelo (Michelangelo), Herschel, Sillman
COMPUTER AREA: Look above the arch between circulation/reference. Rabens, Humbolt (as painted, in the blackletter style, it looks as if it should be Humboit), Franklin, Harvey (William Harvey?), Wren, Edison, Morse, Pasteur, Watt
GREAT READING ROOM: Holmes, Whittier, Lowell, Longfellow
READING ROOM: Plato, Webster, Beecher, Wesley, Channing, Socrates, Cicero, Shakespeare, Emerson (hmmmm, Ralph Waldo? or our own David?)
READING ALCOVE: Prescott, Rollin, Grote (Hugo Grotius maybe??)