From September 1990 to May 1992, I spent much time at Draper Hall, 135 Western Avenue in Albany, NY. That was where I took most of my classes while pursuing my Masters in Library Science. The dean’s office was there, and I was a student intern for Dean Halsey for at least a year.
UA began as “the New York State Normal School (or Albany Normal School) on May 7, 1844… A new campus—today, UAlbany’s Downtown Campus—was built in 1909 on a site of 4.5 acres (18,000 m2) between Washington and Western Avenues… By 1913, the institution… offered a master’s degree for the first time, and bore a new name—the New York State College for Teachers at Albany.
Yes, I knew that. But recently, I walked by the place and noticed something I had never seen before. Look at the information on the facade. The date to the left, MDCCCXLIV, is 1844, as I learned my Roman numerals in grade school.
Subtractive notation
But the date to the right, MDCCCCIX, is… wrong. It’s supposed to be 1909, but it should not have four Cs, but be presented as MCMIX. As noted here: “The numerals for 4 (IV) and 9 (IX) are written using subtractive notation, where the smaller symbol (I) is subtracted from the larger one (V, or X), thus avoiding the clumsier IIII and VIIII. Subtractive notation is also used for 40 (XL), 90 (XC), 400 (CD), and 900 (CM). These are the only subtractive forms in standard use.”
Did the carver get paid by the letter? Or did someone decide that if it had DCCC on one side, it should have DCCCC on the other? Maybe it was an aesthetic choice.
In any case, I can’t believe it took me at least 35 years to notice this error.
