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
Note: The original source of the above paragraph and image can be found here.
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??)
Note: The original source of the above paragraph can be found here.
DID YOU KNOW? – There is a *hidden* window in the library??! While still visible from the outside, this window was covered from the inside when the elevator was installed. That window is inscribed with the name “Darwin” and you can see a photograph of it below.
Photograph taken by Jeff Beavers
The Fireplace and Woodwork
In the large Reading Room of the library – part of the original building – one can find some of the stained-glass windows and quotes as listed above, as well as an elaborately adorned fireplace. And as the library’s Henney History Room curator, Bob Cottrell, put it in his blog post, “The woodwork in the room is a veritable encyclopedia of classical motifs. Carved in quartered oak with highly polished rays and flecks there are acanthus, broken pediments, corbels, dentilations, egg and dart patterning, Greek keys, lamb’s tongue, acorn pendants, tobacco leaves, rosettes, scrolls and volutes.”
Not sure what any of those terms mean? Here are some examples!
If you would like to know more about the image above the mantle of the fireplace, the blog entry mentioned above (click here to access) provides an in-depth insight.
There are also some original chairs from the time of the building’s initial construction, and if you look closely, you’re bound to notice them scattered amongst the newer chairs!
These chairs were made using multiple types of wood to create a single piece. To learn more about the construction of a Windsor chair, take a look at this article from the “The Magazine Antiques”.
If you walk into the small alcove off the Reading Room, you will notice two framed collages of portraits against the far wall. The portraits are of many of the people involved in the formation of the library, from the holder of the initial idea of its creation (Thomas Leighton Jenks, who also posthumously funded the project), to the developers of its construction, those tasked with its initial functioning, and others involved in many aspects in between. The community mindset in making the dream of the library a reality lives on in the library’s mission and vision today.