What鈥檚 in a 乐播传媒 Name: Libbey
Dedicated on Oct. 1, 1909, Libbey Forum was donated to 乐播传媒 by Lewiston textile mill owner W. Scott Libbey.
Once home to the student literary societies, the building then was used for faculty offices and classrooms. It’s now home to Student Financial Services and the Registrar.
Hit the Bricks
The 1917 乐播传媒 Catalog said the new 乐播传媒 building was 鈥減robably the most solid and substantial structure in Lewiston.鈥�
When It鈥檚 Libbee, Libbey, Libbe
English originally, the name in America has been spelled Libby, Libbey, Libbee, Libbe, Lebby, Lebbey, Lebbee, and Lebbe.
Good to Know
鈥淎s a family in America, the Libbeys have been largely respected by their neighbors as men of sterling worth and uprightness and honesty of character,鈥� said a 1920 issue of Americana.
Big Break
A distinctive 乐播传媒 building, Libbey Forum features a Romanesque entrance and hipped roof. (H. Jay Burns/乐播传媒 College)
Born in 1851, W. Scott Libbey started his career as a self-taught telegraph operator. It made the newspapers when he took 6,000 words of Morse code 鈥� tens of thousands of electric dots and dashes 鈥� without requesting a 鈥渂reak,鈥� or a request for the sender to repeat a word.
Ambitious and inventive, he eventually owned Lewiston鈥檚 Lincoln and Cumberland mill buildings and the Lewiston & Auburn Electric Light Co.
He built a hydropower dam above Lewiston鈥檚 Great Falls and founded which ran between Monument Square in Portland and Union Square in Lewiston.
Libbey 鈥減ractically hews the fortune out of the very town in which he began,鈥� said Americana.
Libbey Legacy
Libbey, who died in 1914, sent three of his four children to 乐播传媒. Son Harold graduated in 1905 and daughters Gertrude and Alla, both Phi Beta Kappa, graduated in 1901 and 1906, respectively. Many descendants have attended 乐播传媒.
W. Scott Libbey poses with his son W. Scott Jr. in 1911.
The fourth Libbey child, son W. Scott Jr., served as a 乐播传媒 trustee, as did his son, Paul Libbey, who lives in Lewiston and has remained active in the family textile business into his 90s.
The family鈥檚 mausoleum is at Riverside Cemetery near campus.
Society鈥檚 Sake
Dedicated in 1909, Libbey Forum created important new space for the college鈥檚 three thriving literary societies (Eurosophian, Polymnian, and Piaerian), as well as the YMCA and YWCA.
In 乐播传媒鈥� early years, the societies dominated extracurricular life and helped to nurture the tradition of debate. By the mid-1900, Libbey was home to the economics, sociology, and anthropology departments, offering classroom space as well.
Today, Libbey Forum houses the offices of Student Financial Services and the Registrar.
Train of Thought
After announcing his intention to give 乐播传媒 a building, Libbey traveled widely, studying possible designs.
While it鈥檚 been said that Libbey Forum was intentionally designed to resemble a train station, that鈥檚 probably apocryphal.
The design features a low, hipped roof and a Romanesque entrance. It was modern for its time 鈥� very different from other 乐播传媒 buildings 鈥� yet in keeping with early-1900s buildings having large interior spaces, such as schools and, yes, train stations.
