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The John P. Cook Building (March 1930). Photo courtesy: University of Michigan Library
Cooking Up Talented Law Students
By Taya Harrison
The John P. Cook Dormitory is home to 152 of the finest law students in the country. The building is part of the University of Michigan’s Law Quadrangle, which was all funded by a generous donation from William W. Cook in the 1920s. William named the building in honor of his father, John P. Cook, a prominent figure in the state of Michigan’s history (“John P. Cook Dormitory”).
John Potter Cook’s connection to UM comes from his son William, who earned both his undergraduate (1880) and law (1882) degrees at the university (“John P. Cook Dormitory”). After graduating from Michigan, William Cook became a successful corporate lawyer in Manhattan and went on to collectively donate over 300-million modern dollars to U-M (“John P. Cook Dormitory”). Cook funded the construction of the "four original buildings comprising the Law Quadrangle with their construction dates are: the Lawyers Club, 1924; the John P. Cook Dormitory, 1930; the Legal Research Building, 1931; and Hutchins Hall, 1933," according to the university's historical records.
The story of the John Cook Dormitory is also one of family and timeless love, as William had previously funded a dorm to be built in his mother's name: Martha Cook in 1911 (“Donor Story”). The two residence halls now sit permanently looking at each other, being directly across the street, setting his parents’ marriage in stone at UM. Both buildings are near the William W. Cook Legal Research Library, completing the family's permanent UM legacy.
Map of UM showing S. University Ave. and Tappan Ave. area around the Law School, where John, Martha and William all are namesakes of UM buildings. Source: UM Student Life Interactive Campus Map
“John Potter Cook.” Photo Courtesy: Hillsdale County Historical Society
John Cook, born in Cato, New York in 1812, was a man of many trades and, himself, an importantfigure in the development of the State of Michigan. After moving to Hillsdale, Michigan from Detroit in 1832, Cook built both a flour and saw mill, served as town postmaster, aided in routing railroad tracks through the town, and served in the state legislature and senate (“John P. Cook Dormitory”). He also was a trustee of Hillsdale College. Through his service to the state of Michigan, John Cook also became a delegate to the Michigan Constitutional Convention in 1850 (“John P. Cook Dormitory”). A memorial room at the center of the John Cook Dormitory commemorates its influential namesake with a grand painting and the coat of arms of Michigan, inscribed with “John P. Cook” (“John Cook Dormitory”).
The last name Cook has an interesting history itself. According to Ancestry.com, in English tradition Cook is an "occupational name for a cook a seller of cooked meats or a keeper of an eating house," but is also an Americanized form of several other last names from other parts of the world. The first name John means God is gracious and originally comes from the Hebrew name Yochanan, according to BehindTheName.com. According to a 2009 article in The White Pages drawing on cencus data, the name "John Cook is the 537th most popular name in the U.S. In fact, John is the most popular first name, while Cook is the 54th most popular surname" (Cook).
The dormitory itself is very grand, covered with art and symbolism of the law school’s values and designed after English colleges, Tudor gothic architecture, and renaissance styles, along with the rest of the law quad (“John Cook Dormitory”). The dorm housed its first residents in the fall of 1930 but tragically, William Cook never saw the awe-inspiring structures because he passed away from Tuberculosis that same year (Moffat, et al; “John Cook Dormitory”). Even without having stepped foot within the walls of the Law Quad, Cook’s donations still represent his devotion to academics and his family.
The dorm was part of a $39 million construction project (Adamczyk) to renovate several buildings in the law quad in 2012-13 ("The Lawyers") to increase “safety, accessibility and sense of community for the residents” (Lichterman). "The inside of the housing complex — which includes the Charles T. Munger Residences and the John P. Cook Building — was completely stripped" and "eleven lounges, or Club Rooms, were added to the complex to give law students more socializing opportunities. Additionally, the plumbing, heating and high-speed internet access were upgraded" (Adamczyk). While the inside may be upgraded and refreshed, the exterior remains the same beautiful gothic stonework. The John Cook Dormitory will always be valued for its inspirational namesake and donor, extraordinary architecture, and brilliant scholars that have called it home.
Works Cited
Adamczyk, Alicia. "A look inside the renovated Lawyers Club." The Michigan Daily. 22 August 2013. https://www.michigandaily.com/uncategorized/lawyers-club-reopens/. Accessed 22 April 2023.
Cook, John. "WhitePages ranks the most popular names in the U.S." The Business Journals. 29 October 2009. https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2009/10/whitepages_ranks_the_most_popular_names_in_the_us.html Accessed 22 April 2023.
“Donor Story: William W. Cook.” Martha Cook Building Student Life at University of Michigan, The Regents of the University of Michigan, https://marthacook.studentlife.umich.edu/article/donor-story-william-w-cook. Accessed April 4 2023.
“John Cook Dormitory.” Bentley Historical Library, The Regents of the University of Michigan, https://bentley.umich.edu/legacy-support/campus_tour/johncook.php. Accessed April 3 2023.
“John P. Cook Dormitory.” University of Michigan Library Digital Collections, https://quod.lib.umich.edu/h/hist265painting/x-45/1. Accessed April 07 2023.
Lichterman, Joseph. “Law School Receives $20M for Dormitory Renovation” The Michigan Daily, 14 March 2011. https://www.michigandaily.com/uncategorized/20-million-donation-jump-starts-law-school-renovations/. Accessed April 7 2023.
“Photo of John Potter Cook.” Hillsdale County Historical Society, https://www.hillsdalehistoricalsociety.org/john-p-cook-chauncey-w-ferris. Accessed April 7 2023.
Moffat, W.C., et al. A Book of The Lawyers Quadrangle at the University of Michigan. The Regents of the University of Michigan, May 20 1931. https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=about_buildings. University of Michigan Law School Repository, Accessed April 5 2023.
“The Lawyers’ Club Building and John P. Cook Building Renovation.” University of Michigan Facilities and Operation. 2012. https://umaec.umich.edu/projects/completed-projects/the-lawyers-club-building-and-john-p-cook-building-renovation/. Accessed 22 April 2023.
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