Papers of Norma E. Rancken

Collection — Container: Box 1

Identifier: MG.007

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Norma E. Rancken Papers include materials produced between the dates 1938-2010. This collection includes Cooper Union-related memorabilia, including Rancken's diploma, dance card, registration cards, grades, photographs, lab reports, correspondence and 50th Reunion book. This collection also includes mechanical drawings done by Rancken's husband, Charles Murray Cossey, and Cooper Union Society of 1859 certificates for Charles and Norma Cossey.

Dates

Creation: 1938 - 2010

Creator

Rancken, Norma E. , 1925-2005 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Open to researchers without restriction.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from The Cooper Union Archives and Special Collections. For more information please email archives@cooper.edu.

Biographical / Historical

Norma E. Rancken (1925-2005) received her degree in Mechanical Engineering from Cooper Union in 1946. She earned a Master's degree in Aeronautical Engineering in 1948 from Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, where she taught mathematics for three years. At the time, she was one of a very few women to have received two engineering degrees. Norma's husband Charles M. Cossey began his studies at Cooper Union but finished at Polytechnic, where the two met. Norma and her husband were members of Cooper Union's Society of 1859, which recognizes significant financial contributions to the institution. Norma took education courses to qualify as a teacher in New York City high schools. She became the first woman to fulfil the requirements for the New York City Teaching License in Related Technical Subjects (Mechanical, Structural, Electrical), and in 1954 she was appointed to teach at McKee Vocational and Technical High School in Staten Island. In 1972 Rancken and her husband invested in their own business (she is listed in Cooper Union’s 1973 Alumni Directory as a partner in the firm Cossey & Cossey); they retired to Florida in 1983.

Extent

0.417 Linear Feet (1 full box)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Papers of Norma E. Rancken is a collection of Cooper Union-related memorabilia, correspondence, certificates, photographs, and classwork.

Arrangement

This collection has been arranged by subject.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection was donated to Cooper Union July 23, 2007 by Barbara H. Reed of West Palm Beach, Florida. Items were forwarded from the office of Vice-President Ronni Denes to the Cooper Archives in 2010.