Eastman Laboratory from 1923 Postcard

Pictures of Eastman Laboratory

The Eastman Laboratory was donated by George Eastman and opened in September, 1906.  The building was sold to the Taylor Instrument Company in 1956 after the Women's College moved to River Campus.  The building is still standing, occupied by tenants including the Center for Community Health & Prevention of the University of Rochester Medical Center.

References
1906 Fifty-Seventh Annual Catalogue of the University of Rochester
Pages 16-21:  The Eastman Laboratories with floor plans

1907 "Tablet Placed in Eastman Building," Democrat and Chronicle, February 15, 1907, Page 14.
"This building given by George Eastman is dedicated to the study of life and energy for the larger knowledge of truth."

1910 The University of Rochester : buildings and grounds
Pages 23-24:  Eastman Laboratories

1927 Rochester, the making of a university, by Jesse Leonard Rosenberger, with an introduction by President Rush Rhees.
Page 277-278:  The president’s report for 1903-4 contained announcements that George Eastman, of Rochester, had given $60,000 to provide for the erection of a laboratory building for biology and physics; and that from other sources gifts and subscriptions to the amount of $54,000 had been received to be applied, with Mr.Eastman’s gift, toward a fund of $ 150,000, which it was desired to raise. The ground for the Eastman Laboratories was broken and the basement walls were built in the fall of 1904, but the building was not completed until 1906. A combination of red sandstone and of a deep colored red brick was used in the construction of the exterior of the building, which is three stories in height above a high basement and cost about $77,000, Mr. Eastman generously adding enough to his first gift to cover the entire cost. Special furniture costing over $10,000 and new apparatus costing about $r5,ooo were provided by the contributions of other citizens of Rochester. The basement and the first story of the building were assigned to the physical laboratories, and the second and third stories for the biological laboratories. Since then, the lecture rooms of the two departments have frequently been  used for meetings by various scientific bodies of the city, or others holding sessions in Rochester.

1930 George Eastman: Founder of Kodak and the Photography Business, by Carl W Ackerman

1956 "Taylor Plans Research Lab On Prince St. Campus Site," Democrat and Chronicle, March 4, 1956, Page 89.

1977 History of the University of Rochester, by Arthur J. May (on-line version with footnotes)
Chapter 14, Rhees of Rochester
At two interviews in April, 1903, Rhees found Eastman "cordial and attentive" and obtained a pledge of $10,000 for the building and endowment on condition that $150,000 would be secured elsewhere. It was estimated that construction would run to around $50,000, and the rest of the money would generate income for maintenance. Only small amounts trickled in from "old grads" and friends of the college, so Rhees screwed up his courage and approached Eastman again. That gambit yielded an increase of the pledge to $60,000. By the time construction had been completed, costs reached about $78,500, all of which the "Kodak King" paid.
"Mr. Eastman entirely on his own initiative," "Prexy" revealed, handed him a cheque for the entire outlay, "without any solicitation, either direct or indirect on my part." A master key to the science building was turned over to the benefactor, "for the oftener you visit it the deeper our satisfaction," and Eastman reluctantly consented to have his name placed on the structure. For a bronze tablet placed in it, provided by the class of 1904, Rhees devised the inscription, "This building given by George Eastman is dedicated to the study of life and energy for the larger knowledge of truth." Invited to become a University trustee, Eastman declined and he responded negatively to hints that he would be offered an honorary doctorate.

1990 "George Eastman," by Elizabeth Brayer, Rochester History 52(1):1-24 (Winter 1990)

1996 George Eastman: A Biography, by Elizabeth Brayer | another copy |

George Eastman Wikipedia page

© 2021 Morris A. Pierce