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McGraw Tower
•Construction Date: 1888
At the base of the tower, Uris Library is a spacious and well-furnished study spot, and a great place for students to work on research projects and papers. At the base of the tower, Uris Library is a spacious and well-furnished study spot, and a great place for students to work on research projects and papers.
Throughout the day, chimes in the McGraw Clock Tower at the top of the slope mark the passing hours. Daily concerts by student chimesmasters feature Broadway hits, Beatles favorites, and Cornell’s alma mater. The famed Cornell Chimes is one of the oldest musical traditions on campus.
The McGraw Clocktower, named in honor of John McGraw, stands as the most recognizable landmark on the Cornell campus. The original nine bells, a gift from Ithacan Jennie McGraw, were rung on a wooden stand and played for the first time at the University’s opening ceremonies in 1868. After several years in McGraw Hall, the chimes moved to the 173-foot McGraw Tower in 1891. The tower now contains twenty-one bells.
In 1997, the tower garnered national media attention when late-night pranksters adorned the tower’s spire with what turned out to be a hollowed-out pumpkin.
Faces of the Seth Thomas Clock glow red for Valentine’s Day, green for Dragon Day, and orange for Halloween.
Today, student Chimesmasters climb the tower’s 161 steps to play three concerts every weekday during the academic year. Music selections are drawn from a diverse repertoire, ranging from Beethoven to the Beatles. Each concert includes a standard Cornell song: “Changes” in the morning (also known as the Jennie McGraw Rag), the Alma Mater in the afternoon, and “Evening Song” at day’s end.
The Base
The McGraw Tower is the Cornell landmark. New students lost downtown or across campus use it to orient themselves and aim for familiar ground. Undergrads studying in the libraries nearby mark the hours with the chiming of its 1875 Seth Thomas clock, now computer-operated. And Albert W. Smith, class of 1878, who wrote the lyrics to “The Hill,” included the clock tower and its chimes in a nostalgic tune still sung on campus today.
Designed by William Henry Miller in 1891, the tower originally provided storage for overflow library books. Now its seven rooms include practice space and a library of musical arrangements, and a museum.
The Belfry
Like violins and pianos, the quality of sound produced by a bell reflects its maker. Seventeen of Cornell’s bells came from the Meneely Foundry in Watervliet, N.Y., including the nine given by Jennie McGraw, which marked the university’s inauguration. A pair donated in the 20th century came from Padccard Foundry in France. In 1998, all of the bells were sent to Meeks, Watson & Company in Ohio, for tuning.
While the bells were in Ohio, a renovation of the clock tower included construction of a new practice room and installation of a specially designed stand that balances the sound of the bells.
The Chimes
Music may be an art, but for Cornell’s chimesmasters, it’s also a full-body workout, including a 161-stair climb to the top of McGraw Tower, and muscle-burning effort to depress the hand and foot levers that ring the bells.
Each spring several dozen students compete in a ten-week program to become chimesmasters. During this time, they learn the “Cornell Changes,” a 549-note rag that has been played at each morning concert since 1869. Ultimately, just a handful are selected to become one of the ten students who play three daily concerts plus special events, such as Halloween and Valentine’s concerts and weddings.
The more than 2,000 arrangements in their repertoire include Schubert and Scott Joplin, as well as “The Mickey Mouse March” and original compositions by former chimesmasters.
The Cornell Chimes
The Cornell Chimes are the university’s oldest musical tradition, and one of the most frequently played set of bells on any American college campus. Housed in historic McGraw Tower, the 21-bells are played primarily by student chimesmasters.
All concerts are open to the public—you simply have to climb the tower’s 161 steps. The door to the tower opens five to ten minutes before a scheduled concert and closes before concert’s end. Your stair-climbing efforts will be rewarded with a spectacular view of Cornell and the surrounding community, and a musical performance like you’ve never seen before.
The Cornell Chimesmasters perform a regular program of three concerts daily while classes are in session and a modified schedule during exams and breaks. Please check the concert schedule for complete concert and special event information.
About the Chimes and Tower
The Cornell Chimes
The Cornell Chimes has been the heartbeat of campus life for more than a century, marking the hours and chiming concerts. The original set of nine bells first rang out at the university’s opening ceremonies October 7, 1868. Over time the chime has been recast and expanded to 21 bells; it continues to ring daily concerts, making it one of the largest and most frequently played chimes in the world.
Playing the Chimes
The bells are played by “chimesmasters.” An average of ten chimesmasters play three concerts daily during the school year and a reduced schedule during the summer and semester breaks, in addition to a variety of specialty concerts. Each spring a rigorous ten-week competition is held for anyone interested in becoming a chimesmaster. Previous chime experience is not a requirement to playing this unique instrument, only the ability to read music and the energy to climb 161 steps. There is no electronic assistance to the playing mechanism — all the work is done by the player. In the 1940s a chimesmaster received physical education credit for her efforts!
Virtually every kind of music is played on the bells, from Baroque to Beatles, Schubert to Scott Joplin, “Pomp and Circumstance” to the “Mickey Mouse March,” selected from a collection of more than 2500 pieces specially arranged for the Cornell Chimes by current and former chimesmasters. There are even duets. Because of the direct link between the playing stand and the clapper of the bell, it is possible to vary the dynamics of the music.
The chimes remain a bastion of tradition on campus. The “Cornell Changes” (known affectionately as the “Jennie McGraw Rag” in honor of the donor of the original bells) has heralded every morning concert since 1869. Its 549 notes provide a challenge to chimesmasters, whose goal it is to play it as fast as possible. It must be memorized by aspiring chimesmasters. Also played daily are the “Alma Mater” at the midday concert, and the “Cornell Evening Song” at the end of the evening concert.
McGraw Tower
The bells were originally played on a ground level playing stand on the site of the current clock tower, before moving to McGraw Hall in 1873. In 1891, upon its completion, they were moved to their permanent home atop library tower (later renamed McGraw Tower). Local architect William Henry Miller designed the 173-foot tower and adjacent Uris library.
The seven rooms in the tower were originally used to store the library’s stacks (presumably the lesser-used works!). They now house the chimes office, museum, practice room, and the 1875 Seth Thomas clock with a 14-foot pendulum. Visitors can still see the clockworks and pendulum, but a computer now operates the clock. In 1999 as part of the restoration of the bells and tower, a global positioning system was linked to the clockworks keeping all four clockfaces correct, up to the second!
The tower, a symbol of the university, as it stands above Cornell and the community is known to take on different appearances during the school year. Every Halloween the glowing clock faces resemble four jolly jack-o-lanterns. In March the clock faces take on a greenish hue in anticipation of Dragon Day when the first-year Architecture students debut their giant dragon to be thwarted by the rival Engineers.
McGraw Tower
Visitors are welcome and encouraged to attend our chimes concerts to fully appreciate these icons. Something essential would be missing from the campus without that cheery tintinnabulation that serenades Cornellians and visitors daily. In the words of Albert W. Smith 1878:
I wake at night and think I hear
Remembered chimes,
And mem’ry brings in visions clear
Enchanted times
Beneath green elms with branches bowed
In springtime suns,
Or touching elbows in a crowd
Of eager ones;
Again I’m hurrying past the towers
Or with the teams,
Or spending precious idling hours
In golden dreams
— from “The Hill”
You can read more about the history and lore of the Cornell Chimes and McGraw Tower in The Cornell Chimes, by Ed McKeown, available at the Cornell Store. Recordings of the Chimes is also available.
Chimesmasters
Each spring semester, the Cornell Chimesmasters hold an open competition to find new chimesmasters for the upcoming years. This ten-week event is open to all members of the Cornell community. No previous experience in chimes-ringing is needed, but you should be able to read music and climb 161 steps.
Although this is called a competition, compets are not really competing against each other. Rather we look for a certain level of excellence as you progress through the ten week competition. There is no quota. Some years we accept one new chimesmaster, some years three or four; we average about two new players each year.
Cornell Chimes Merchandise
All Cornell Chimes merchandise is available exclusively at the Cornell Store. Call 1-800-624-4080 or follow these links to order online: Music from the Tower compact disk is $15. The Cornell Chimes book is $24.95.
The Cornell Chimes: Music from the Tower
Music from the Tower, the newest CD in the Cornell Chimes music collection, is a 23-piece recording, grouped into 5 categories: Cornell Songs, Original Compositions, World, Classical, and Popular Music, to highlight the diverse array of music that rings daily from McGraw Tower. The individual pieces were selected to showcase the chimesmasters ever-expanding musical talents.
The Cornell Chimes, by Ed McKeown
This comprehensive history of the Cornell Chimes and McGraw Tower—published on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the tower—contains more than 50 archival photos and illustrations, anecdotes and memoirs. Beginning with James O’Neill, class of 1871, who was moved by the inaugural-day concert to petition President Andrew D. White for permission to play the bells, chimesmasters from throughout Cornell’s history tell the story of the changing campus and the changing times.
The Cornell Chimes
As anyone who has studied in Uris Library can tell you, Cornell’s chimes are housed in McGraw Tower, which is attached to the library. Every fifteen minutes, bells mark the passing of time, and two or three times a day, the campus is treated to a bell concert that features such time-honored and memorable tunes as (of course) the Alma Mater, the Evening Song, the Jennie McGraw Rag, “If I Only Had a Brain,” “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” and “Here Comes the Sun.”
Trek up the tower’s 161 steps during one of those concerts and you can watch chimesmasters in action, working solo or in teams with both hands and at least one foot working levers and pedals to play the 21 bells that comprise the renowned Cornell chimes. The original nine bells rang for the university’s opening ceremonies in 1868. Hung from a temporary wooden framework, and given by Jennie McGraw (later Jennie McGraw Fiske), the bells have been an important part of campus life ever since. McGraw Hall, one of Cornell’s first buildings, included a bell tower so that those nine bells could have a permanent home. When the library opened in 1891, the bells were installed in an even larger tower built for no other reason than to house them. As a distinctive Cornell landmark, McGraw Tower is frequently used to represent the university. Its iconic presence on campus has been felt, heard and seen by generations of Cornell students, and remembered by alumni around the world.
The Cornell Chimes is a student-run organization, and the chimesmasters themselves are student and alumni musicians who bring music to the campus every day. Two Cornell chimesmasters, SiYi Wang and Scott Silverstein, both class of 2008, took time out to discuss what it has been like to participate in one of Cornell”s most cherished, most enduring traditions. Listen to the interview and find out why chimesmasters will “always have the tower.”
Remembering Jennie McGraw Fiske
On October 7, 1868, at the inauguration ceremonies for Cornell University, Francis Finch, friend and legal advisor to Ezra Cornell and later, Dean of the Cornell Law School, presented the University with a very special gift on behalf of a young benefactor. Miss Jennie McGraw had given Cornell a chime of nine bells. They were played for the first time that afternoon from a wooden scaffold set on the site now occupied by Uris Library.
In his address Mr. Finch paid tribute to Jennie McGraw’s generosity:
“These bells are now yours [Cornell]—given cheerfully, given gladly, given hopefully; given with the best wishes of a kind heart to all to whom their chime shall ring….Let the memory of their giver make them sacred; let them ring always harmonies and never discords; let them infuse into the college life, and interweave among the sober threads of practical study and toil some love of art and lines of grace and beauty; let them teach the excellence of order and system… I give these bells, [on] behalf of her whose name I trust their melody will always commemorate….”
According to Cornell historian Morris Bishop, the chime was “the first to peal over an American campus.” A thankful Andrew D. White, Cornell’s first president, would request that the first song played each day be, “The Cornell Changes.” Adapted from a popular carillon tune that White had heard in London, it was soon rechristened, “The Jennie McGraw Rag” in honor of their donor.
Today the music of the bells carries her name across the campus, and her story and the legacy of her gifts to Cornell are memorialized in a collection of monuments found along the crest of Libe Slope.
Jennie McGraw shared her father’s enthusiasm for the new university and his interest in its library. John McGraw, a founding trustee of Cornell, had provided the money to build McGraw Hall, located between Morrill and White Halls in today’s Arts Quad. When it was completed in 1872, the library was moved there from cramped quarters in Morrill Hall, and Jennie’s bells were placed in its tower, which had been specifically designed to house them. The library and the chime would reside in McGraw Hall until the new library building and its tower were completed in 1891.
Both father and daughter had intended to endow the university’s library with generous funds to build and maintain its collections, but neither lived to see this work accomplished. When John McGraw died in 1877, Jennie inherited the bulk of his estate. Working with many of Cornell’s “founding fathers”—Ezra Cornell, Andrew D. White, Judge Douglass Boardman, and her father’s former business partner and fellow Cornell trustee, Henry Williams Sage, Jennie prepared to continue and expand her father’s charitable donations to the university.
But she died tragically of tuberculosis at the age of 41 just four years later. Her will revealed some of her intentions:
“I also give and bequeath to said Cornell University $200,000 in trust to be securely invested and known as the McGraw Library fund, the interest and income thereof to be applied to the support, maintenance, and increase of the library of said university….I give, devise, and bequeath all the rest, residue, and remainder of my property (if any there shall be) to Cornell University.”
Her combined gifts to Cornell were estimated to be at least one million dollars—an astounding sum at that time—and included funds for building a student hospital and a monument to her father and Ezra Cornell. It was also presumed to include the mansion she commissioned architect William Henry Miller to build on the hillside just west of campus. With this bequest, it appeared that Andrew D. White’s dream of a great library building would be realized.
Unfortunately, there were complications. The size of her gift exceeded the university’s endowment limits set in its charter, which would require state legislative action to be amended. And in the waning months of her life, Jennie McGraw had married Cornell’s first University Librarian, Willard Fiske. Troubled by the university trustees’ actions to secure their bequest, he contested the will and spent the next nine years in litigation with the university.
When the United States Supreme Court ruled in Fiske’s favor, it appeared that many of Jennie’s gifts to the university were lost. Most of the estate formerly pledged to Cornell went to her husband, who had retired to a villa in Florence to continue his avocation of book collecting. The mansion intended as the university’s museum went to Jennie’s extended family, who subsequently sold the building along with the artwork and furnishings that she had collected for it.
Outraged by this outcome, Henry Williams Sage, the Ithaca businessman and university trustee who had been a financial advisor to Ezra Cornell and the McGraw’s, took it upon himself to fulfill Jennie’s plans. Sage donated the money to build the new library, hired William Henry Miller to design the Romanesque structure that we now know as Uris Library, and established an endowment for the purchasing of library books.
In the fall of 1891 the university opened its first library building and the chimes were transferred to their now permanent home in the new Library Tower. Recognized around the world as a symbol of Cornell University, it was renamed McGraw Tower in 1962.
Henry Sage had dedicated his efforts to Jennie and paid tribute to her with three library memorials. A plaque mounted at the entrance to Uris offers Sage’s version of the “Great Will Case” that reads:
“The good she tried to do shall stand as if ‘twere done; God finishes the work by noble souls begun. In loving memory of Jennie McGraw Fiske whose purpose to Found a great library for Cornell University has been defeated. This house is built and endowed by her friend, Henry W. Sage, 1891.”
Directly above the doors is a bronze portrait of Jennie by American sculptor Anne Whitney. Cornell was founded as a non-sectarian institution, but here at the entrance to the university’s Romanesque cathedral of books is the library’s guardian angel and patron saint.
The third memorial is more subtle and perhaps the most telling of the three. Located high above the main entrance to Uris, three monograms with carved initials honor those most responsible for providing Cornell with its library: ADW for Andrew Dickson White, HWS for Henry Williams Sage, and JMG for Jennie McGraw. Sage intentionally left off the F of Jennie McGraw Fiske’s married name as a slight to Willard Fiske.
Fiske’s placed his own memorial to his wife inside the library in the Great Reading Room, now known as the Dean Reading Room. Over the fireplace that is behind the current Circulation Desk is a marble bust of Jennie that honors her as a Cornell benefactress.
Funds from Jennie’s estate were used by the university to purchase additional bells for the chime, to set up an endowment for a student hospital, and to build an addition to Sage Chapel. Memorials at the tower entrance to Uris Library, outside the Gannett Health Services building in Ho Plaza, and on the north wall of Sage Chapel commemorate her generosity.
Sage Chapel’s Memorial Antechapel, built in 1883, is the final resting place for Ezra Cornell, Jennie McGraw Fiske, her father, her husband, and other Cornell dignitaries. Inside the chapel are several sarcophagi with reclining statues. A recumbent figure of Jennie, sculpted by Sir Moses Ezekiel rests below a stained glass window that pictures her surrounded by her nine bells.
If Jennie’s original intentions were thwarted by the legal case that challenged her will, they were more than fulfilled by another legal document: her husband’s last will and testament. Upon Willard Fiske’s death in 1904, he left Cornell nearly $600,000, a sum that exceeded the amount of money he had inherited from Jennie. In addition, he bequeathed his unrivaled collections of Dante, Petrarch, and Icelandic books and manuscripts to the Cornell University Library.
Jennie McGraw Fiske was a true supporter of Ezra’s dream. Through her generosity and good intentions, and the philanthropy they inspired, Jennie McGraw Fiske, was able to provide Cornell with its original chime, its student hospital, the University Library, and several priceless book collections and library endowments. Although today’s students may not realize it, her gifts are key fixtures of the Cornell tradition that remains today.
Cornell Pumpkin
On October 8, 1997 an astonishingly large, voluptuous pumpkin appeared nestled atop Cornell’s McGraw Tower. The pumpkin was thought to weigh up to 60 lbs., and sat pinned to the 173 foot Tower for several weeks. It was an incredible prank that made National news, which no one has come forth to claim credit. It remains a mystery as to how the stunt was pulled off, and the enigma has since passed on into Cornell lore.
Where is it now? The pumpkin (or what remains thereof) is currently being stored by the Department of Psychology in the basement of Uris Hall, after removing it from the displayed Wilder Brain Collection.
Mr. Robert Stundtner, of maintenance, believes the pumpkin “remains in our hearts and minds.” Mr. Segelken, with Cornell News Service, said that it has “composted” and that it is—if you will—in pumpkin heaven.
On March 13, 1998, the Pumpkin was knocked down ahead of schedule by workmen maneuvering a crane that would hold the Provost in an official removing ceremony later.
News Coverage: The mystery and sheer daring of the prank generated coverage by the national news media, beginning with an article in The New York Times on Oct. 27. The Cornell Daily Sun ran a daily “Pumpkin Watch” through Halloween and Editor-in-Chief Hilary Krieger was interviewed live on the scene by Matt Lauer of the Today Show on Oct. 28. The Associated Press ran a news story and photo of the pumpkin that appeared in newspapers across the nation. The Cornell News Service handled radio interviews from cities as far away as Minneapolis and Reno, Nev. CNN, MTV and NBC news programs also carried pumpkin reports.
McGraw Tower
•Construction Date: 1888
At the base of the tower, Uris Library is a spacious and well-furnished study spot, and a great place for students to work on research projects and papers. At the base of the tower, Uris Library is a spacious and well-furnished study spot, and a great place for students to work on research projects and papers.
Throughout the day, chimes in the McGraw Clock Tower at the top of the slope mark the passing hours. Daily concerts by student chimesmasters feature Broadway hits, Beatles favorites, and Cornell’s alma mater. The famed Cornell Chimes is one of the oldest musical traditions on campus.
The McGraw Clocktower, named in honor of John McGraw, stands as the most recognizable landmark on the Cornell campus. The original nine bells, a gift from Ithacan Jennie McGraw, were rung on a wooden stand and played for the first time at the University’s opening ceremonies in 1868. After several years in McGraw Hall, the chimes moved to the 173-foot McGraw Tower in 1891. The tower now contains twenty-one bells.
In 1997, the tower garnered national media attention when late-night pranksters adorned the tower’s spire with what turned out to be a hollowed-out pumpkin.
Faces of the Seth Thomas Clock glow red for Valentine’s Day, green for Dragon Day, and orange for Halloween.
Today, student Chimesmasters climb the tower’s 161 steps to play three concerts every weekday during the academic year. Music selections are drawn from a diverse repertoire, ranging from Beethoven to the Beatles. Each concert includes a standard Cornell song: “Changes” in the morning (also known as the Jennie McGraw Rag), the Alma Mater in the afternoon, and “Evening Song” at day’s end.
The Base
The McGraw Tower is the Cornell landmark. New students lost downtown or across campus use it to orient themselves and aim for familiar ground. Undergrads studying in the libraries nearby mark the hours with the chiming of its 1875 Seth Thomas clock, now computer-operated. And Albert W. Smith, class of 1878, who wrote the lyrics to “The Hill,” included the clock tower and its chimes in a nostalgic tune still sung on campus today.
Designed by William Henry Miller in 1891, the tower originally provided storage for overflow library books. Now its seven rooms include practice space and a library of musical arrangements, and a museum.
The Belfry
Like violins and pianos, the quality of sound produced by a bell reflects its maker. Seventeen of Cornell’s bells came from the Meneely Foundry in Watervliet, N.Y., including the nine given by Jennie McGraw, which marked the university’s inauguration. A pair donated in the 20th century came from Padccard Foundry in France. In 1998, all of the bells were sent to Meeks, Watson & Company in Ohio, for tuning.
While the bells were in Ohio, a renovation of the clock tower included construction of a new practice room and installation of a specially designed stand that balances the sound of the bells.
The Chimes
Music may be an art, but for Cornell’s chimesmasters, it’s also a full-body workout, including a 161-stair climb to the top of McGraw Tower, and muscle-burning effort to depress the hand and foot levers that ring the bells.
Each spring several dozen students compete in a ten-week program to become chimesmasters. During this time, they learn the “Cornell Changes,” a 549-note rag that has been played at each morning concert since 1869. Ultimately, just a handful are selected to become one of the ten students who play three daily concerts plus special events, such as Halloween and Valentine’s concerts and weddings.
The more than 2,000 arrangements in their repertoire include Schubert and Scott Joplin, as well as “The Mickey Mouse March” and original compositions by former chimesmasters.
The Cornell Chimes
The Cornell Chimes are the university’s oldest musical tradition, and one of the most frequently played set of bells on any American college campus. Housed in historic McGraw Tower, the 21-bells are played primarily by student chimesmasters.
All concerts are open to the public—you simply have to climb the tower’s 161 steps. The door to the tower opens five to ten minutes before a scheduled concert and closes before concert’s end. Your stair-climbing efforts will be rewarded with a spectacular view of Cornell and the surrounding community, and a musical performance like you’ve never seen before.
The Cornell Chimesmasters perform a regular program of three concerts daily while classes are in session and a modified schedule during exams and breaks. Please check the concert schedule for complete concert and special event information.
About the Chimes and Tower
The Cornell Chimes
The Cornell Chimes has been the heartbeat of campus life for more than a century, marking the hours and chiming concerts. The original set of nine bells first rang out at the university’s opening ceremonies October 7, 1868. Over time the chime has been recast and expanded to 21 bells; it continues to ring daily concerts, making it one of the largest and most frequently played chimes in the world.
Playing the Chimes
The bells are played by “chimesmasters.” An average of ten chimesmasters play three concerts daily during the school year and a reduced schedule during the summer and semester breaks, in addition to a variety of specialty concerts. Each spring a rigorous ten-week competition is held for anyone interested in becoming a chimesmaster. Previous chime experience is not a requirement to playing this unique instrument, only the ability to read music and the energy to climb 161 steps. There is no electronic assistance to the playing mechanism — all the work is done by the player. In the 1940s a chimesmaster received physical education credit for her efforts!
Virtually every kind of music is played on the bells, from Baroque to Beatles, Schubert to Scott Joplin, “Pomp and Circumstance” to the “Mickey Mouse March,” selected from a collection of more than 2500 pieces specially arranged for the Cornell Chimes by current and former chimesmasters. There are even duets. Because of the direct link between the playing stand and the clapper of the bell, it is possible to vary the dynamics of the music.
The chimes remain a bastion of tradition on campus. The “Cornell Changes” (known affectionately as the “Jennie McGraw Rag” in honor of the donor of the original bells) has heralded every morning concert since 1869. Its 549 notes provide a challenge to chimesmasters, whose goal it is to play it as fast as possible. It must be memorized by aspiring chimesmasters. Also played daily are the “Alma Mater” at the midday concert, and the “Cornell Evening Song” at the end of the evening concert.
McGraw Tower
The bells were originally played on a ground level playing stand on the site of the current clock tower, before moving to McGraw Hall in 1873. In 1891, upon its completion, they were moved to their permanent home atop library tower (later renamed McGraw Tower). Local architect William Henry Miller designed the 173-foot tower and adjacent Uris library.
The seven rooms in the tower were originally used to store the library’s stacks (presumably the lesser-used works!). They now house the chimes office, museum, practice room, and the 1875 Seth Thomas clock with a 14-foot pendulum. Visitors can still see the clockworks and pendulum, but a computer now operates the clock. In 1999 as part of the restoration of the bells and tower, a global positioning system was linked to the clockworks keeping all four clockfaces correct, up to the second!
The tower, a symbol of the university, as it stands above Cornell and the community is known to take on different appearances during the school year. Every Halloween the glowing clock faces resemble four jolly jack-o-lanterns. In March the clock faces take on a greenish hue in anticipation of Dragon Day when the first-year Architecture students debut their giant dragon to be thwarted by the rival Engineers.
McGraw Tower
Visitors are welcome and encouraged to attend our chimes concerts to fully appreciate these icons. Something essential would be missing from the campus without that cheery tintinnabulation that serenades Cornellians and visitors daily. In the words of Albert W. Smith 1878:
I wake at night and think I hear
Remembered chimes,
And mem’ry brings in visions clear
Enchanted times
Beneath green elms with branches bowed
In springtime suns,
Or touching elbows in a crowd
Of eager ones;
Again I’m hurrying past the towers
Or with the teams,
Or spending precious idling hours
In golden dreams
— from “The Hill”
You can read more about the history and lore of the Cornell Chimes and McGraw Tower in The Cornell Chimes, by Ed McKeown, available at the Cornell Store. Recordings of the Chimes is also available.
Chimesmasters
Each spring semester, the Cornell Chimesmasters hold an open competition to find new chimesmasters for the upcoming years. This ten-week event is open to all members of the Cornell community. No previous experience in chimes-ringing is needed, but you should be able to read music and climb 161 steps.
Although this is called a competition, compets are not really competing against each other. Rather we look for a certain level of excellence as you progress through the ten week competition. There is no quota. Some years we accept one new chimesmaster, some years three or four; we average about two new players each year.
Cornell Chimes Merchandise
All Cornell Chimes merchandise is available exclusively at the Cornell Store. Call 1-800-624-4080 or follow these links to order online: Music from the Tower compact disk is $15. The Cornell Chimes book is $24.95.
The Cornell Chimes: Music from the Tower
Music from the Tower, the newest CD in the Cornell Chimes music collection, is a 23-piece recording, grouped into 5 categories: Cornell Songs, Original Compositions, World, Classical, and Popular Music, to highlight the diverse array of music that rings daily from McGraw Tower. The individual pieces were selected to showcase the chimesmasters ever-expanding musical talents.
The Cornell Chimes, by Ed McKeown
This comprehensive history of the Cornell Chimes and McGraw Tower—published on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the tower—contains more than 50 archival photos and illustrations, anecdotes and memoirs. Beginning with James O’Neill, class of 1871, who was moved by the inaugural-day concert to petition President Andrew D. White for permission to play the bells, chimesmasters from throughout Cornell’s history tell the story of the changing campus and the changing times.
The Cornell Chimes
As anyone who has studied in Uris Library can tell you, Cornell’s chimes are housed in McGraw Tower, which is attached to the library. Every fifteen minutes, bells mark the passing of time, and two or three times a day, the campus is treated to a bell concert that features such time-honored and memorable tunes as (of course) the Alma Mater, the Evening Song, the Jennie McGraw Rag, “If I Only Had a Brain,” “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” and “Here Comes the Sun.”
Trek up the tower’s 161 steps during one of those concerts and you can watch chimesmasters in action, working solo or in teams with both hands and at least one foot working levers and pedals to play the 21 bells that comprise the renowned Cornell chimes. The original nine bells rang for the university’s opening ceremonies in 1868. Hung from a temporary wooden framework, and given by Jennie McGraw (later Jennie McGraw Fiske), the bells have been an important part of campus life ever since. McGraw Hall, one of Cornell’s first buildings, included a bell tower so that those nine bells could have a permanent home. When the library opened in 1891, the bells were installed in an even larger tower built for no other reason than to house them. As a distinctive Cornell landmark, McGraw Tower is frequently used to represent the university. Its iconic presence on campus has been felt, heard and seen by generations of Cornell students, and remembered by alumni around the world.
The Cornell Chimes is a student-run organization, and the chimesmasters themselves are student and alumni musicians who bring music to the campus every day. Two Cornell chimesmasters, SiYi Wang and Scott Silverstein, both class of 2008, took time out to discuss what it has been like to participate in one of Cornell”s most cherished, most enduring traditions. Listen to the interview and find out why chimesmasters will “always have the tower.”
Remembering Jennie McGraw Fiske
On October 7, 1868, at the inauguration ceremonies for Cornell University, Francis Finch, friend and legal advisor to Ezra Cornell and later, Dean of the Cornell Law School, presented the University with a very special gift on behalf of a young benefactor. Miss Jennie McGraw had given Cornell a chime of nine bells. They were played for the first time that afternoon from a wooden scaffold set on the site now occupied by Uris Library.
In his address Mr. Finch paid tribute to Jennie McGraw’s generosity:
“These bells are now yours [Cornell]—given cheerfully, given gladly, given hopefully; given with the best wishes of a kind heart to all to whom their chime shall ring….Let the memory of their giver make them sacred; let them ring always harmonies and never discords; let them infuse into the college life, and interweave among the sober threads of practical study and toil some love of art and lines of grace and beauty; let them teach the excellence of order and system… I give these bells, [on] behalf of her whose name I trust their melody will always commemorate….”
According to Cornell historian Morris Bishop, the chime was “the first to peal over an American campus.” A thankful Andrew D. White, Cornell’s first president, would request that the first song played each day be, “The Cornell Changes.” Adapted from a popular carillon tune that White had heard in London, it was soon rechristened, “The Jennie McGraw Rag” in honor of their donor.
Today the music of the bells carries her name across the campus, and her story and the legacy of her gifts to Cornell are memorialized in a collection of monuments found along the crest of Libe Slope.
Jennie McGraw shared her father’s enthusiasm for the new university and his interest in its library. John McGraw, a founding trustee of Cornell, had provided the money to build McGraw Hall, located between Morrill and White Halls in today’s Arts Quad. When it was completed in 1872, the library was moved there from cramped quarters in Morrill Hall, and Jennie’s bells were placed in its tower, which had been specifically designed to house them. The library and the chime would reside in McGraw Hall until the new library building and its tower were completed in 1891.
Both father and daughter had intended to endow the university’s library with generous funds to build and maintain its collections, but neither lived to see this work accomplished. When John McGraw died in 1877, Jennie inherited the bulk of his estate. Working with many of Cornell’s “founding fathers”—Ezra Cornell, Andrew D. White, Judge Douglass Boardman, and her father’s former business partner and fellow Cornell trustee, Henry Williams Sage, Jennie prepared to continue and expand her father’s charitable donations to the university.
But she died tragically of tuberculosis at the age of 41 just four years later. Her will revealed some of her intentions:
“I also give and bequeath to said Cornell University $200,000 in trust to be securely invested and known as the McGraw Library fund, the interest and income thereof to be applied to the support, maintenance, and increase of the library of said university….I give, devise, and bequeath all the rest, residue, and remainder of my property (if any there shall be) to Cornell University.”
Her combined gifts to Cornell were estimated to be at least one million dollars—an astounding sum at that time—and included funds for building a student hospital and a monument to her father and Ezra Cornell. It was also presumed to include the mansion she commissioned architect William Henry Miller to build on the hillside just west of campus. With this bequest, it appeared that Andrew D. White’s dream of a great library building would be realized.
Unfortunately, there were complications. The size of her gift exceeded the university’s endowment limits set in its charter, which would require state legislative action to be amended. And in the waning months of her life, Jennie McGraw had married Cornell’s first University Librarian, Willard Fiske. Troubled by the university trustees’ actions to secure their bequest, he contested the will and spent the next nine years in litigation with the university.
When the United States Supreme Court ruled in Fiske’s favor, it appeared that many of Jennie’s gifts to the university were lost. Most of the estate formerly pledged to Cornell went to her husband, who had retired to a villa in Florence to continue his avocation of book collecting. The mansion intended as the university’s museum went to Jennie’s extended family, who subsequently sold the building along with the artwork and furnishings that she had collected for it.
Outraged by this outcome, Henry Williams Sage, the Ithaca businessman and university trustee who had been a financial advisor to Ezra Cornell and the McGraw’s, took it upon himself to fulfill Jennie’s plans. Sage donated the money to build the new library, hired William Henry Miller to design the Romanesque structure that we now know as Uris Library, and established an endowment for the purchasing of library books.
In the fall of 1891 the university opened its first library building and the chimes were transferred to their now permanent home in the new Library Tower. Recognized around the world as a symbol of Cornell University, it was renamed McGraw Tower in 1962.
Henry Sage had dedicated his efforts to Jennie and paid tribute to her with three library memorials. A plaque mounted at the entrance to Uris offers Sage’s version of the “Great Will Case” that reads:
“The good she tried to do shall stand as if ‘twere done; God finishes the work by noble souls begun. In loving memory of Jennie McGraw Fiske whose purpose to Found a great library for Cornell University has been defeated. This house is built and endowed by her friend, Henry W. Sage, 1891.”
Directly above the doors is a bronze portrait of Jennie by American sculptor Anne Whitney. Cornell was founded as a non-sectarian institution, but here at the entrance to the university’s Romanesque cathedral of books is the library’s guardian angel and patron saint.
The third memorial is more subtle and perhaps the most telling of the three. Located high above the main entrance to Uris, three monograms with carved initials honor those most responsible for providing Cornell with its library: ADW for Andrew Dickson White, HWS for Henry Williams Sage, and JMG for Jennie McGraw. Sage intentionally left off the F of Jennie McGraw Fiske’s married name as a slight to Willard Fiske.
Fiske’s placed his own memorial to his wife inside the library in the Great Reading Room, now known as the Dean Reading Room. Over the fireplace that is behind the current Circulation Desk is a marble bust of Jennie that honors her as a Cornell benefactress.
Funds from Jennie’s estate were used by the university to purchase additional bells for the chime, to set up an endowment for a student hospital, and to build an addition to Sage Chapel. Memorials at the tower entrance to Uris Library, outside the Gannett Health Services building in Ho Plaza, and on the north wall of Sage Chapel commemorate her generosity.
Sage Chapel’s Memorial Antechapel, built in 1883, is the final resting place for Ezra Cornell, Jennie McGraw Fiske, her father, her husband, and other Cornell dignitaries. Inside the chapel are several sarcophagi with reclining statues. A recumbent figure of Jennie, sculpted by Sir Moses Ezekiel rests below a stained glass window that pictures her surrounded by her nine bells.
If Jennie’s original intentions were thwarted by the legal case that challenged her will, they were more than fulfilled by another legal document: her husband’s last will and testament. Upon Willard Fiske’s death in 1904, he left Cornell nearly $600,000, a sum that exceeded the amount of money he had inherited from Jennie. In addition, he bequeathed his unrivaled collections of Dante, Petrarch, and Icelandic books and manuscripts to the Cornell University Library.
Jennie McGraw Fiske was a true supporter of Ezra’s dream. Through her generosity and good intentions, and the philanthropy they inspired, Jennie McGraw Fiske, was able to provide Cornell with its original chime, its student hospital, the University Library, and several priceless book collections and library endowments. Although today’s students may not realize it, her gifts are key fixtures of the Cornell tradition that remains today.
Cornell Pumpkin
On October 8, 1997 an astonishingly large, voluptuous pumpkin appeared nestled atop Cornell’s McGraw Tower. The pumpkin was thought to weigh up to 60 lbs., and sat pinned to the 173 foot Tower for several weeks. It was an incredible prank that made National news, which no one has come forth to claim credit. It remains a mystery as to how the stunt was pulled off, and the enigma has since passed on into Cornell lore.
Where is it now? The pumpkin (or what remains thereof) is currently being stored by the Department of Psychology in the basement of Uris Hall, after removing it from the displayed Wilder Brain Collection.
Mr. Robert Stundtner, of maintenance, believes the pumpkin “remains in our hearts and minds.” Mr. Segelken, with Cornell News Service, said that it has “composted” and that it is—if you will—in pumpkin heaven.
On March 13, 1998, the Pumpkin was knocked down ahead of schedule by workmen maneuvering a crane that would hold the Provost in an official removing ceremony later.
News Coverage: The mystery and sheer daring of the prank generated coverage by the national news media, beginning with an article in The New York Times on Oct. 27. The Cornell Daily Sun ran a daily “Pumpkin Watch” through Halloween and Editor-in-Chief Hilary Krieger was interviewed live on the scene by Matt Lauer of the Today Show on Oct. 28. The Associated Press ran a news story and photo of the pumpkin that appeared in newspapers across the nation. The Cornell News Service handled radio interviews from cities as far away as Minneapolis and Reno, Nev. CNN, MTV and NBC news programs also carried pumpkin reports.
McGraw Tower
•Construction Date: 1888
At the base of the tower, Uris Library is a spacious and well-furnished study spot, and a great place for students to work on research projects and papers. At the base of the tower, Uris Library is a spacious and well-furnished study spot, and a great place for students to work on research projects and papers.
Throughout the day, chimes in the McGraw Clock Tower at the top of the slope mark the passing hours. Daily concerts by student chimesmasters feature Broadway hits, Beatles favorites, and Cornell’s alma mater. The famed Cornell Chimes is one of the oldest musical traditions on campus.
The McGraw Clocktower, named in honor of John McGraw, stands as the most recognizable landmark on the Cornell campus. The original nine bells, a gift from Ithacan Jennie McGraw, were rung on a wooden stand and played for the first time at the University’s opening ceremonies in 1868. After several years in McGraw Hall, the chimes moved to the 173-foot McGraw Tower in 1891. The tower now contains twenty-one bells.
In 1997, the tower garnered national media attention when late-night pranksters adorned the tower’s spire with what turned out to be a hollowed-out pumpkin.
Faces of the Seth Thomas Clock glow red for Valentine’s Day, green for Dragon Day, and orange for Halloween.
Today, student Chimesmasters climb the tower’s 161 steps to play three concerts every weekday during the academic year. Music selections are drawn from a diverse repertoire, ranging from Beethoven to the Beatles. Each concert includes a standard Cornell song: “Changes” in the morning (also known as the Jennie McGraw Rag), the Alma Mater in the afternoon, and “Evening Song” at day’s end.
The Base
The McGraw Tower is the Cornell landmark. New students lost downtown or across campus use it to orient themselves and aim for familiar ground. Undergrads studying in the libraries nearby mark the hours with the chiming of its 1875 Seth Thomas clock, now computer-operated. And Albert W. Smith, class of 1878, who wrote the lyrics to “The Hill,” included the clock tower and its chimes in a nostalgic tune still sung on campus today.
Designed by William Henry Miller in 1891, the tower originally provided storage for overflow library books. Now its seven rooms include practice space and a library of musical arrangements, and a museum.
The Belfry
Like violins and pianos, the quality of sound produced by a bell reflects its maker. Seventeen of Cornell’s bells came from the Meneely Foundry in Watervliet, N.Y., including the nine given by Jennie McGraw, which marked the university’s inauguration. A pair donated in the 20th century came from Padccard Foundry in France. In 1998, all of the bells were sent to Meeks, Watson & Company in Ohio, for tuning.
While the bells were in Ohio, a renovation of the clock tower included construction of a new practice room and installation of a specially designed stand that balances the sound of the bells.
The Chimes
Music may be an art, but for Cornell’s chimesmasters, it’s also a full-body workout, including a 161-stair climb to the top of McGraw Tower, and muscle-burning effort to depress the hand and foot levers that ring the bells.
Each spring several dozen students compete in a ten-week program to become chimesmasters. During this time, they learn the “Cornell Changes,” a 549-note rag that has been played at each morning concert since 1869. Ultimately, just a handful are selected to become one of the ten students who play three daily concerts plus special events, such as Halloween and Valentine’s concerts and weddings.
The more than 2,000 arrangements in their repertoire include Schubert and Scott Joplin, as well as “The Mickey Mouse March” and original compositions by former chimesmasters.
The Cornell Chimes
The Cornell Chimes are the university’s oldest musical tradition, and one of the most frequently played set of bells on any American college campus. Housed in historic McGraw Tower, the 21-bells are played primarily by student chimesmasters.
All concerts are open to the public—you simply have to climb the tower’s 161 steps. The door to the tower opens five to ten minutes before a scheduled concert and closes before concert’s end. Your stair-climbing efforts will be rewarded with a spectacular view of Cornell and the surrounding community, and a musical performance like you’ve never seen before.
The Cornell Chimesmasters perform a regular program of three concerts daily while classes are in session and a modified schedule during exams and breaks. Please check the concert schedule for complete concert and special event information.
About the Chimes and Tower
The Cornell Chimes
The Cornell Chimes has been the heartbeat of campus life for more than a century, marking the hours and chiming concerts. The original set of nine bells first rang out at the university’s opening ceremonies October 7, 1868. Over time the chime has been recast and expanded to 21 bells; it continues to ring daily concerts, making it one of the largest and most frequently played chimes in the world.
Playing the Chimes
The bells are played by “chimesmasters.” An average of ten chimesmasters play three concerts daily during the school year and a reduced schedule during the summer and semester breaks, in addition to a variety of specialty concerts. Each spring a rigorous ten-week competition is held for anyone interested in becoming a chimesmaster. Previous chime experience is not a requirement to playing this unique instrument, only the ability to read music and the energy to climb 161 steps. There is no electronic assistance to the playing mechanism — all the work is done by the player. In the 1940s a chimesmaster received physical education credit for her efforts!
Virtually every kind of music is played on the bells, from Baroque to Beatles, Schubert to Scott Joplin, “Pomp and Circumstance” to the “Mickey Mouse March,” selected from a collection of more than 2500 pieces specially arranged for the Cornell Chimes by current and former chimesmasters. There are even duets. Because of the direct link between the playing stand and the clapper of the bell, it is possible to vary the dynamics of the music.
The chimes remain a bastion of tradition on campus. The “Cornell Changes” (known affectionately as the “Jennie McGraw Rag” in honor of the donor of the original bells) has heralded every morning concert since 1869. Its 549 notes provide a challenge to chimesmasters, whose goal it is to play it as fast as possible. It must be memorized by aspiring chimesmasters. Also played daily are the “Alma Mater” at the midday concert, and the “Cornell Evening Song” at the end of the evening concert.
McGraw Tower
The bells were originally played on a ground level playing stand on the site of the current clock tower, before moving to McGraw Hall in 1873. In 1891, upon its completion, they were moved to their permanent home atop library tower (later renamed McGraw Tower). Local architect William Henry Miller designed the 173-foot tower and adjacent Uris library.
The seven rooms in the tower were originally used to store the library’s stacks (presumably the lesser-used works!). They now house the chimes office, museum, practice room, and the 1875 Seth Thomas clock with a 14-foot pendulum. Visitors can still see the clockworks and pendulum, but a computer now operates the clock. In 1999 as part of the restoration of the bells and tower, a global positioning system was linked to the clockworks keeping all four clockfaces correct, up to the second!
The tower, a symbol of the university, as it stands above Cornell and the community is known to take on different appearances during the school year. Every Halloween the glowing clock faces resemble four jolly jack-o-lanterns. In March the clock faces take on a greenish hue in anticipation of Dragon Day when the first-year Architecture students debut their giant dragon to be thwarted by the rival Engineers.
McGraw Tower
Visitors are welcome and encouraged to attend our chimes concerts to fully appreciate these icons. Something essential would be missing from the campus without that cheery tintinnabulation that serenades Cornellians and visitors daily. In the words of Albert W. Smith 1878:
I wake at night and think I hear
Remembered chimes,
And mem’ry brings in visions clear
Enchanted times
Beneath green elms with branches bowed
In springtime suns,
Or touching elbows in a crowd
Of eager ones;
Again I’m hurrying past the towers
Or with the teams,
Or spending precious idling hours
In golden dreams
— from “The Hill”
You can read more about the history and lore of the Cornell Chimes and McGraw Tower in The Cornell Chimes, by Ed McKeown, available at the Cornell Store. Recordings of the Chimes is also available.
Chimesmasters
Each spring semester, the Cornell Chimesmasters hold an open competition to find new chimesmasters for the upcoming years. This ten-week event is open to all members of the Cornell community. No previous experience in chimes-ringing is needed, but you should be able to read music and climb 161 steps.
Although this is called a competition, compets are not really competing against each other. Rather we look for a certain level of excellence as you progress through the ten week competition. There is no quota. Some years we accept one new chimesmaster, some years three or four; we average about two new players each year.
Cornell Chimes Merchandise
All Cornell Chimes merchandise is available exclusively at the Cornell Store. Call 1-800-624-4080 or follow these links to order online: Music from the Tower compact disk is $15. The Cornell Chimes book is $24.95.
The Cornell Chimes: Music from the Tower
Music from the Tower, the newest CD in the Cornell Chimes music collection, is a 23-piece recording, grouped into 5 categories: Cornell Songs, Original Compositions, World, Classical, and Popular Music, to highlight the diverse array of music that rings daily from McGraw Tower. The individual pieces were selected to showcase the chimesmasters ever-expanding musical talents.
The Cornell Chimes, by Ed McKeown
This comprehensive history of the Cornell Chimes and McGraw Tower—published on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the tower—contains more than 50 archival photos and illustrations, anecdotes and memoirs. Beginning with James O’Neill, class of 1871, who was moved by the inaugural-day concert to petition President Andrew D. White for permission to play the bells, chimesmasters from throughout Cornell’s history tell the story of the changing campus and the changing times.
The Cornell Chimes
As anyone who has studied in Uris Library can tell you, Cornell’s chimes are housed in McGraw Tower, which is attached to the library. Every fifteen minutes, bells mark the passing of time, and two or three times a day, the campus is treated to a bell concert that features such time-honored and memorable tunes as (of course) the Alma Mater, the Evening Song, the Jennie McGraw Rag, “If I Only Had a Brain,” “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” and “Here Comes the Sun.”
Trek up the tower’s 161 steps during one of those concerts and you can watch chimesmasters in action, working solo or in teams with both hands and at least one foot working levers and pedals to play the 21 bells that comprise the renowned Cornell chimes. The original nine bells rang for the university’s opening ceremonies in 1868. Hung from a temporary wooden framework, and given by Jennie McGraw (later Jennie McGraw Fiske), the bells have been an important part of campus life ever since. McGraw Hall, one of Cornell’s first buildings, included a bell tower so that those nine bells could have a permanent home. When the library opened in 1891, the bells were installed in an even larger tower built for no other reason than to house them. As a distinctive Cornell landmark, McGraw Tower is frequently used to represent the university. Its iconic presence on campus has been felt, heard and seen by generations of Cornell students, and remembered by alumni around the world.
The Cornell Chimes is a student-run organization, and the chimesmasters themselves are student and alumni musicians who bring music to the campus every day. Two Cornell chimesmasters, SiYi Wang and Scott Silverstein, both class of 2008, took time out to discuss what it has been like to participate in one of Cornell”s most cherished, most enduring traditions. Listen to the interview and find out why chimesmasters will “always have the tower.”
Remembering Jennie McGraw Fiske
On October 7, 1868, at the inauguration ceremonies for Cornell University, Francis Finch, friend and legal advisor to Ezra Cornell and later, Dean of the Cornell Law School, presented the University with a very special gift on behalf of a young benefactor. Miss Jennie McGraw had given Cornell a chime of nine bells. They were played for the first time that afternoon from a wooden scaffold set on the site now occupied by Uris Library.
In his address Mr. Finch paid tribute to Jennie McGraw’s generosity:
“These bells are now yours [Cornell]—given cheerfully, given gladly, given hopefully; given with the best wishes of a kind heart to all to whom their chime shall ring….Let the memory of their giver make them sacred; let them ring always harmonies and never discords; let them infuse into the college life, and interweave among the sober threads of practical study and toil some love of art and lines of grace and beauty; let them teach the excellence of order and system… I give these bells, [on] behalf of her whose name I trust their melody will always commemorate….”
According to Cornell historian Morris Bishop, the chime was “the first to peal over an American campus.” A thankful Andrew D. White, Cornell’s first president, would request that the first song played each day be, “The Cornell Changes.” Adapted from a popular carillon tune that White had heard in London, it was soon rechristened, “The Jennie McGraw Rag” in honor of their donor.
Today the music of the bells carries her name across the campus, and her story and the legacy of her gifts to Cornell are memorialized in a collection of monuments found along the crest of Libe Slope.
Jennie McGraw shared her father’s enthusiasm for the new university and his interest in its library. John McGraw, a founding trustee of Cornell, had provided the money to build McGraw Hall, located between Morrill and White Halls in today’s Arts Quad. When it was completed in 1872, the library was moved there from cramped quarters in Morrill Hall, and Jennie’s bells were placed in its tower, which had been specifically designed to house them. The library and the chime would reside in McGraw Hall until the new library building and its tower were completed in 1891.
Both father and daughter had intended to endow the university’s library with generous funds to build and maintain its collections, but neither lived to see this work accomplished. When John McGraw died in 1877, Jennie inherited the bulk of his estate. Working with many of Cornell’s “founding fathers”—Ezra Cornell, Andrew D. White, Judge Douglass Boardman, and her father’s former business partner and fellow Cornell trustee, Henry Williams Sage, Jennie prepared to continue and expand her father’s charitable donations to the university.
But she died tragically of tuberculosis at the age of 41 just four years later. Her will revealed some of her intentions:
“I also give and bequeath to said Cornell University $200,000 in trust to be securely invested and known as the McGraw Library fund, the interest and income thereof to be applied to the support, maintenance, and increase of the library of said university….I give, devise, and bequeath all the rest, residue, and remainder of my property (if any there shall be) to Cornell University.”
Her combined gifts to Cornell were estimated to be at least one million dollars—an astounding sum at that time—and included funds for building a student hospital and a monument to her father and Ezra Cornell. It was also presumed to include the mansion she commissioned architect William Henry Miller to build on the hillside just west of campus. With this bequest, it appeared that Andrew D. White’s dream of a great library building would be realized.
Unfortunately, there were complications. The size of her gift exceeded the university’s endowment limits set in its charter, which would require state legislative action to be amended. And in the waning months of her life, Jennie McGraw had married Cornell’s first University Librarian, Willard Fiske. Troubled by the university trustees’ actions to secure their bequest, he contested the will and spent the next nine years in litigation with the university.
When the United States Supreme Court ruled in Fiske’s favor, it appeared that many of Jennie’s gifts to the university were lost. Most of the estate formerly pledged to Cornell went to her husband, who had retired to a villa in Florence to continue his avocation of book collecting. The mansion intended as the university’s museum went to Jennie’s extended family, who subsequently sold the building along with the artwork and furnishings that she had collected for it.
Outraged by this outcome, Henry Williams Sage, the Ithaca businessman and university trustee who had been a financial advisor to Ezra Cornell and the McGraw’s, took it upon himself to fulfill Jennie’s plans. Sage donated the money to build the new library, hired William Henry Miller to design the Romanesque structure that we now know as Uris Library, and established an endowment for the purchasing of library books.
In the fall of 1891 the university opened its first library building and the chimes were transferred to their now permanent home in the new Library Tower. Recognized around the world as a symbol of Cornell University, it was renamed McGraw Tower in 1962.
Henry Sage had dedicated his efforts to Jennie and paid tribute to her with three library memorials. A plaque mounted at the entrance to Uris offers Sage’s version of the “Great Will Case” that reads:
“The good she tried to do shall stand as if ‘twere done; God finishes the work by noble souls begun. In loving memory of Jennie McGraw Fiske whose purpose to Found a great library for Cornell University has been defeated. This house is built and endowed by her friend, Henry W. Sage, 1891.”
Directly above the doors is a bronze portrait of Jennie by American sculptor Anne Whitney. Cornell was founded as a non-sectarian institution, but here at the entrance to the university’s Romanesque cathedral of books is the library’s guardian angel and patron saint.
The third memorial is more subtle and perhaps the most telling of the three. Located high above the main entrance to Uris, three monograms with carved initials honor those most responsible for providing Cornell with its library: ADW for Andrew Dickson White, HWS for Henry Williams Sage, and JMG for Jennie McGraw. Sage intentionally left off the F of Jennie McGraw Fiske’s married name as a slight to Willard Fiske.
Fiske’s placed his own memorial to his wife inside the library in the Great Reading Room, now known as the Dean Reading Room. Over the fireplace that is behind the current Circulation Desk is a marble bust of Jennie that honors her as a Cornell benefactress.
Funds from Jennie’s estate were used by the university to purchase additional bells for the chime, to set up an endowment for a student hospital, and to build an addition to Sage Chapel. Memorials at the tower entrance to Uris Library, outside the Gannett Health Services building in Ho Plaza, and on the north wall of Sage Chapel commemorate her generosity.
Sage Chapel’s Memorial Antechapel, built in 1883, is the final resting place for Ezra Cornell, Jennie McGraw Fiske, her father, her husband, and other Cornell dignitaries. Inside the chapel are several sarcophagi with reclining statues. A recumbent figure of Jennie, sculpted by Sir Moses Ezekiel rests below a stained glass window that pictures her surrounded by her nine bells.
If Jennie’s original intentions were thwarted by the legal case that challenged her will, they were more than fulfilled by another legal document: her husband’s last will and testament. Upon Willard Fiske’s death in 1904, he left Cornell nearly $600,000, a sum that exceeded the amount of money he had inherited from Jennie. In addition, he bequeathed his unrivaled collections of Dante, Petrarch, and Icelandic books and manuscripts to the Cornell University Library.
Jennie McGraw Fiske was a true supporter of Ezra’s dream. Through her generosity and good intentions, and the philanthropy they inspired, Jennie McGraw Fiske, was able to provide Cornell with its original chime, its student hospital, the University Library, and several priceless book collections and library endowments. Although today’s students may not realize it, her gifts are key fixtures of the Cornell tradition that remains today.
Cornell Pumpkin
On October 8, 1997 an astonishingly large, voluptuous pumpkin appeared nestled atop Cornell’s McGraw Tower. The pumpkin was thought to weigh up to 60 lbs., and sat pinned to the 173 foot Tower for several weeks. It was an incredible prank that made National news, which no one has come forth to claim credit. It remains a mystery as to how the stunt was pulled off, and the enigma has since passed on into Cornell lore.
Where is it now? The pumpkin (or what remains thereof) is currently being stored by the Department of Psychology in the basement of Uris Hall, after removing it from the displayed Wilder Brain Collection.
Mr. Robert Stundtner, of maintenance, believes the pumpkin “remains in our hearts and minds.” Mr. Segelken, with Cornell News Service, said that it has “composted” and that it is—if you will—in pumpkin heaven.
On March 13, 1998, the Pumpkin was knocked down ahead of schedule by workmen maneuvering a crane that would hold the Provost in an official removing ceremony later.
News Coverage: The mystery and sheer daring of the prank generated coverage by the national news media, beginning with an article in The New York Times on Oct. 27. The Cornell Daily Sun ran a daily “Pumpkin Watch” through Halloween and Editor-in-Chief Hilary Krieger was interviewed live on the scene by Matt Lauer of the Today Show on Oct. 28. The Associated Press ran a news story and photo of the pumpkin that appeared in newspapers across the nation. The Cornell News Service handled radio interviews from cities as far away as Minneapolis and Reno, Nev. CNN, MTV and NBC news programs also carried pumpkin reports.
Cornell’s is First Organ with Multiple Historic Wind Systems
Cornell’s new baroque organ has become the world’s first organ with multiple historic wind systems, using a technique organ designer Munetaka Yokota perfected on a research instrument at the Göteborg Organ Art Center (GOArt) at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
With simple manual adjustments, organists can authentically re-create the wind systems of organs from the 15th to the beginning of the 19th century from north and central Germany on the instrument.
Professor of music Annette Richards, who led the organ project at Cornell, explains that “the wind is the basis of any organ’s sound, and to appreciate music like Bach’s as it was intended, you need to hear it played on the kind of organ for which it was written.”
The organ is intended to reintroduce modern audiences to this authentic, historic sound, which was gradually lost over the centuries as equal temperament in keyboard intervals and highly stable wind systems became the norm.
The ingenious system includes seven new valves and 80 new feet of conductors, and has attracted worldwide attention from organists and researchers. An international group of scientists gathered at Cornell in spring 2012 to share data on the organ’s key action characteristics and wind behavior.
Yokota and GOArt research engineer Carl Johan Bergsten will use the new system to study general wind system behavior in organs. They’ll compare the measurements they took in November 2011, before the modification, to measurements they will take after.
“We’re excited to hear how the collaborative research on this organ between mathematical modelers, engineers and a builder with Munetaka Yokota’s historical knowledge and incomparable musical intuition can make our instrument speak with even more clarity, power, nuance and expressivity—even while acting as a cutting-edge laboratory for the latest experimental study,” Richards says.
The $2 million organ is the culmination of more than seven years of research and collaboration by GOArt and the Department of Music, and more than two years of work by 21st-century craftsmen, who used authentic 17th- and early 18th-century methods to hand-build the instrument.
The organ re-creates the tonal design of the 1706 Arp Schnitger organ at Charlottenburg in Berlin, which was destroyed by Allied bombers during WWII. The massive wooden case has a design based on a Schnitger organ at Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany, and was hand-built by local cabinetmaker Christopher Lowe.
The original wind system on Cornell’s organ was built by Parsons Pipe Organ Builders in Canandaigua, N.Y.; the 1,827 pipes were handcrafted in Sweden by Yokota, using rediscovered historic techniques. The modifications to the wind system were made by Lowe.
The Cornell Baroque Organ
The new majestic baroque organ in Cornell’s Anabel Taylor Chapel required over seven years of research in an international, collaborative effort by Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences and the Gothenburg Organ Art Center (GOArt) at the University of GÖTEBORG, Sweden.
Interdisciplinary Effort
The instrument re-creates the tonal design of the celebrated Charlottenburg organ in Berlin, handmade in 1706 by master organ builder Arp Schnitger and tragically destroyed during WWII. The interdisciplinary effort to understand the many aspects of this historic organ’s construction included experts in fluid dynamics, electro-acoustics, and metallurgy, as well as craftsmen and musicians. Each of the nearly 2,000 pipes was handcrafted in Sweden under the direction of project designer Munetaka Yokota.
Exquisite Craftsmanship
View from behind the keyboardThe massive, intricately designed wooden case is based on another Schnitger organ in Germany. Every detail is handmade and historically accurate, from the wooden pegs and hand-forged nails to the hand-planed wooden surface and dovetail joints.
Musical Versatility
Commissioned by the Department of Music, the organ is perfect for the music of J.S. Bach and his north German predecessors, and is versatile enough for solo and ensemble music from the 16th century onward. As a complement to the music department’s strengths in performance and research, the organ is expected to attract top organ students, professional performers, composers and scholars to Cornell.
The Cornell Baroque Organ Project
A New Organ for Anabel Taylor Chapel
In 2003 Cornell University began work on a new organ for Anabel Taylor Chapel—an instrument based on a German 18th century masterpiece—as part of an international research project involving three academic institutions in the field of organ studies: Cornell, the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester. This interdisciplinary and international effort encompasses scholars, physical scientists, musicians, craftsmen and visual artists from Sweden, Japan, The Netherlands, Germany and New York State. Joining their efforts under the artistic direction of Munetaka Yokota at the Gothenburg Organ Art Center (GOART), the members of this team created an organ that is not just a fine vehicle for teaching, performance and scholarship, but also a magnificent work of art. (See Photo Galleries section below.)
Historical Models
The Cornell Baroque Organ will reconstruct the tonal design of the celebrated instrument at the Charlottenburg-Schlosskapelle built in the first decade of the 18th century in Berlin by Arp Schnitger, one of history’s greatest organ builders. The instrument’s layout and visual design will be based on Schnitger’s breathtaking organ case at Clausthal-Zellerfeld in central Germany. See Historic Model Photo Gallery.
Arp Schnitger was the most important organ builder of late 17th-century North Germany; although he was active mainly in its northwestern corner, his work was well known in all of the German speaking lands. He built several organs in the eastern cities as well, with unique features not possessed by their northwestern counterparts. Many of his works in the northwestern areas survive today and are well-known, but none of his instruments in the eastern areas are extant today, with the one exception of the organ case in Clausthal-Zellerfeld.
Tragically destroyed in the Second World War, the Charlottenburg organ and its unique tonal qualities can be recreated today using original documentation alongside early 20th-century studies and recordings of the instrument. Unique to this Berlin instrument, and still little-understood, is the way in which Schnitger combined North- and Central-German organ aesthetics in its design, to result in an unusual, even exceptional, tonal concept. This recreation will allow us to explore this fascinating sound world once again. (See Specification section below.)
Research, Collaboration and Outreach
The project involves extensive research into the art of woodworking, metallurgy, organ construction and the crucial voicing of organ pipes in the early 18th century. It seeks to go beyond simply revivifying these skills, and attempts to place them in the cultural and aesthetic contexts so particular to Berlin and its environs. As part of this process, Cornell’s new organ is being built using sophisticated handcraft techniques, replicating the construction techniques of its storied historical models. In a landmark collaboration with local talent, Cornell is engaged not just with GOArt, but also with Ithaca-based master woodworkers Christopher Lowe and Peter De Boer, who built the organ case entirely by hand, and with the Canandaigua-based organ-building firm Parsons Pipe Organ Builders (see Case Construction Photo Gallery). This is more than an academic exercise. The historical entity that was the Berlin organ will enrich the active musical culture of Cornell, Ithaca, and Central New York and will provide valuable data and insights that can be drawn on by kindred projects globally. And with the inauguration of Cornell’s Baroque organ, the Fingerlakes region of New York will become an unprecedented destination for historic organ performance and research, with musicians and scholars able to work both at Cornell and on the nearby Eastman School of Music’s historic organs.
Performance and Teaching
The Cornell Baroque Organ will be ideal both for the glorious solo repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries, especially the music of J. S. Bach, and for the accompaniment of ensemble music for instruments and voices; in addition, it will be versatile enough for performance of music from the 16th to the 19th centuries and beyond. This instrument will act as a magnet for top student organists, as well as being an inspiring tool for teaching, solo and group performance, and new composition. The Cornell Baroque Organ will complement the existing strengths of the Cornell music department in performance and research, especially in the music of the 17th to 19th centuries. In addition, it will contribute to the university and wider community in diverse and unforeseen ways. This project does not simply import a historic organ into Central New York, but seeks to transplant and nurture the skills required to make and maintain such an instrument, and of course to play and use it, drawing on the best of the past in pursuit of a rich future. This is not an exercise in reconstruction and museum-style curatorship but an effort to invigorate a constellation of skills and musical activities to help further energize both local culture and the University’s international standing.
Specification:
Hauptwerk (Manual I)
Principal 8′, Quintadena 16′, Floite dues 8′, Gedact 8′, Octav 4′, Violdegamb 4′, Nassat 3′, SuperOctav 2′, Mixtur IV, Trompete 8′, Vox humana 8′
Rückpositiv (Manual II)
Principal 8′, Gedact lieblich 8′, Octav 4′, Floite dues 4′, Octav 2′, Waltflöit 2′, Sesquialt II, Scharf III, Hoboy 8′
Pedal
Principal 16′, Octav 8′, Octav 4′, Nachthorn 2′, Rauschpfeife II, Mixtur IV, Posaunen 16′, Trommet 8′, Trommet 4′, Cornet 2′
Baroque Organ Fact Sheet
Total cost: approx. $ 2 million
Number of years of research, planning and construction: 7
Number of years organ is projected to last: several hundred
Pipes:
•Number of pipes 1,847
•Largest pipe; c. 16 feet long, 8 inches diameter
•Smallest pipe—c. 1 inch long, ¼ inch diameter
•Materials for pipes: lead, tin, pine
•Sheets of metal for pipes cast on beds of sand
•Seven and a half months required to “voice” pipes (ensure each has perfect sound in the chapel, and responds correctly to pressure and speed of the touch of the performer)
•42 ranks (individual rows of pipes)
•30 stops
Keyboards:
•2 manuals, each with 50 notes (C, D to d3)
•1 pedal, with 26 notes (C, D to d1)
•over 740 feet of wooden trackers traveling from key to pallet
Bellows:
•4 wedge bellows (each weighing approximately 430 pounds)
•two pumpers required to manually run the bellows
•fastened together with cow hide and cow hide organic glue
Scale:
•lowest pitch: c. 30 Hz
•highest pitch c. 8, 000 Hz
Case:
•quarter-sawn fumed white oak
•many tons of lumber in the case (estimated around 7)
•handcrafted; every surface hand-planed rather than sanded
•longest boards, 18 ft, imported from 300-year old sustainable forest in Germany
•case dimensions: 25ft wide; 4 and ½ feet deep; 23ft high in the center
•number of structural nails in case: zero—case held together by wooden pegs, dovetail joints, wedges, drawboard mortise and tenon
All nails, hinges, etc. hand-forged of solid iron in Sweden
Contacts
•Cornell University
oContact: Annette Richards, University Organist
oProfessor of Musicology and Performance (17th-18th-century music, organ)
oPh.D., Stanford University
o607-255-7102, ar34@cornell.edu
Annette Richards provided the passion and organization behind the Cornell Baroque Organ project. She managed every aspect, from coordinating the international team of builders to shoveling snow for the delivery trucks, and is now delighted to be one of the primary organists to play the unique instrument. More details at: music.cornell.edu/people/faculty/?page=cudm/facultyCtrl&a... and vivo.cornell.edu/humanities/individual/vivo/individual23295
•David Yearsley
oProfessor of Musicology and Performance (17th-18th-century music, early keyboards)
oPh.D., Stanford University
o607-255-9024, dgy2@cornell.edu
David Yearsley provided key support for the Cornell Baroque Organ project through his expertise with organs and his skill as a performer. He is also one of the primary organist to play this magnificent instrument. More details at: music.cornell.edu/people/faculty/?page=cudm/facultyCtrl&a...
•CCSN Woodworking
oContact: Christopher Lowe
oCabinet Maker
oFreeville, NY(607) 347-6633 scmarlowe@frontiernet.net
Christopher Lowe is a local craftsman who has been a cabinet maker for 28 years, specializing in everything from barn restoration to furniture making. This was his first organ commission.
•Göteborg Organ Art Center
oUniversity of Gothenburg, Sweden
oGOArt was responsible for the overall design and project coordination, the production of the pipework, and the voicing of the pipes. More details at www.goart.gu.se/Research/
oContact: Munetaka Yokota
oEmail: munetaka.yokota@goart.gu.se
Munetaka Yokota supervised the assembly of the organ at Cornell. He is the main researcher and designer of the instrument and the primary craftsman for the organ pipes. He brought his family to Ithaca to live for almost a year, while he installed and voiced the pipes at Cornell.
•Parsons Pipe Organ Builders
oCanandaigua, New York
oParsons Pipe Organ Builders was responsible for constructing the wind system inside the organ, including all the mechanicals and the bellows. More details at: www.parsonsorgans.com/home.htm
oContact: Richard Parsons
oPresident and owner (585) 229-5888 or (888) 229-4820 or info@parsonsorgans.com
Timeline
•2/2/10 Delivery of wind chest, organ case, to Anabel Taylor Chapel
•Assembly of organ begins
•2/8/10-2/19/10 Pipe racking (involves burning wood and making a great deal of smoke, and will happen in a little shed right outside the chapel)
•2/17/1 Voicing of pipes begins
•3/1/10 Basic organ assembly complete, though all pipes might not be in
•03/4-6/10 Inspection by the great Dutch organist and organ expert Jacques van Oortmerssen
•03/10-11/10 Final tuning of organ
•04/10 Open house to display assembled organ
•11/10 Late November concert to inaugurate organ for local audience
•3/11 Official inauguration of organ
Annette Richards
University Organist
Professor
Musicology, Performance
17th-18th-century music, organ
Ph.D., Stanford University
Tel#: 607-255-3712
ar34@cornell.edu
340 Lincoln Hall
In her work as a music historian and keyboard player, Annette Richards draws on her training in English literature, art history, musicology, and musical performance. Musical and visual aesthetics and criticism are of particular interest to her, as is music in literature, and changing attitudes and approaches to performance in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Her book The Free Fantasia and the Musical Picturesque (Cambridge, 2001) explores the intersections between musical fantasy and the landscape garden in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century music culture, ranging across German-speaking Europe to England. Other topics on which she has written include Mozart and musical automata, the German keyboard song and solitude, and Haydn and the grotesque. She is the editor of CPE Bach Studies (Cambridge, 2006), and, with David Yearsley, of the Organ Works of C. P. E. Bach for the new complete edition (Packard Humanities Institute, 2008). She is also the founding editor of Keyboard Perspectives. Prof. Richards is currently working on two projects: a reconstruction of the extraordinary collection of musical portraits belonging to C. P. E. Bach, and a book that expands on her work on death, fantasy, and the grotesque to explore the dark hermeneutics of musical life in the age of European enlightenment and revolution—Music and the Gothic on the Dark Side of 1800.
As a performer Annette Richards specializes in music of the Italian and North German Baroque, and has played concerts on numerous historic and modern instruments in Europe and the United States. She also regularly performs music from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and has won prizes in international competitions including the 1992 Dublin International Organ Competition and first prize for organ duo with David Yearsley at the Bruges Early Music Festival in 1994. Her CD Melchior Schildt and the North German Organ Art ( on the Loft label) was recorded on the historic organ at Roskilde Cathedral, Denmark.
Prof. Richards has won numerous honors, including fellowships at the Stanford Humanities Center, the Getty Center in Santa Monica and at the Society for the Humanities at Cornell. She has also held a New Directions Fellowship from the Mellon Foundation and a fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
At Cornell Prof. Richards teaches courses on eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century music aesthetics and criticism; intersections between music and visual culture; music and the uncanny; the undergraduate history survey; music of the Baroque; and the organ and its musical culture, as well as organ performance. She has organized several conferences and concert festivals at the university, including “German Orpheus: C. P. E. Bach and North German Music Culture” (1998) and “British Modernism” (2003).
Prof. Richards is also the Executive Director of the Westfield Center for Historical Keyboard Studies.
David Yearsley
Professor
Musicology, Performance
History, literature, and performance of 17th-18th-century music
Ph.D., Stanford University
Tel#: 607-255-9024
dgy2@cornell.edu
341 Lincoln Hall
David Yearsley was educated at Harvard College and Stanford University, where he received his Ph.D. in Musicology in 1994. At Cornell he continues to pursue his interests in the performance, literature and history of northern European music among other activities. His musicological work investigates literary, social, and theological contexts for music and music making, and he has written on topics ranging from music and death, to alchemy and counterpoint, musical invention and imagination, and musical representations of public spaces in film. His first book, Bach and the Meanings of Counterpoint (Cambridge, 2002) explodes long-held notions about the status of counterpoint in the mid-eighteenth century, and illuminates unexpected areas of the musical culture into which Bach’s most obsessive and complicated musical creations were released. More recently, his Bach’s Feet: the Organ Pedals in European Culture (Cambridge, 2012) presents a new interpretation of the significance of the oldest and richest of European instruments—the organ—by investigating the German origins of the uniquely independent use of the feet in music-making. Delving into a range of musical, literary, and visual sources, Bach’s Feet pursues the wide-ranging cultural importance of this physically demanding art, from the blind German organists of the 15th century, through the central contribution of Bach’s music and legacy, to the newly-pedaling organists of the British Empire, and the sinister visions of Nazi propagandists.
He is currently working on a monograph entitled The Musical Lives of Anna Magdalena Bach, a study of the changing musical contributions and restrictions, performing possibilities and perils that characterized the musical world of the women of the Bach household in the first half 18th century.
David’s musical and musicological interests extend to the Elizabethans, the Italian keyboard traditions of the seventeenth century, Handel’s operas, film music, musical travels, and the intersections between music and politics.
The only musician ever to win all major prizes at the Bruges Early Music Festival competition, David’s recordings of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century organ music are available from Loft Recordings and Musica Omnia.
While his primary interests are in European music culture of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, he has taught courses in music theory, film music, music and travel, and music historiography.
Works by David Yearsley
Articles
•An essay on the political implications of Bach’s vocal works: konturen.uoregon.edu/vol1_Yearsley.html
Performances
•Concert performance of C. P. E. Bach’s Abschied von meinem Silbermannischen Claviere for the Cambridge Society for Early Music played on Ferruccio Busoni’s 1906 Dolmetsch clavichord
•Concert performance of C. P. E. Bach’s Fantasia in C Major from Kenner und Liebhaber VI for the Cambridge Society of Early Music played on Ferruccio Busoni’s 1906 Dolmetsch clavichord
Why Cornell?
“A great university deserves to have a really great organ,” says Annette Richards, university organist and project manager. Although Cornell had a number of organs already, it lacked an instrument of the style and scope appropriate to the music of the noted German organist composers of the 17th and 18th centuries. “There was no great vehicle for playing the music especially of Johann Sebastian Bach and his North German predecessors. So I felt it was important for us to get a new really first class—world class—instrument at Cornell,” says Richards.
Cornell’s New Baroque Organ
“Cornell is an institution that fosters many kinds of scholarship, and it also has a long and very storied musical tradition,” continues Richards. “Andrew Dickson White was a big organ supporter and fan. He initiated getting an important organ for Bailey Hall when that building was built. And Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences has a music department where the 18th century is a real strength. It also has a fine collection of keyboard instruments already, and it made sense to build on all those strengths and that history to bring something like this here.”
Cornell’s is First Organ with Multiple Historic Wind Systems
Cornell’s new baroque organ has become the world’s first organ with multiple historic wind systems, using a technique organ designer Munetaka Yokota perfected on a research instrument at the Göteborg Organ Art Center (GOArt) at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
With simple manual adjustments, organists can authentically re-create the wind systems of organs from the 15th to the beginning of the 19th century from north and central Germany on the instrument.
Professor of music Annette Richards, who led the organ project at Cornell, explains that “the wind is the basis of any organ’s sound, and to appreciate music like Bach’s as it was intended, you need to hear it played on the kind of organ for which it was written.”
The organ is intended to reintroduce modern audiences to this authentic, historic sound, which was gradually lost over the centuries as equal temperament in keyboard intervals and highly stable wind systems became the norm.
The ingenious system includes seven new valves and 80 new feet of conductors, and has attracted worldwide attention from organists and researchers. An international group of scientists gathered at Cornell in spring 2012 to share data on the organ’s key action characteristics and wind behavior.
Yokota and GOArt research engineer Carl Johan Bergsten will use the new system to study general wind system behavior in organs. They’ll compare the measurements they took in November 2011, before the modification, to measurements they will take after.
“We’re excited to hear how the collaborative research on this organ between mathematical modelers, engineers and a builder with Munetaka Yokota’s historical knowledge and incomparable musical intuition can make our instrument speak with even more clarity, power, nuance and expressivity—even while acting as a cutting-edge laboratory for the latest experimental study,” Richards says.
The $2 million organ is the culmination of more than seven years of research and collaboration by GOArt and the Department of Music, and more than two years of work by 21st-century craftsmen, who used authentic 17th- and early 18th-century methods to hand-build the instrument.
The organ re-creates the tonal design of the 1706 Arp Schnitger organ at Charlottenburg in Berlin, which was destroyed by Allied bombers during WWII. The massive wooden case has a design based on a Schnitger organ at Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany, and was hand-built by local cabinetmaker Christopher Lowe.
The original wind system on Cornell’s organ was built by Parsons Pipe Organ Builders in Canandaigua, N.Y.; the 1,827 pipes were handcrafted in Sweden by Yokota, using rediscovered historic techniques. The modifications to the wind system were made by Lowe.
The Cornell Baroque Organ
The new majestic baroque organ in Cornell’s Anabel Taylor Chapel required over seven years of research in an international, collaborative effort by Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences and the Gothenburg Organ Art Center (GOArt) at the University of GÖTEBORG, Sweden.
Interdisciplinary Effort
The instrument re-creates the tonal design of the celebrated Charlottenburg organ in Berlin, handmade in 1706 by master organ builder Arp Schnitger and tragically destroyed during WWII. The interdisciplinary effort to understand the many aspects of this historic organ’s construction included experts in fluid dynamics, electro-acoustics, and metallurgy, as well as craftsmen and musicians. Each of the nearly 2,000 pipes was handcrafted in Sweden under the direction of project designer Munetaka Yokota.
Exquisite Craftsmanship
View from behind the keyboardThe massive, intricately designed wooden case is based on another Schnitger organ in Germany. Every detail is handmade and historically accurate, from the wooden pegs and hand-forged nails to the hand-planed wooden surface and dovetail joints.
Musical Versatility
Commissioned by the Department of Music, the organ is perfect for the music of J.S. Bach and his north German predecessors, and is versatile enough for solo and ensemble music from the 16th century onward. As a complement to the music department’s strengths in performance and research, the organ is expected to attract top organ students, professional performers, composers and scholars to Cornell.
The Cornell Baroque Organ Project
A New Organ for Anabel Taylor Chapel
In 2003 Cornell University began work on a new organ for Anabel Taylor Chapel—an instrument based on a German 18th century masterpiece—as part of an international research project involving three academic institutions in the field of organ studies: Cornell, the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester. This interdisciplinary and international effort encompasses scholars, physical scientists, musicians, craftsmen and visual artists from Sweden, Japan, The Netherlands, Germany and New York State. Joining their efforts under the artistic direction of Munetaka Yokota at the Gothenburg Organ Art Center (GOART), the members of this team created an organ that is not just a fine vehicle for teaching, performance and scholarship, but also a magnificent work of art. (See Photo Galleries section below.)
Historical Models
The Cornell Baroque Organ will reconstruct the tonal design of the celebrated instrument at the Charlottenburg-Schlosskapelle built in the first decade of the 18th century in Berlin by Arp Schnitger, one of history’s greatest organ builders. The instrument’s layout and visual design will be based on Schnitger’s breathtaking organ case at Clausthal-Zellerfeld in central Germany. See Historic Model Photo Gallery.
Arp Schnitger was the most important organ builder of late 17th-century North Germany; although he was active mainly in its northwestern corner, his work was well known in all of the German speaking lands. He built several organs in the eastern cities as well, with unique features not possessed by their northwestern counterparts. Many of his works in the northwestern areas survive today and are well-known, but none of his instruments in the eastern areas are extant today, with the one exception of the organ case in Clausthal-Zellerfeld.
Tragically destroyed in the Second World War, the Charlottenburg organ and its unique tonal qualities can be recreated today using original documentation alongside early 20th-century studies and recordings of the instrument. Unique to this Berlin instrument, and still little-understood, is the way in which Schnitger combined North- and Central-German organ aesthetics in its design, to result in an unusual, even exceptional, tonal concept. This recreation will allow us to explore this fascinating sound world once again. (See Specification section below.)
Research, Collaboration and Outreach
The project involves extensive research into the art of woodworking, metallurgy, organ construction and the crucial voicing of organ pipes in the early 18th century. It seeks to go beyond simply revivifying these skills, and attempts to place them in the cultural and aesthetic contexts so particular to Berlin and its environs. As part of this process, Cornell’s new organ is being built using sophisticated handcraft techniques, replicating the construction techniques of its storied historical models. In a landmark collaboration with local talent, Cornell is engaged not just with GOArt, but also with Ithaca-based master woodworkers Christopher Lowe and Peter De Boer, who built the organ case entirely by hand, and with the Canandaigua-based organ-building firm Parsons Pipe Organ Builders (see Case Construction Photo Gallery). This is more than an academic exercise. The historical entity that was the Berlin organ will enrich the active musical culture of Cornell, Ithaca, and Central New York and will provide valuable data and insights that can be drawn on by kindred projects globally. And with the inauguration of Cornell’s Baroque organ, the Fingerlakes region of New York will become an unprecedented destination for historic organ performance and research, with musicians and scholars able to work both at Cornell and on the nearby Eastman School of Music’s historic organs.
Performance and Teaching
The Cornell Baroque Organ will be ideal both for the glorious solo repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries, especially the music of J. S. Bach, and for the accompaniment of ensemble music for instruments and voices; in addition, it will be versatile enough for performance of music from the 16th to the 19th centuries and beyond. This instrument will act as a magnet for top student organists, as well as being an inspiring tool for teaching, solo and group performance, and new composition. The Cornell Baroque Organ will complement the existing strengths of the Cornell music department in performance and research, especially in the music of the 17th to 19th centuries. In addition, it will contribute to the university and wider community in diverse and unforeseen ways. This project does not simply import a historic organ into Central New York, but seeks to transplant and nurture the skills required to make and maintain such an instrument, and of course to play and use it, drawing on the best of the past in pursuit of a rich future. This is not an exercise in reconstruction and museum-style curatorship but an effort to invigorate a constellation of skills and musical activities to help further energize both local culture and the University’s international standing.
Specification:
Hauptwerk (Manual I)
Principal 8′, Quintadena 16′, Floite dues 8′, Gedact 8′, Octav 4′, Violdegamb 4′, Nassat 3′, SuperOctav 2′, Mixtur IV, Trompete 8′, Vox humana 8′
Rückpositiv (Manual II)
Principal 8′, Gedact lieblich 8′, Octav 4′, Floite dues 4′, Octav 2′, Waltflöit 2′, Sesquialt II, Scharf III, Hoboy 8′
Pedal
Principal 16′, Octav 8′, Octav 4′, Nachthorn 2′, Rauschpfeife II, Mixtur IV, Posaunen 16′, Trommet 8′, Trommet 4′, Cornet 2′
Baroque Organ Fact Sheet
Total cost: approx. $ 2 million
Number of years of research, planning and construction: 7
Number of years organ is projected to last: several hundred
Pipes:
•Number of pipes 1,847
•Largest pipe; c. 16 feet long, 8 inches diameter
•Smallest pipe—c. 1 inch long, ¼ inch diameter
•Materials for pipes: lead, tin, pine
•Sheets of metal for pipes cast on beds of sand
•Seven and a half months required to “voice” pipes (ensure each has perfect sound in the chapel, and responds correctly to pressure and speed of the touch of the performer)
•42 ranks (individual rows of pipes)
•30 stops
Keyboards:
•2 manuals, each with 50 notes (C, D to d3)
•1 pedal, with 26 notes (C, D to d1)
•over 740 feet of wooden trackers traveling from key to pallet
Bellows:
•4 wedge bellows (each weighing approximately 430 pounds)
•two pumpers required to manually run the bellows
•fastened together with cow hide and cow hide organic glue
Scale:
•lowest pitch: c. 30 Hz
•highest pitch c. 8, 000 Hz
Case:
•quarter-sawn fumed white oak
•many tons of lumber in the case (estimated around 7)
•handcrafted; every surface hand-planed rather than sanded
•longest boards, 18 ft, imported from 300-year old sustainable forest in Germany
•case dimensions: 25ft wide; 4 and ½ feet deep; 23ft high in the center
•number of structural nails in case: zero—case held together by wooden pegs, dovetail joints, wedges, drawboard mortise and tenon
All nails, hinges, etc. hand-forged of solid iron in Sweden
Contacts
•Cornell University
oContact: Annette Richards, University Organist
oProfessor of Musicology and Performance (17th-18th-century music, organ)
oPh.D., Stanford University
o607-255-7102, ar34@cornell.edu
Annette Richards provided the passion and organization behind the Cornell Baroque Organ project. She managed every aspect, from coordinating the international team of builders to shoveling snow for the delivery trucks, and is now delighted to be one of the primary organists to play the unique instrument. More details at: music.cornell.edu/people/faculty/?page=cudm/facultyCtrl&a... and vivo.cornell.edu/humanities/individual/vivo/individual23295
•David Yearsley
oProfessor of Musicology and Performance (17th-18th-century music, early keyboards)
oPh.D., Stanford University
o607-255-9024, dgy2@cornell.edu
David Yearsley provided key support for the Cornell Baroque Organ project through his expertise with organs and his skill as a performer. He is also one of the primary organist to play this magnificent instrument. More details at: music.cornell.edu/people/faculty/?page=cudm/facultyCtrl&a...
•CCSN Woodworking
oContact: Christopher Lowe
oCabinet Maker
oFreeville, NY(607) 347-6633 scmarlowe@frontiernet.net
Christopher Lowe is a local craftsman who has been a cabinet maker for 28 years, specializing in everything from barn restoration to furniture making. This was his first organ commission.
•Göteborg Organ Art Center
oUniversity of Gothenburg, Sweden
oGOArt was responsible for the overall design and project coordination, the production of the pipework, and the voicing of the pipes. More details at www.goart.gu.se/Research/
oContact: Munetaka Yokota
oEmail: munetaka.yokota@goart.gu.se
Munetaka Yokota supervised the assembly of the organ at Cornell. He is the main researcher and designer of the instrument and the primary craftsman for the organ pipes. He brought his family to Ithaca to live for almost a year, while he installed and voiced the pipes at Cornell.
•Parsons Pipe Organ Builders
oCanandaigua, New York
oParsons Pipe Organ Builders was responsible for constructing the wind system inside the organ, including all the mechanicals and the bellows. More details at: www.parsonsorgans.com/home.htm
oContact: Richard Parsons
oPresident and owner (585) 229-5888 or (888) 229-4820 or info@parsonsorgans.com
Timeline
•2/2/10 Delivery of wind chest, organ case, to Anabel Taylor Chapel
•Assembly of organ begins
•2/8/10-2/19/10 Pipe racking (involves burning wood and making a great deal of smoke, and will happen in a little shed right outside the chapel)
•2/17/1 Voicing of pipes begins
•3/1/10 Basic organ assembly complete, though all pipes might not be in
•03/4-6/10 Inspection by the great Dutch organist and organ expert Jacques van Oortmerssen
•03/10-11/10 Final tuning of organ
•04/10 Open house to display assembled organ
•11/10 Late November concert to inaugurate organ for local audience
•3/11 Official inauguration of organ
Annette Richards
University Organist
Professor
Musicology, Performance
17th-18th-century music, organ
Ph.D., Stanford University
Tel#: 607-255-3712
ar34@cornell.edu
340 Lincoln Hall
In her work as a music historian and keyboard player, Annette Richards draws on her training in English literature, art history, musicology, and musical performance. Musical and visual aesthetics and criticism are of particular interest to her, as is music in literature, and changing attitudes and approaches to performance in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Her book The Free Fantasia and the Musical Picturesque (Cambridge, 2001) explores the intersections between musical fantasy and the landscape garden in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century music culture, ranging across German-speaking Europe to England. Other topics on which she has written include Mozart and musical automata, the German keyboard song and solitude, and Haydn and the grotesque. She is the editor of CPE Bach Studies (Cambridge, 2006), and, with David Yearsley, of the Organ Works of C. P. E. Bach for the new complete edition (Packard Humanities Institute, 2008). She is also the founding editor of Keyboard Perspectives. Prof. Richards is currently working on two projects: a reconstruction of the extraordinary collection of musical portraits belonging to C. P. E. Bach, and a book that expands on her work on death, fantasy, and the grotesque to explore the dark hermeneutics of musical life in the age of European enlightenment and revolution—Music and the Gothic on the Dark Side of 1800.
As a performer Annette Richards specializes in music of the Italian and North German Baroque, and has played concerts on numerous historic and modern instruments in Europe and the United States. She also regularly performs music from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and has won prizes in international competitions including the 1992 Dublin International Organ Competition and first prize for organ duo with David Yearsley at the Bruges Early Music Festival in 1994. Her CD Melchior Schildt and the North German Organ Art ( on the Loft label) was recorded on the historic organ at Roskilde Cathedral, Denmark.
Prof. Richards has won numerous honors, including fellowships at the Stanford Humanities Center, the Getty Center in Santa Monica and at the Society for the Humanities at Cornell. She has also held a New Directions Fellowship from the Mellon Foundation and a fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
At Cornell Prof. Richards teaches courses on eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century music aesthetics and criticism; intersections between music and visual culture; music and the uncanny; the undergraduate history survey; music of the Baroque; and the organ and its musical culture, as well as organ performance. She has organized several conferences and concert festivals at the university, including “German Orpheus: C. P. E. Bach and North German Music Culture” (1998) and “British Modernism” (2003).
Prof. Richards is also the Executive Director of the Westfield Center for Historical Keyboard Studies.
David Yearsley
Professor
Musicology, Performance
History, literature, and performance of 17th-18th-century music
Ph.D., Stanford University
Tel#: 607-255-9024
dgy2@cornell.edu
341 Lincoln Hall
David Yearsley was educated at Harvard College and Stanford University, where he received his Ph.D. in Musicology in 1994. At Cornell he continues to pursue his interests in the performance, literature and history of northern European music among other activities. His musicological work investigates literary, social, and theological contexts for music and music making, and he has written on topics ranging from music and death, to alchemy and counterpoint, musical invention and imagination, and musical representations of public spaces in film. His first book, Bach and the Meanings of Counterpoint (Cambridge, 2002) explodes long-held notions about the status of counterpoint in the mid-eighteenth century, and illuminates unexpected areas of the musical culture into which Bach’s most obsessive and complicated musical creations were released. More recently, his Bach’s Feet: the Organ Pedals in European Culture (Cambridge, 2012) presents a new interpretation of the significance of the oldest and richest of European instruments—the organ—by investigating the German origins of the uniquely independent use of the feet in music-making. Delving into a range of musical, literary, and visual sources, Bach’s Feet pursues the wide-ranging cultural importance of this physically demanding art, from the blind German organists of the 15th century, through the central contribution of Bach’s music and legacy, to the newly-pedaling organists of the British Empire, and the sinister visions of Nazi propagandists.
He is currently working on a monograph entitled The Musical Lives of Anna Magdalena Bach, a study of the changing musical contributions and restrictions, performing possibilities and perils that characterized the musical world of the women of the Bach household in the first half 18th century.
David’s musical and musicological interests extend to the Elizabethans, the Italian keyboard traditions of the seventeenth century, Handel’s operas, film music, musical travels, and the intersections between music and politics.
The only musician ever to win all major prizes at the Bruges Early Music Festival competition, David’s recordings of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century organ music are available from Loft Recordings and Musica Omnia.
While his primary interests are in European music culture of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, he has taught courses in music theory, film music, music and travel, and music historiography.
Works by David Yearsley
Articles
•An essay on the political implications of Bach’s vocal works: konturen.uoregon.edu/vol1_Yearsley.html
Performances
•Concert performance of C. P. E. Bach’s Abschied von meinem Silbermannischen Claviere for the Cambridge Society for Early Music played on Ferruccio Busoni’s 1906 Dolmetsch clavichord
•Concert performance of C. P. E. Bach’s Fantasia in C Major from Kenner und Liebhaber VI for the Cambridge Society of Early Music played on Ferruccio Busoni’s 1906 Dolmetsch clavichord
Why Cornell?
“A great university deserves to have a really great organ,” says Annette Richards, university organist and project manager. Although Cornell had a number of organs already, it lacked an instrument of the style and scope appropriate to the music of the noted German organist composers of the 17th and 18th centuries. “There was no great vehicle for playing the music especially of Johann Sebastian Bach and his North German predecessors. So I felt it was important for us to get a new really first class—world class—instrument at Cornell,” says Richards.
Cornell’s New Baroque Organ
“Cornell is an institution that fosters many kinds of scholarship, and it also has a long and very storied musical tradition,” continues Richards. “Andrew Dickson White was a big organ supporter and fan. He initiated getting an important organ for Bailey Hall when that building was built. And Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences has a music department where the 18th century is a real strength. It also has a fine collection of keyboard instruments already, and it made sense to build on all those strengths and that history to bring something like this here.”
McGraw Tower
•Construction Date: 1888
At the base of the tower, Uris Library is a spacious and well-furnished study spot, and a great place for students to work on research projects and papers. At the base of the tower, Uris Library is a spacious and well-furnished study spot, and a great place for students to work on research projects and papers.
Throughout the day, chimes in the McGraw Clock Tower at the top of the slope mark the passing hours. Daily concerts by student chimesmasters feature Broadway hits, Beatles favorites, and Cornell’s alma mater. The famed Cornell Chimes is one of the oldest musical traditions on campus.
The McGraw Clocktower, named in honor of John McGraw, stands as the most recognizable landmark on the Cornell campus. The original nine bells, a gift from Ithacan Jennie McGraw, were rung on a wooden stand and played for the first time at the University’s opening ceremonies in 1868. After several years in McGraw Hall, the chimes moved to the 173-foot McGraw Tower in 1891. The tower now contains twenty-one bells.
In 1997, the tower garnered national media attention when late-night pranksters adorned the tower’s spire with what turned out to be a hollowed-out pumpkin.
Faces of the Seth Thomas Clock glow red for Valentine’s Day, green for Dragon Day, and orange for Halloween.
Today, student Chimesmasters climb the tower’s 161 steps to play three concerts every weekday during the academic year. Music selections are drawn from a diverse repertoire, ranging from Beethoven to the Beatles. Each concert includes a standard Cornell song: “Changes” in the morning (also known as the Jennie McGraw Rag), the Alma Mater in the afternoon, and “Evening Song” at day’s end.
The Base
The McGraw Tower is the Cornell landmark. New students lost downtown or across campus use it to orient themselves and aim for familiar ground. Undergrads studying in the libraries nearby mark the hours with the chiming of its 1875 Seth Thomas clock, now computer-operated. And Albert W. Smith, class of 1878, who wrote the lyrics to “The Hill,” included the clock tower and its chimes in a nostalgic tune still sung on campus today.
Designed by William Henry Miller in 1891, the tower originally provided storage for overflow library books. Now its seven rooms include practice space and a library of musical arrangements, and a museum.
The Belfry
Like violins and pianos, the quality of sound produced by a bell reflects its maker. Seventeen of Cornell’s bells came from the Meneely Foundry in Watervliet, N.Y., including the nine given by Jennie McGraw, which marked the university’s inauguration. A pair donated in the 20th century came from Padccard Foundry in France. In 1998, all of the bells were sent to Meeks, Watson & Company in Ohio, for tuning.
While the bells were in Ohio, a renovation of the clock tower included construction of a new practice room and installation of a specially designed stand that balances the sound of the bells.
The Chimes
Music may be an art, but for Cornell’s chimesmasters, it’s also a full-body workout, including a 161-stair climb to the top of McGraw Tower, and muscle-burning effort to depress the hand and foot levers that ring the bells.
Each spring several dozen students compete in a ten-week program to become chimesmasters. During this time, they learn the “Cornell Changes,” a 549-note rag that has been played at each morning concert since 1869. Ultimately, just a handful are selected to become one of the ten students who play three daily concerts plus special events, such as Halloween and Valentine’s concerts and weddings.
The more than 2,000 arrangements in their repertoire include Schubert and Scott Joplin, as well as “The Mickey Mouse March” and original compositions by former chimesmasters.
The Cornell Chimes
The Cornell Chimes are the university’s oldest musical tradition, and one of the most frequently played set of bells on any American college campus. Housed in historic McGraw Tower, the 21-bells are played primarily by student chimesmasters.
All concerts are open to the public—you simply have to climb the tower’s 161 steps. The door to the tower opens five to ten minutes before a scheduled concert and closes before concert’s end. Your stair-climbing efforts will be rewarded with a spectacular view of Cornell and the surrounding community, and a musical performance like you’ve never seen before.
The Cornell Chimesmasters perform a regular program of three concerts daily while classes are in session and a modified schedule during exams and breaks. Please check the concert schedule for complete concert and special event information.
About the Chimes and Tower
The Cornell Chimes
The Cornell Chimes has been the heartbeat of campus life for more than a century, marking the hours and chiming concerts. The original set of nine bells first rang out at the university’s opening ceremonies October 7, 1868. Over time the chime has been recast and expanded to 21 bells; it continues to ring daily concerts, making it one of the largest and most frequently played chimes in the world.
Playing the Chimes
The bells are played by “chimesmasters.” An average of ten chimesmasters play three concerts daily during the school year and a reduced schedule during the summer and semester breaks, in addition to a variety of specialty concerts. Each spring a rigorous ten-week competition is held for anyone interested in becoming a chimesmaster. Previous chime experience is not a requirement to playing this unique instrument, only the ability to read music and the energy to climb 161 steps. There is no electronic assistance to the playing mechanism — all the work is done by the player. In the 1940s a chimesmaster received physical education credit for her efforts!
Virtually every kind of music is played on the bells, from Baroque to Beatles, Schubert to Scott Joplin, “Pomp and Circumstance” to the “Mickey Mouse March,” selected from a collection of more than 2500 pieces specially arranged for the Cornell Chimes by current and former chimesmasters. There are even duets. Because of the direct link between the playing stand and the clapper of the bell, it is possible to vary the dynamics of the music.
The chimes remain a bastion of tradition on campus. The “Cornell Changes” (known affectionately as the “Jennie McGraw Rag” in honor of the donor of the original bells) has heralded every morning concert since 1869. Its 549 notes provide a challenge to chimesmasters, whose goal it is to play it as fast as possible. It must be memorized by aspiring chimesmasters. Also played daily are the “Alma Mater” at the midday concert, and the “Cornell Evening Song” at the end of the evening concert.
McGraw Tower
The bells were originally played on a ground level playing stand on the site of the current clock tower, before moving to McGraw Hall in 1873. In 1891, upon its completion, they were moved to their permanent home atop library tower (later renamed McGraw Tower). Local architect William Henry Miller designed the 173-foot tower and adjacent Uris library.
The seven rooms in the tower were originally used to store the library’s stacks (presumably the lesser-used works!). They now house the chimes office, museum, practice room, and the 1875 Seth Thomas clock with a 14-foot pendulum. Visitors can still see the clockworks and pendulum, but a computer now operates the clock. In 1999 as part of the restoration of the bells and tower, a global positioning system was linked to the clockworks keeping all four clockfaces correct, up to the second!
The tower, a symbol of the university, as it stands above Cornell and the community is known to take on different appearances during the school year. Every Halloween the glowing clock faces resemble four jolly jack-o-lanterns. In March the clock faces take on a greenish hue in anticipation of Dragon Day when the first-year Architecture students debut their giant dragon to be thwarted by the rival Engineers.
McGraw Tower
Visitors are welcome and encouraged to attend our chimes concerts to fully appreciate these icons. Something essential would be missing from the campus without that cheery tintinnabulation that serenades Cornellians and visitors daily. In the words of Albert W. Smith 1878:
I wake at night and think I hear
Remembered chimes,
And mem’ry brings in visions clear
Enchanted times
Beneath green elms with branches bowed
In springtime suns,
Or touching elbows in a crowd
Of eager ones;
Again I’m hurrying past the towers
Or with the teams,
Or spending precious idling hours
In golden dreams
— from “The Hill”
You can read more about the history and lore of the Cornell Chimes and McGraw Tower in The Cornell Chimes, by Ed McKeown, available at the Cornell Store. Recordings of the Chimes is also available.
Chimesmasters
Each spring semester, the Cornell Chimesmasters hold an open competition to find new chimesmasters for the upcoming years. This ten-week event is open to all members of the Cornell community. No previous experience in chimes-ringing is needed, but you should be able to read music and climb 161 steps.
Although this is called a competition, compets are not really competing against each other. Rather we look for a certain level of excellence as you progress through the ten week competition. There is no quota. Some years we accept one new chimesmaster, some years three or four; we average about two new players each year.
Cornell Chimes Merchandise
All Cornell Chimes merchandise is available exclusively at the Cornell Store. Call 1-800-624-4080 or follow these links to order online: Music from the Tower compact disk is $15. The Cornell Chimes book is $24.95.
The Cornell Chimes: Music from the Tower
Music from the Tower, the newest CD in the Cornell Chimes music collection, is a 23-piece recording, grouped into 5 categories: Cornell Songs, Original Compositions, World, Classical, and Popular Music, to highlight the diverse array of music that rings daily from McGraw Tower. The individual pieces were selected to showcase the chimesmasters ever-expanding musical talents.
The Cornell Chimes, by Ed McKeown
This comprehensive history of the Cornell Chimes and McGraw Tower—published on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the tower—contains more than 50 archival photos and illustrations, anecdotes and memoirs. Beginning with James O’Neill, class of 1871, who was moved by the inaugural-day concert to petition President Andrew D. White for permission to play the bells, chimesmasters from throughout Cornell’s history tell the story of the changing campus and the changing times.
The Cornell Chimes
As anyone who has studied in Uris Library can tell you, Cornell’s chimes are housed in McGraw Tower, which is attached to the library. Every fifteen minutes, bells mark the passing of time, and two or three times a day, the campus is treated to a bell concert that features such time-honored and memorable tunes as (of course) the Alma Mater, the Evening Song, the Jennie McGraw Rag, “If I Only Had a Brain,” “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” and “Here Comes the Sun.”
Trek up the tower’s 161 steps during one of those concerts and you can watch chimesmasters in action, working solo or in teams with both hands and at least one foot working levers and pedals to play the 21 bells that comprise the renowned Cornell chimes. The original nine bells rang for the university’s opening ceremonies in 1868. Hung from a temporary wooden framework, and given by Jennie McGraw (later Jennie McGraw Fiske), the bells have been an important part of campus life ever since. McGraw Hall, one of Cornell’s first buildings, included a bell tower so that those nine bells could have a permanent home. When the library opened in 1891, the bells were installed in an even larger tower built for no other reason than to house them. As a distinctive Cornell landmark, McGraw Tower is frequently used to represent the university. Its iconic presence on campus has been felt, heard and seen by generations of Cornell students, and remembered by alumni around the world.
The Cornell Chimes is a student-run organization, and the chimesmasters themselves are student and alumni musicians who bring music to the campus every day. Two Cornell chimesmasters, SiYi Wang and Scott Silverstein, both class of 2008, took time out to discuss what it has been like to participate in one of Cornell”s most cherished, most enduring traditions. Listen to the interview and find out why chimesmasters will “always have the tower.”
Remembering Jennie McGraw Fiske
On October 7, 1868, at the inauguration ceremonies for Cornell University, Francis Finch, friend and legal advisor to Ezra Cornell and later, Dean of the Cornell Law School, presented the University with a very special gift on behalf of a young benefactor. Miss Jennie McGraw had given Cornell a chime of nine bells. They were played for the first time that afternoon from a wooden scaffold set on the site now occupied by Uris Library.
In his address Mr. Finch paid tribute to Jennie McGraw’s generosity:
“These bells are now yours [Cornell]—given cheerfully, given gladly, given hopefully; given with the best wishes of a kind heart to all to whom their chime shall ring….Let the memory of their giver make them sacred; let them ring always harmonies and never discords; let them infuse into the college life, and interweave among the sober threads of practical study and toil some love of art and lines of grace and beauty; let them teach the excellence of order and system… I give these bells, [on] behalf of her whose name I trust their melody will always commemorate….”
According to Cornell historian Morris Bishop, the chime was “the first to peal over an American campus.” A thankful Andrew D. White, Cornell’s first president, would request that the first song played each day be, “The Cornell Changes.” Adapted from a popular carillon tune that White had heard in London, it was soon rechristened, “The Jennie McGraw Rag” in honor of their donor.
Today the music of the bells carries her name across the campus, and her story and the legacy of her gifts to Cornell are memorialized in a collection of monuments found along the crest of Libe Slope.
Jennie McGraw shared her father’s enthusiasm for the new university and his interest in its library. John McGraw, a founding trustee of Cornell, had provided the money to build McGraw Hall, located between Morrill and White Halls in today’s Arts Quad. When it was completed in 1872, the library was moved there from cramped quarters in Morrill Hall, and Jennie’s bells were placed in its tower, which had been specifically designed to house them. The library and the chime would reside in McGraw Hall until the new library building and its tower were completed in 1891.
Both father and daughter had intended to endow the university’s library with generous funds to build and maintain its collections, but neither lived to see this work accomplished. When John McGraw died in 1877, Jennie inherited the bulk of his estate. Working with many of Cornell’s “founding fathers”—Ezra Cornell, Andrew D. White, Judge Douglass Boardman, and her father’s former business partner and fellow Cornell trustee, Henry Williams Sage, Jennie prepared to continue and expand her father’s charitable donations to the university.
But she died tragically of tuberculosis at the age of 41 just four years later. Her will revealed some of her intentions:
“I also give and bequeath to said Cornell University $200,000 in trust to be securely invested and known as the McGraw Library fund, the interest and income thereof to be applied to the support, maintenance, and increase of the library of said university….I give, devise, and bequeath all the rest, residue, and remainder of my property (if any there shall be) to Cornell University.”
Her combined gifts to Cornell were estimated to be at least one million dollars—an astounding sum at that time—and included funds for building a student hospital and a monument to her father and Ezra Cornell. It was also presumed to include the mansion she commissioned architect William Henry Miller to build on the hillside just west of campus. With this bequest, it appeared that Andrew D. White’s dream of a great library building would be realized.
Unfortunately, there were complications. The size of her gift exceeded the university’s endowment limits set in its charter, which would require state legislative action to be amended. And in the waning months of her life, Jennie McGraw had married Cornell’s first University Librarian, Willard Fiske. Troubled by the university trustees’ actions to secure their bequest, he contested the will and spent the next nine years in litigation with the university.
When the United States Supreme Court ruled in Fiske’s favor, it appeared that many of Jennie’s gifts to the university were lost. Most of the estate formerly pledged to Cornell went to her husband, who had retired to a villa in Florence to continue his avocation of book collecting. The mansion intended as the university’s museum went to Jennie’s extended family, who subsequently sold the building along with the artwork and furnishings that she had collected for it.
Outraged by this outcome, Henry Williams Sage, the Ithaca businessman and university trustee who had been a financial advisor to Ezra Cornell and the McGraw’s, took it upon himself to fulfill Jennie’s plans. Sage donated the money to build the new library, hired William Henry Miller to design the Romanesque structure that we now know as Uris Library, and established an endowment for the purchasing of library books.
In the fall of 1891 the university opened its first library building and the chimes were transferred to their now permanent home in the new Library Tower. Recognized around the world as a symbol of Cornell University, it was renamed McGraw Tower in 1962.
Henry Sage had dedicated his efforts to Jennie and paid tribute to her with three library memorials. A plaque mounted at the entrance to Uris offers Sage’s version of the “Great Will Case” that reads:
“The good she tried to do shall stand as if ‘twere done; God finishes the work by noble souls begun. In loving memory of Jennie McGraw Fiske whose purpose to Found a great library for Cornell University has been defeated. This house is built and endowed by her friend, Henry W. Sage, 1891.”
Directly above the doors is a bronze portrait of Jennie by American sculptor Anne Whitney. Cornell was founded as a non-sectarian institution, but here at the entrance to the university’s Romanesque cathedral of books is the library’s guardian angel and patron saint.
The third memorial is more subtle and perhaps the most telling of the three. Located high above the main entrance to Uris, three monograms with carved initials honor those most responsible for providing Cornell with its library: ADW for Andrew Dickson White, HWS for Henry Williams Sage, and JMG for Jennie McGraw. Sage intentionally left off the F of Jennie McGraw Fiske’s married name as a slight to Willard Fiske.
Fiske’s placed his own memorial to his wife inside the library in the Great Reading Room, now known as the Dean Reading Room. Over the fireplace that is behind the current Circulation Desk is a marble bust of Jennie that honors her as a Cornell benefactress.
Funds from Jennie’s estate were used by the university to purchase additional bells for the chime, to set up an endowment for a student hospital, and to build an addition to Sage Chapel. Memorials at the tower entrance to Uris Library, outside the Gannett Health Services building in Ho Plaza, and on the north wall of Sage Chapel commemorate her generosity.
Sage Chapel’s Memorial Antechapel, built in 1883, is the final resting place for Ezra Cornell, Jennie McGraw Fiske, her father, her husband, and other Cornell dignitaries. Inside the chapel are several sarcophagi with reclining statues. A recumbent figure of Jennie, sculpted by Sir Moses Ezekiel rests below a stained glass window that pictures her surrounded by her nine bells.
If Jennie’s original intentions were thwarted by the legal case that challenged her will, they were more than fulfilled by another legal document: her husband’s last will and testament. Upon Willard Fiske’s death in 1904, he left Cornell nearly $600,000, a sum that exceeded the amount of money he had inherited from Jennie. In addition, he bequeathed his unrivaled collections of Dante, Petrarch, and Icelandic books and manuscripts to the Cornell University Library.
Jennie McGraw Fiske was a true supporter of Ezra’s dream. Through her generosity and good intentions, and the philanthropy they inspired, Jennie McGraw Fiske, was able to provide Cornell with its original chime, its student hospital, the University Library, and several priceless book collections and library endowments. Although today’s students may not realize it, her gifts are key fixtures of the Cornell tradition that remains today.
Cornell Pumpkin
On October 8, 1997 an astonishingly large, voluptuous pumpkin appeared nestled atop Cornell’s McGraw Tower. The pumpkin was thought to weigh up to 60 lbs., and sat pinned to the 173 foot Tower for several weeks. It was an incredible prank that made National news, which no one has come forth to claim credit. It remains a mystery as to how the stunt was pulled off, and the enigma has since passed on into Cornell lore.
Where is it now? The pumpkin (or what remains thereof) is currently being stored by the Department of Psychology in the basement of Uris Hall, after removing it from the displayed Wilder Brain Collection.
Mr. Robert Stundtner, of maintenance, believes the pumpkin “remains in our hearts and minds.” Mr. Segelken, with Cornell News Service, said that it has “composted” and that it is—if you will—in pumpkin heaven.
On March 13, 1998, the Pumpkin was knocked down ahead of schedule by workmen maneuvering a crane that would hold the Provost in an official removing ceremony later.
News Coverage: The mystery and sheer daring of the prank generated coverage by the national news media, beginning with an article in The New York Times on Oct. 27. The Cornell Daily Sun ran a daily “Pumpkin Watch” through Halloween and Editor-in-Chief Hilary Krieger was interviewed live on the scene by Matt Lauer of the Today Show on Oct. 28. The Associated Press ran a news story and photo of the pumpkin that appeared in newspapers across the nation. The Cornell News Service handled radio interviews from cities as far away as Minneapolis and Reno, Nev. CNN, MTV and NBC news programs also carried pumpkin reports.
McGraw Tower
•Construction Date: 1888
At the base of the tower, Uris Library is a spacious and well-furnished study spot, and a great place for students to work on research projects and papers. At the base of the tower, Uris Library is a spacious and well-furnished study spot, and a great place for students to work on research projects and papers.
Throughout the day, chimes in the McGraw Clock Tower at the top of the slope mark the passing hours. Daily concerts by student chimesmasters feature Broadway hits, Beatles favorites, and Cornell’s alma mater. The famed Cornell Chimes is one of the oldest musical traditions on campus.
The McGraw Clocktower, named in honor of John McGraw, stands as the most recognizable landmark on the Cornell campus. The original nine bells, a gift from Ithacan Jennie McGraw, were rung on a wooden stand and played for the first time at the University’s opening ceremonies in 1868. After several years in McGraw Hall, the chimes moved to the 173-foot McGraw Tower in 1891. The tower now contains twenty-one bells.
In 1997, the tower garnered national media attention when late-night pranksters adorned the tower’s spire with what turned out to be a hollowed-out pumpkin.
Faces of the Seth Thomas Clock glow red for Valentine’s Day, green for Dragon Day, and orange for Halloween.
Today, student Chimesmasters climb the tower’s 161 steps to play three concerts every weekday during the academic year. Music selections are drawn from a diverse repertoire, ranging from Beethoven to the Beatles. Each concert includes a standard Cornell song: “Changes” in the morning (also known as the Jennie McGraw Rag), the Alma Mater in the afternoon, and “Evening Song” at day’s end.
The Base
The McGraw Tower is the Cornell landmark. New students lost downtown or across campus use it to orient themselves and aim for familiar ground. Undergrads studying in the libraries nearby mark the hours with the chiming of its 1875 Seth Thomas clock, now computer-operated. And Albert W. Smith, class of 1878, who wrote the lyrics to “The Hill,” included the clock tower and its chimes in a nostalgic tune still sung on campus today.
Designed by William Henry Miller in 1891, the tower originally provided storage for overflow library books. Now its seven rooms include practice space and a library of musical arrangements, and a museum.
The Belfry
Like violins and pianos, the quality of sound produced by a bell reflects its maker. Seventeen of Cornell’s bells came from the Meneely Foundry in Watervliet, N.Y., including the nine given by Jennie McGraw, which marked the university’s inauguration. A pair donated in the 20th century came from Padccard Foundry in France. In 1998, all of the bells were sent to Meeks, Watson & Company in Ohio, for tuning.
While the bells were in Ohio, a renovation of the clock tower included construction of a new practice room and installation of a specially designed stand that balances the sound of the bells.
The Chimes
Music may be an art, but for Cornell’s chimesmasters, it’s also a full-body workout, including a 161-stair climb to the top of McGraw Tower, and muscle-burning effort to depress the hand and foot levers that ring the bells.
Each spring several dozen students compete in a ten-week program to become chimesmasters. During this time, they learn the “Cornell Changes,” a 549-note rag that has been played at each morning concert since 1869. Ultimately, just a handful are selected to become one of the ten students who play three daily concerts plus special events, such as Halloween and Valentine’s concerts and weddings.
The more than 2,000 arrangements in their repertoire include Schubert and Scott Joplin, as well as “The Mickey Mouse March” and original compositions by former chimesmasters.
The Cornell Chimes
The Cornell Chimes are the university’s oldest musical tradition, and one of the most frequently played set of bells on any American college campus. Housed in historic McGraw Tower, the 21-bells are played primarily by student chimesmasters.
All concerts are open to the public—you simply have to climb the tower’s 161 steps. The door to the tower opens five to ten minutes before a scheduled concert and closes before concert’s end. Your stair-climbing efforts will be rewarded with a spectacular view of Cornell and the surrounding community, and a musical performance like you’ve never seen before.
The Cornell Chimesmasters perform a regular program of three concerts daily while classes are in session and a modified schedule during exams and breaks. Please check the concert schedule for complete concert and special event information.
About the Chimes and Tower
The Cornell Chimes
The Cornell Chimes has been the heartbeat of campus life for more than a century, marking the hours and chiming concerts. The original set of nine bells first rang out at the university’s opening ceremonies October 7, 1868. Over time the chime has been recast and expanded to 21 bells; it continues to ring daily concerts, making it one of the largest and most frequently played chimes in the world.
Playing the Chimes
The bells are played by “chimesmasters.” An average of ten chimesmasters play three concerts daily during the school year and a reduced schedule during the summer and semester breaks, in addition to a variety of specialty concerts. Each spring a rigorous ten-week competition is held for anyone interested in becoming a chimesmaster. Previous chime experience is not a requirement to playing this unique instrument, only the ability to read music and the energy to climb 161 steps. There is no electronic assistance to the playing mechanism — all the work is done by the player. In the 1940s a chimesmaster received physical education credit for her efforts!
Virtually every kind of music is played on the bells, from Baroque to Beatles, Schubert to Scott Joplin, “Pomp and Circumstance” to the “Mickey Mouse March,” selected from a collection of more than 2500 pieces specially arranged for the Cornell Chimes by current and former chimesmasters. There are even duets. Because of the direct link between the playing stand and the clapper of the bell, it is possible to vary the dynamics of the music.
The chimes remain a bastion of tradition on campus. The “Cornell Changes” (known affectionately as the “Jennie McGraw Rag” in honor of the donor of the original bells) has heralded every morning concert since 1869. Its 549 notes provide a challenge to chimesmasters, whose goal it is to play it as fast as possible. It must be memorized by aspiring chimesmasters. Also played daily are the “Alma Mater” at the midday concert, and the “Cornell Evening Song” at the end of the evening concert.
McGraw Tower
The bells were originally played on a ground level playing stand on the site of the current clock tower, before moving to McGraw Hall in 1873. In 1891, upon its completion, they were moved to their permanent home atop library tower (later renamed McGraw Tower). Local architect William Henry Miller designed the 173-foot tower and adjacent Uris library.
The seven rooms in the tower were originally used to store the library’s stacks (presumably the lesser-used works!). They now house the chimes office, museum, practice room, and the 1875 Seth Thomas clock with a 14-foot pendulum. Visitors can still see the clockworks and pendulum, but a computer now operates the clock. In 1999 as part of the restoration of the bells and tower, a global positioning system was linked to the clockworks keeping all four clockfaces correct, up to the second!
The tower, a symbol of the university, as it stands above Cornell and the community is known to take on different appearances during the school year. Every Halloween the glowing clock faces resemble four jolly jack-o-lanterns. In March the clock faces take on a greenish hue in anticipation of Dragon Day when the first-year Architecture students debut their giant dragon to be thwarted by the rival Engineers.
McGraw Tower
Visitors are welcome and encouraged to attend our chimes concerts to fully appreciate these icons. Something essential would be missing from the campus without that cheery tintinnabulation that serenades Cornellians and visitors daily. In the words of Albert W. Smith 1878:
I wake at night and think I hear
Remembered chimes,
And mem’ry brings in visions clear
Enchanted times
Beneath green elms with branches bowed
In springtime suns,
Or touching elbows in a crowd
Of eager ones;
Again I’m hurrying past the towers
Or with the teams,
Or spending precious idling hours
In golden dreams
— from “The Hill”
You can read more about the history and lore of the Cornell Chimes and McGraw Tower in The Cornell Chimes, by Ed McKeown, available at the Cornell Store. Recordings of the Chimes is also available.
Chimesmasters
Each spring semester, the Cornell Chimesmasters hold an open competition to find new chimesmasters for the upcoming years. This ten-week event is open to all members of the Cornell community. No previous experience in chimes-ringing is needed, but you should be able to read music and climb 161 steps.
Although this is called a competition, compets are not really competing against each other. Rather we look for a certain level of excellence as you progress through the ten week competition. There is no quota. Some years we accept one new chimesmaster, some years three or four; we average about two new players each year.
Cornell Chimes Merchandise
All Cornell Chimes merchandise is available exclusively at the Cornell Store. Call 1-800-624-4080 or follow these links to order online: Music from the Tower compact disk is $15. The Cornell Chimes book is $24.95.
The Cornell Chimes: Music from the Tower
Music from the Tower, the newest CD in the Cornell Chimes music collection, is a 23-piece recording, grouped into 5 categories: Cornell Songs, Original Compositions, World, Classical, and Popular Music, to highlight the diverse array of music that rings daily from McGraw Tower. The individual pieces were selected to showcase the chimesmasters ever-expanding musical talents.
The Cornell Chimes, by Ed McKeown
This comprehensive history of the Cornell Chimes and McGraw Tower—published on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the tower—contains more than 50 archival photos and illustrations, anecdotes and memoirs. Beginning with James O’Neill, class of 1871, who was moved by the inaugural-day concert to petition President Andrew D. White for permission to play the bells, chimesmasters from throughout Cornell’s history tell the story of the changing campus and the changing times.
The Cornell Chimes
As anyone who has studied in Uris Library can tell you, Cornell’s chimes are housed in McGraw Tower, which is attached to the library. Every fifteen minutes, bells mark the passing of time, and two or three times a day, the campus is treated to a bell concert that features such time-honored and memorable tunes as (of course) the Alma Mater, the Evening Song, the Jennie McGraw Rag, “If I Only Had a Brain,” “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” and “Here Comes the Sun.”
Trek up the tower’s 161 steps during one of those concerts and you can watch chimesmasters in action, working solo or in teams with both hands and at least one foot working levers and pedals to play the 21 bells that comprise the renowned Cornell chimes. The original nine bells rang for the university’s opening ceremonies in 1868. Hung from a temporary wooden framework, and given by Jennie McGraw (later Jennie McGraw Fiske), the bells have been an important part of campus life ever since. McGraw Hall, one of Cornell’s first buildings, included a bell tower so that those nine bells could have a permanent home. When the library opened in 1891, the bells were installed in an even larger tower built for no other reason than to house them. As a distinctive Cornell landmark, McGraw Tower is frequently used to represent the university. Its iconic presence on campus has been felt, heard and seen by generations of Cornell students, and remembered by alumni around the world.
The Cornell Chimes is a student-run organization, and the chimesmasters themselves are student and alumni musicians who bring music to the campus every day. Two Cornell chimesmasters, SiYi Wang and Scott Silverstein, both class of 2008, took time out to discuss what it has been like to participate in one of Cornell”s most cherished, most enduring traditions. Listen to the interview and find out why chimesmasters will “always have the tower.”
Remembering Jennie McGraw Fiske
On October 7, 1868, at the inauguration ceremonies for Cornell University, Francis Finch, friend and legal advisor to Ezra Cornell and later, Dean of the Cornell Law School, presented the University with a very special gift on behalf of a young benefactor. Miss Jennie McGraw had given Cornell a chime of nine bells. They were played for the first time that afternoon from a wooden scaffold set on the site now occupied by Uris Library.
In his address Mr. Finch paid tribute to Jennie McGraw’s generosity:
“These bells are now yours [Cornell]—given cheerfully, given gladly, given hopefully; given with the best wishes of a kind heart to all to whom their chime shall ring….Let the memory of their giver make them sacred; let them ring always harmonies and never discords; let them infuse into the college life, and interweave among the sober threads of practical study and toil some love of art and lines of grace and beauty; let them teach the excellence of order and system… I give these bells, [on] behalf of her whose name I trust their melody will always commemorate….”
According to Cornell historian Morris Bishop, the chime was “the first to peal over an American campus.” A thankful Andrew D. White, Cornell’s first president, would request that the first song played each day be, “The Cornell Changes.” Adapted from a popular carillon tune that White had heard in London, it was soon rechristened, “The Jennie McGraw Rag” in honor of their donor.
Today the music of the bells carries her name across the campus, and her story and the legacy of her gifts to Cornell are memorialized in a collection of monuments found along the crest of Libe Slope.
Jennie McGraw shared her father’s enthusiasm for the new university and his interest in its library. John McGraw, a founding trustee of Cornell, had provided the money to build McGraw Hall, located between Morrill and White Halls in today’s Arts Quad. When it was completed in 1872, the library was moved there from cramped quarters in Morrill Hall, and Jennie’s bells were placed in its tower, which had been specifically designed to house them. The library and the chime would reside in McGraw Hall until the new library building and its tower were completed in 1891.
Both father and daughter had intended to endow the university’s library with generous funds to build and maintain its collections, but neither lived to see this work accomplished. When John McGraw died in 1877, Jennie inherited the bulk of his estate. Working with many of Cornell’s “founding fathers”—Ezra Cornell, Andrew D. White, Judge Douglass Boardman, and her father’s former business partner and fellow Cornell trustee, Henry Williams Sage, Jennie prepared to continue and expand her father’s charitable donations to the university.
But she died tragically of tuberculosis at the age of 41 just four years later. Her will revealed some of her intentions:
“I also give and bequeath to said Cornell University $200,000 in trust to be securely invested and known as the McGraw Library fund, the interest and income thereof to be applied to the support, maintenance, and increase of the library of said university….I give, devise, and bequeath all the rest, residue, and remainder of my property (if any there shall be) to Cornell University.”
Her combined gifts to Cornell were estimated to be at least one million dollars—an astounding sum at that time—and included funds for building a student hospital and a monument to her father and Ezra Cornell. It was also presumed to include the mansion she commissioned architect William Henry Miller to build on the hillside just west of campus. With this bequest, it appeared that Andrew D. White’s dream of a great library building would be realized.
Unfortunately, there were complications. The size of her gift exceeded the university’s endowment limits set in its charter, which would require state legislative action to be amended. And in the waning months of her life, Jennie McGraw had married Cornell’s first University Librarian, Willard Fiske. Troubled by the university trustees’ actions to secure their bequest, he contested the will and spent the next nine years in litigation with the university.
When the United States Supreme Court ruled in Fiske’s favor, it appeared that many of Jennie’s gifts to the university were lost. Most of the estate formerly pledged to Cornell went to her husband, who had retired to a villa in Florence to continue his avocation of book collecting. The mansion intended as the university’s museum went to Jennie’s extended family, who subsequently sold the building along with the artwork and furnishings that she had collected for it.
Outraged by this outcome, Henry Williams Sage, the Ithaca businessman and university trustee who had been a financial advisor to Ezra Cornell and the McGraw’s, took it upon himself to fulfill Jennie’s plans. Sage donated the money to build the new library, hired William Henry Miller to design the Romanesque structure that we now know as Uris Library, and established an endowment for the purchasing of library books.
In the fall of 1891 the university opened its first library building and the chimes were transferred to their now permanent home in the new Library Tower. Recognized around the world as a symbol of Cornell University, it was renamed McGraw Tower in 1962.
Henry Sage had dedicated his efforts to Jennie and paid tribute to her with three library memorials. A plaque mounted at the entrance to Uris offers Sage’s version of the “Great Will Case” that reads:
“The good she tried to do shall stand as if ‘twere done; God finishes the work by noble souls begun. In loving memory of Jennie McGraw Fiske whose purpose to Found a great library for Cornell University has been defeated. This house is built and endowed by her friend, Henry W. Sage, 1891.”
Directly above the doors is a bronze portrait of Jennie by American sculptor Anne Whitney. Cornell was founded as a non-sectarian institution, but here at the entrance to the university’s Romanesque cathedral of books is the library’s guardian angel and patron saint.
The third memorial is more subtle and perhaps the most telling of the three. Located high above the main entrance to Uris, three monograms with carved initials honor those most responsible for providing Cornell with its library: ADW for Andrew Dickson White, HWS for Henry Williams Sage, and JMG for Jennie McGraw. Sage intentionally left off the F of Jennie McGraw Fiske’s married name as a slight to Willard Fiske.
Fiske’s placed his own memorial to his wife inside the library in the Great Reading Room, now known as the Dean Reading Room. Over the fireplace that is behind the current Circulation Desk is a marble bust of Jennie that honors her as a Cornell benefactress.
Funds from Jennie’s estate were used by the university to purchase additional bells for the chime, to set up an endowment for a student hospital, and to build an addition to Sage Chapel. Memorials at the tower entrance to Uris Library, outside the Gannett Health Services building in Ho Plaza, and on the north wall of Sage Chapel commemorate her generosity.
Sage Chapel’s Memorial Antechapel, built in 1883, is the final resting place for Ezra Cornell, Jennie McGraw Fiske, her father, her husband, and other Cornell dignitaries. Inside the chapel are several sarcophagi with reclining statues. A recumbent figure of Jennie, sculpted by Sir Moses Ezekiel rests below a stained glass window that pictures her surrounded by her nine bells.
If Jennie’s original intentions were thwarted by the legal case that challenged her will, they were more than fulfilled by another legal document: her husband’s last will and testament. Upon Willard Fiske’s death in 1904, he left Cornell nearly $600,000, a sum that exceeded the amount of money he had inherited from Jennie. In addition, he bequeathed his unrivaled collections of Dante, Petrarch, and Icelandic books and manuscripts to the Cornell University Library.
Jennie McGraw Fiske was a true supporter of Ezra’s dream. Through her generosity and good intentions, and the philanthropy they inspired, Jennie McGraw Fiske, was able to provide Cornell with its original chime, its student hospital, the University Library, and several priceless book collections and library endowments. Although today’s students may not realize it, her gifts are key fixtures of the Cornell tradition that remains today.
Cornell Pumpkin
On October 8, 1997 an astonishingly large, voluptuous pumpkin appeared nestled atop Cornell’s McGraw Tower. The pumpkin was thought to weigh up to 60 lbs., and sat pinned to the 173 foot Tower for several weeks. It was an incredible prank that made National news, which no one has come forth to claim credit. It remains a mystery as to how the stunt was pulled off, and the enigma has since passed on into Cornell lore.
Where is it now? The pumpkin (or what remains thereof) is currently being stored by the Department of Psychology in the basement of Uris Hall, after removing it from the displayed Wilder Brain Collection.
Mr. Robert Stundtner, of maintenance, believes the pumpkin “remains in our hearts and minds.” Mr. Segelken, with Cornell News Service, said that it has “composted” and that it is—if you will—in pumpkin heaven.
On March 13, 1998, the Pumpkin was knocked down ahead of schedule by workmen maneuvering a crane that would hold the Provost in an official removing ceremony later.
News Coverage: The mystery and sheer daring of the prank generated coverage by the national news media, beginning with an article in The New York Times on Oct. 27. The Cornell Daily Sun ran a daily “Pumpkin Watch” through Halloween and Editor-in-Chief Hilary Krieger was interviewed live on the scene by Matt Lauer of the Today Show on Oct. 28. The Associated Press ran a news story and photo of the pumpkin that appeared in newspapers across the nation. The Cornell News Service handled radio interviews from cities as far away as Minneapolis and Reno, Nev. CNN, MTV and NBC news programs also carried pumpkin reports.
Cornell’s is First Organ with Multiple Historic Wind Systems
Cornell’s new baroque organ has become the world’s first organ with multiple historic wind systems, using a technique organ designer Munetaka Yokota perfected on a research instrument at the Göteborg Organ Art Center (GOArt) at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
With simple manual adjustments, organists can authentically re-create the wind systems of organs from the 15th to the beginning of the 19th century from north and central Germany on the instrument.
Professor of music Annette Richards, who led the organ project at Cornell, explains that “the wind is the basis of any organ’s sound, and to appreciate music like Bach’s as it was intended, you need to hear it played on the kind of organ for which it was written.”
The organ is intended to reintroduce modern audiences to this authentic, historic sound, which was gradually lost over the centuries as equal temperament in keyboard intervals and highly stable wind systems became the norm.
The ingenious system includes seven new valves and 80 new feet of conductors, and has attracted worldwide attention from organists and researchers. An international group of scientists gathered at Cornell in spring 2012 to share data on the organ’s key action characteristics and wind behavior.
Yokota and GOArt research engineer Carl Johan Bergsten will use the new system to study general wind system behavior in organs. They’ll compare the measurements they took in November 2011, before the modification, to measurements they will take after.
“We’re excited to hear how the collaborative research on this organ between mathematical modelers, engineers and a builder with Munetaka Yokota’s historical knowledge and incomparable musical intuition can make our instrument speak with even more clarity, power, nuance and expressivity—even while acting as a cutting-edge laboratory for the latest experimental study,” Richards says.
The $2 million organ is the culmination of more than seven years of research and collaboration by GOArt and the Department of Music, and more than two years of work by 21st-century craftsmen, who used authentic 17th- and early 18th-century methods to hand-build the instrument.
The organ re-creates the tonal design of the 1706 Arp Schnitger organ at Charlottenburg in Berlin, which was destroyed by Allied bombers during WWII. The massive wooden case has a design based on a Schnitger organ at Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany, and was hand-built by local cabinetmaker Christopher Lowe.
The original wind system on Cornell’s organ was built by Parsons Pipe Organ Builders in Canandaigua, N.Y.; the 1,827 pipes were handcrafted in Sweden by Yokota, using rediscovered historic techniques. The modifications to the wind system were made by Lowe.
The Cornell Baroque Organ
The new majestic baroque organ in Cornell’s Anabel Taylor Chapel required over seven years of research in an international, collaborative effort by Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences and the Gothenburg Organ Art Center (GOArt) at the University of GÖTEBORG, Sweden.
Interdisciplinary Effort
The instrument re-creates the tonal design of the celebrated Charlottenburg organ in Berlin, handmade in 1706 by master organ builder Arp Schnitger and tragically destroyed during WWII. The interdisciplinary effort to understand the many aspects of this historic organ’s construction included experts in fluid dynamics, electro-acoustics, and metallurgy, as well as craftsmen and musicians. Each of the nearly 2,000 pipes was handcrafted in Sweden under the direction of project designer Munetaka Yokota.
Exquisite Craftsmanship
View from behind the keyboardThe massive, intricately designed wooden case is based on another Schnitger organ in Germany. Every detail is handmade and historically accurate, from the wooden pegs and hand-forged nails to the hand-planed wooden surface and dovetail joints.
Musical Versatility
Commissioned by the Department of Music, the organ is perfect for the music of J.S. Bach and his north German predecessors, and is versatile enough for solo and ensemble music from the 16th century onward. As a complement to the music department’s strengths in performance and research, the organ is expected to attract top organ students, professional performers, composers and scholars to Cornell.
The Cornell Baroque Organ Project
A New Organ for Anabel Taylor Chapel
In 2003 Cornell University began work on a new organ for Anabel Taylor Chapel—an instrument based on a German 18th century masterpiece—as part of an international research project involving three academic institutions in the field of organ studies: Cornell, the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester. This interdisciplinary and international effort encompasses scholars, physical scientists, musicians, craftsmen and visual artists from Sweden, Japan, The Netherlands, Germany and New York State. Joining their efforts under the artistic direction of Munetaka Yokota at the Gothenburg Organ Art Center (GOART), the members of this team created an organ that is not just a fine vehicle for teaching, performance and scholarship, but also a magnificent work of art. (See Photo Galleries section below.)
Historical Models
The Cornell Baroque Organ will reconstruct the tonal design of the celebrated instrument at the Charlottenburg-Schlosskapelle built in the first decade of the 18th century in Berlin by Arp Schnitger, one of history’s greatest organ builders. The instrument’s layout and visual design will be based on Schnitger’s breathtaking organ case at Clausthal-Zellerfeld in central Germany. See Historic Model Photo Gallery.
Arp Schnitger was the most important organ builder of late 17th-century North Germany; although he was active mainly in its northwestern corner, his work was well known in all of the German speaking lands. He built several organs in the eastern cities as well, with unique features not possessed by their northwestern counterparts. Many of his works in the northwestern areas survive today and are well-known, but none of his instruments in the eastern areas are extant today, with the one exception of the organ case in Clausthal-Zellerfeld.
Tragically destroyed in the Second World War, the Charlottenburg organ and its unique tonal qualities can be recreated today using original documentation alongside early 20th-century studies and recordings of the instrument. Unique to this Berlin instrument, and still little-understood, is the way in which Schnitger combined North- and Central-German organ aesthetics in its design, to result in an unusual, even exceptional, tonal concept. This recreation will allow us to explore this fascinating sound world once again. (See Specification section below.)
Research, Collaboration and Outreach
The project involves extensive research into the art of woodworking, metallurgy, organ construction and the crucial voicing of organ pipes in the early 18th century. It seeks to go beyond simply revivifying these skills, and attempts to place them in the cultural and aesthetic contexts so particular to Berlin and its environs. As part of this process, Cornell’s new organ is being built using sophisticated handcraft techniques, replicating the construction techniques of its storied historical models. In a landmark collaboration with local talent, Cornell is engaged not just with GOArt, but also with Ithaca-based master woodworkers Christopher Lowe and Peter De Boer, who built the organ case entirely by hand, and with the Canandaigua-based organ-building firm Parsons Pipe Organ Builders (see Case Construction Photo Gallery). This is more than an academic exercise. The historical entity that was the Berlin organ will enrich the active musical culture of Cornell, Ithaca, and Central New York and will provide valuable data and insights that can be drawn on by kindred projects globally. And with the inauguration of Cornell’s Baroque organ, the Fingerlakes region of New York will become an unprecedented destination for historic organ performance and research, with musicians and scholars able to work both at Cornell and on the nearby Eastman School of Music’s historic organs.
Performance and Teaching
The Cornell Baroque Organ will be ideal both for the glorious solo repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries, especially the music of J. S. Bach, and for the accompaniment of ensemble music for instruments and voices; in addition, it will be versatile enough for performance of music from the 16th to the 19th centuries and beyond. This instrument will act as a magnet for top student organists, as well as being an inspiring tool for teaching, solo and group performance, and new composition. The Cornell Baroque Organ will complement the existing strengths of the Cornell music department in performance and research, especially in the music of the 17th to 19th centuries. In addition, it will contribute to the university and wider community in diverse and unforeseen ways. This project does not simply import a historic organ into Central New York, but seeks to transplant and nurture the skills required to make and maintain such an instrument, and of course to play and use it, drawing on the best of the past in pursuit of a rich future. This is not an exercise in reconstruction and museum-style curatorship but an effort to invigorate a constellation of skills and musical activities to help further energize both local culture and the University’s international standing.
Specification:
Hauptwerk (Manual I)
Principal 8′, Quintadena 16′, Floite dues 8′, Gedact 8′, Octav 4′, Violdegamb 4′, Nassat 3′, SuperOctav 2′, Mixtur IV, Trompete 8′, Vox humana 8′
Rückpositiv (Manual II)
Principal 8′, Gedact lieblich 8′, Octav 4′, Floite dues 4′, Octav 2′, Waltflöit 2′, Sesquialt II, Scharf III, Hoboy 8′
Pedal
Principal 16′, Octav 8′, Octav 4′, Nachthorn 2′, Rauschpfeife II, Mixtur IV, Posaunen 16′, Trommet 8′, Trommet 4′, Cornet 2′
Baroque Organ Fact Sheet
Total cost: approx. $ 2 million
Number of years of research, planning and construction: 7
Number of years organ is projected to last: several hundred
Pipes:
•Number of pipes 1,847
•Largest pipe; c. 16 feet long, 8 inches diameter
•Smallest pipe—c. 1 inch long, ¼ inch diameter
•Materials for pipes: lead, tin, pine
•Sheets of metal for pipes cast on beds of sand
•Seven and a half months required to “voice” pipes (ensure each has perfect sound in the chapel, and responds correctly to pressure and speed of the touch of the performer)
•42 ranks (individual rows of pipes)
•30 stops
Keyboards:
•2 manuals, each with 50 notes (C, D to d3)
•1 pedal, with 26 notes (C, D to d1)
•over 740 feet of wooden trackers traveling from key to pallet
Bellows:
•4 wedge bellows (each weighing approximately 430 pounds)
•two pumpers required to manually run the bellows
•fastened together with cow hide and cow hide organic glue
Scale:
•lowest pitch: c. 30 Hz
•highest pitch c. 8, 000 Hz
Case:
•quarter-sawn fumed white oak
•many tons of lumber in the case (estimated around 7)
•handcrafted; every surface hand-planed rather than sanded
•longest boards, 18 ft, imported from 300-year old sustainable forest in Germany
•case dimensions: 25ft wide; 4 and ½ feet deep; 23ft high in the center
•number of structural nails in case: zero—case held together by wooden pegs, dovetail joints, wedges, drawboard mortise and tenon
All nails, hinges, etc. hand-forged of solid iron in Sweden
Contacts
•Cornell University
oContact: Annette Richards, University Organist
oProfessor of Musicology and Performance (17th-18th-century music, organ)
oPh.D., Stanford University
o607-255-7102, ar34@cornell.edu
Annette Richards provided the passion and organization behind the Cornell Baroque Organ project. She managed every aspect, from coordinating the international team of builders to shoveling snow for the delivery trucks, and is now delighted to be one of the primary organists to play the unique instrument. More details at: music.cornell.edu/people/faculty/?page=cudm/facultyCtrl&a... and vivo.cornell.edu/humanities/individual/vivo/individual23295
•David Yearsley
oProfessor of Musicology and Performance (17th-18th-century music, early keyboards)
oPh.D., Stanford University
o607-255-9024, dgy2@cornell.edu
David Yearsley provided key support for the Cornell Baroque Organ project through his expertise with organs and his skill as a performer. He is also one of the primary organist to play this magnificent instrument. More details at: music.cornell.edu/people/faculty/?page=cudm/facultyCtrl&a...
•CCSN Woodworking
oContact: Christopher Lowe
oCabinet Maker
oFreeville, NY(607) 347-6633 scmarlowe@frontiernet.net
Christopher Lowe is a local craftsman who has been a cabinet maker for 28 years, specializing in everything from barn restoration to furniture making. This was his first organ commission.
•Göteborg Organ Art Center
oUniversity of Gothenburg, Sweden
oGOArt was responsible for the overall design and project coordination, the production of the pipework, and the voicing of the pipes. More details at www.goart.gu.se/Research/
oContact: Munetaka Yokota
oEmail: munetaka.yokota@goart.gu.se
Munetaka Yokota supervised the assembly of the organ at Cornell. He is the main researcher and designer of the instrument and the primary craftsman for the organ pipes. He brought his family to Ithaca to live for almost a year, while he installed and voiced the pipes at Cornell.
•Parsons Pipe Organ Builders
oCanandaigua, New York
oParsons Pipe Organ Builders was responsible for constructing the wind system inside the organ, including all the mechanicals and the bellows. More details at: www.parsonsorgans.com/home.htm
oContact: Richard Parsons
oPresident and owner (585) 229-5888 or (888) 229-4820 or info@parsonsorgans.com
Timeline
•2/2/10 Delivery of wind chest, organ case, to Anabel Taylor Chapel
•Assembly of organ begins
•2/8/10-2/19/10 Pipe racking (involves burning wood and making a great deal of smoke, and will happen in a little shed right outside the chapel)
•2/17/1 Voicing of pipes begins
•3/1/10 Basic organ assembly complete, though all pipes might not be in
•03/4-6/10 Inspection by the great Dutch organist and organ expert Jacques van Oortmerssen
•03/10-11/10 Final tuning of organ
•04/10 Open house to display assembled organ
•11/10 Late November concert to inaugurate organ for local audience
•3/11 Official inauguration of organ
Annette Richards
University Organist
Professor
Musicology, Performance
17th-18th-century music, organ
Ph.D., Stanford University
Tel#: 607-255-3712
ar34@cornell.edu
340 Lincoln Hall
In her work as a music historian and keyboard player, Annette Richards draws on her training in English literature, art history, musicology, and musical performance. Musical and visual aesthetics and criticism are of particular interest to her, as is music in literature, and changing attitudes and approaches to performance in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Her book The Free Fantasia and the Musical Picturesque (Cambridge, 2001) explores the intersections between musical fantasy and the landscape garden in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century music culture, ranging across German-speaking Europe to England. Other topics on which she has written include Mozart and musical automata, the German keyboard song and solitude, and Haydn and the grotesque. She is the editor of CPE Bach Studies (Cambridge, 2006), and, with David Yearsley, of the Organ Works of C. P. E. Bach for the new complete edition (Packard Humanities Institute, 2008). She is also the founding editor of Keyboard Perspectives. Prof. Richards is currently working on two projects: a reconstruction of the extraordinary collection of musical portraits belonging to C. P. E. Bach, and a book that expands on her work on death, fantasy, and the grotesque to explore the dark hermeneutics of musical life in the age of European enlightenment and revolution—Music and the Gothic on the Dark Side of 1800.
As a performer Annette Richards specializes in music of the Italian and North German Baroque, and has played concerts on numerous historic and modern instruments in Europe and the United States. She also regularly performs music from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and has won prizes in international competitions including the 1992 Dublin International Organ Competition and first prize for organ duo with David Yearsley at the Bruges Early Music Festival in 1994. Her CD Melchior Schildt and the North German Organ Art ( on the Loft label) was recorded on the historic organ at Roskilde Cathedral, Denmark.
Prof. Richards has won numerous honors, including fellowships at the Stanford Humanities Center, the Getty Center in Santa Monica and at the Society for the Humanities at Cornell. She has also held a New Directions Fellowship from the Mellon Foundation and a fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
At Cornell Prof. Richards teaches courses on eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century music aesthetics and criticism; intersections between music and visual culture; music and the uncanny; the undergraduate history survey; music of the Baroque; and the organ and its musical culture, as well as organ performance. She has organized several conferences and concert festivals at the university, including “German Orpheus: C. P. E. Bach and North German Music Culture” (1998) and “British Modernism” (2003).
Prof. Richards is also the Executive Director of the Westfield Center for Historical Keyboard Studies.
David Yearsley
Professor
Musicology, Performance
History, literature, and performance of 17th-18th-century music
Ph.D., Stanford University
Tel#: 607-255-9024
dgy2@cornell.edu
341 Lincoln Hall
David Yearsley was educated at Harvard College and Stanford University, where he received his Ph.D. in Musicology in 1994. At Cornell he continues to pursue his interests in the performance, literature and history of northern European music among other activities. His musicological work investigates literary, social, and theological contexts for music and music making, and he has written on topics ranging from music and death, to alchemy and counterpoint, musical invention and imagination, and musical representations of public spaces in film. His first book, Bach and the Meanings of Counterpoint (Cambridge, 2002) explodes long-held notions about the status of counterpoint in the mid-eighteenth century, and illuminates unexpected areas of the musical culture into which Bach’s most obsessive and complicated musical creations were released. More recently, his Bach’s Feet: the Organ Pedals in European Culture (Cambridge, 2012) presents a new interpretation of the significance of the oldest and richest of European instruments—the organ—by investigating the German origins of the uniquely independent use of the feet in music-making. Delving into a range of musical, literary, and visual sources, Bach’s Feet pursues the wide-ranging cultural importance of this physically demanding art, from the blind German organists of the 15th century, through the central contribution of Bach’s music and legacy, to the newly-pedaling organists of the British Empire, and the sinister visions of Nazi propagandists.
He is currently working on a monograph entitled The Musical Lives of Anna Magdalena Bach, a study of the changing musical contributions and restrictions, performing possibilities and perils that characterized the musical world of the women of the Bach household in the first half 18th century.
David’s musical and musicological interests extend to the Elizabethans, the Italian keyboard traditions of the seventeenth century, Handel’s operas, film music, musical travels, and the intersections between music and politics.
The only musician ever to win all major prizes at the Bruges Early Music Festival competition, David’s recordings of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century organ music are available from Loft Recordings and Musica Omnia.
While his primary interests are in European music culture of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, he has taught courses in music theory, film music, music and travel, and music historiography.
Works by David Yearsley
Articles
•An essay on the political implications of Bach’s vocal works: konturen.uoregon.edu/vol1_Yearsley.html
Performances
•Concert performance of C. P. E. Bach’s Abschied von meinem Silbermannischen Claviere for the Cambridge Society for Early Music played on Ferruccio Busoni’s 1906 Dolmetsch clavichord
•Concert performance of C. P. E. Bach’s Fantasia in C Major from Kenner und Liebhaber VI for the Cambridge Society of Early Music played on Ferruccio Busoni’s 1906 Dolmetsch clavichord
Why Cornell?
“A great university deserves to have a really great organ,” says Annette Richards, university organist and project manager. Although Cornell had a number of organs already, it lacked an instrument of the style and scope appropriate to the music of the noted German organist composers of the 17th and 18th centuries. “There was no great vehicle for playing the music especially of Johann Sebastian Bach and his North German predecessors. So I felt it was important for us to get a new really first class—world class—instrument at Cornell,” says Richards.
Cornell’s New Baroque Organ
“Cornell is an institution that fosters many kinds of scholarship, and it also has a long and very storied musical tradition,” continues Richards. “Andrew Dickson White was a big organ supporter and fan. He initiated getting an important organ for Bailey Hall when that building was built. And Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences has a music department where the 18th century is a real strength. It also has a fine collection of keyboard instruments already, and it made sense to build on all those strengths and that history to bring something like this here.”
Cornell’s is First Organ with Multiple Historic Wind Systems
Cornell’s new baroque organ has become the world’s first organ with multiple historic wind systems, using a technique organ designer Munetaka Yokota perfected on a research instrument at the Göteborg Organ Art Center (GOArt) at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
With simple manual adjustments, organists can authentically re-create the wind systems of organs from the 15th to the beginning of the 19th century from north and central Germany on the instrument.
Professor of music Annette Richards, who led the organ project at Cornell, explains that “the wind is the basis of any organ’s sound, and to appreciate music like Bach’s as it was intended, you need to hear it played on the kind of organ for which it was written.”
The organ is intended to reintroduce modern audiences to this authentic, historic sound, which was gradually lost over the centuries as equal temperament in keyboard intervals and highly stable wind systems became the norm.
The ingenious system includes seven new valves and 80 new feet of conductors, and has attracted worldwide attention from organists and researchers. An international group of scientists gathered at Cornell in spring 2012 to share data on the organ’s key action characteristics and wind behavior.
Yokota and GOArt research engineer Carl Johan Bergsten will use the new system to study general wind system behavior in organs. They’ll compare the measurements they took in November 2011, before the modification, to measurements they will take after.
“We’re excited to hear how the collaborative research on this organ between mathematical modelers, engineers and a builder with Munetaka Yokota’s historical knowledge and incomparable musical intuition can make our instrument speak with even more clarity, power, nuance and expressivity—even while acting as a cutting-edge laboratory for the latest experimental study,” Richards says.
The $2 million organ is the culmination of more than seven years of research and collaboration by GOArt and the Department of Music, and more than two years of work by 21st-century craftsmen, who used authentic 17th- and early 18th-century methods to hand-build the instrument.
The organ re-creates the tonal design of the 1706 Arp Schnitger organ at Charlottenburg in Berlin, which was destroyed by Allied bombers during WWII. The massive wooden case has a design based on a Schnitger organ at Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany, and was hand-built by local cabinetmaker Christopher Lowe.
The original wind system on Cornell’s organ was built by Parsons Pipe Organ Builders in Canandaigua, N.Y.; the 1,827 pipes were handcrafted in Sweden by Yokota, using rediscovered historic techniques. The modifications to the wind system were made by Lowe.
The Cornell Baroque Organ
The new majestic baroque organ in Cornell’s Anabel Taylor Chapel required over seven years of research in an international, collaborative effort by Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences and the Gothenburg Organ Art Center (GOArt) at the University of GÖTEBORG, Sweden.
Interdisciplinary Effort
The instrument re-creates the tonal design of the celebrated Charlottenburg organ in Berlin, handmade in 1706 by master organ builder Arp Schnitger and tragically destroyed during WWII. The interdisciplinary effort to understand the many aspects of this historic organ’s construction included experts in fluid dynamics, electro-acoustics, and metallurgy, as well as craftsmen and musicians. Each of the nearly 2,000 pipes was handcrafted in Sweden under the direction of project designer Munetaka Yokota.
Exquisite Craftsmanship
View from behind the keyboardThe massive, intricately designed wooden case is based on another Schnitger organ in Germany. Every detail is handmade and historically accurate, from the wooden pegs and hand-forged nails to the hand-planed wooden surface and dovetail joints.
Musical Versatility
Commissioned by the Department of Music, the organ is perfect for the music of J.S. Bach and his north German predecessors, and is versatile enough for solo and ensemble music from the 16th century onward. As a complement to the music department’s strengths in performance and research, the organ is expected to attract top organ students, professional performers, composers and scholars to Cornell.
The Cornell Baroque Organ Project
A New Organ for Anabel Taylor Chapel
In 2003 Cornell University began work on a new organ for Anabel Taylor Chapel—an instrument based on a German 18th century masterpiece—as part of an international research project involving three academic institutions in the field of organ studies: Cornell, the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester. This interdisciplinary and international effort encompasses scholars, physical scientists, musicians, craftsmen and visual artists from Sweden, Japan, The Netherlands, Germany and New York State. Joining their efforts under the artistic direction of Munetaka Yokota at the Gothenburg Organ Art Center (GOART), the members of this team created an organ that is not just a fine vehicle for teaching, performance and scholarship, but also a magnificent work of art. (See Photo Galleries section below.)
Historical Models
The Cornell Baroque Organ will reconstruct the tonal design of the celebrated instrument at the Charlottenburg-Schlosskapelle built in the first decade of the 18th century in Berlin by Arp Schnitger, one of history’s greatest organ builders. The instrument’s layout and visual design will be based on Schnitger’s breathtaking organ case at Clausthal-Zellerfeld in central Germany. See Historic Model Photo Gallery.
Arp Schnitger was the most important organ builder of late 17th-century North Germany; although he was active mainly in its northwestern corner, his work was well known in all of the German speaking lands. He built several organs in the eastern cities as well, with unique features not possessed by their northwestern counterparts. Many of his works in the northwestern areas survive today and are well-known, but none of his instruments in the eastern areas are extant today, with the one exception of the organ case in Clausthal-Zellerfeld.
Tragically destroyed in the Second World War, the Charlottenburg organ and its unique tonal qualities can be recreated today using original documentation alongside early 20th-century studies and recordings of the instrument. Unique to this Berlin instrument, and still little-understood, is the way in which Schnitger combined North- and Central-German organ aesthetics in its design, to result in an unusual, even exceptional, tonal concept. This recreation will allow us to explore this fascinating sound world once again. (See Specification section below.)
Research, Collaboration and Outreach
The project involves extensive research into the art of woodworking, metallurgy, organ construction and the crucial voicing of organ pipes in the early 18th century. It seeks to go beyond simply revivifying these skills, and attempts to place them in the cultural and aesthetic contexts so particular to Berlin and its environs. As part of this process, Cornell’s new organ is being built using sophisticated handcraft techniques, replicating the construction techniques of its storied historical models. In a landmark collaboration with local talent, Cornell is engaged not just with GOArt, but also with Ithaca-based master woodworkers Christopher Lowe and Peter De Boer, who built the organ case entirely by hand, and with the Canandaigua-based organ-building firm Parsons Pipe Organ Builders (see Case Construction Photo Gallery). This is more than an academic exercise. The historical entity that was the Berlin organ will enrich the active musical culture of Cornell, Ithaca, and Central New York and will provide valuable data and insights that can be drawn on by kindred projects globally. And with the inauguration of Cornell’s Baroque organ, the Fingerlakes region of New York will become an unprecedented destination for historic organ performance and research, with musicians and scholars able to work both at Cornell and on the nearby Eastman School of Music’s historic organs.
Performance and Teaching
The Cornell Baroque Organ will be ideal both for the glorious solo repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries, especially the music of J. S. Bach, and for the accompaniment of ensemble music for instruments and voices; in addition, it will be versatile enough for performance of music from the 16th to the 19th centuries and beyond. This instrument will act as a magnet for top student organists, as well as being an inspiring tool for teaching, solo and group performance, and new composition. The Cornell Baroque Organ will complement the existing strengths of the Cornell music department in performance and research, especially in the music of the 17th to 19th centuries. In addition, it will contribute to the university and wider community in diverse and unforeseen ways. This project does not simply import a historic organ into Central New York, but seeks to transplant and nurture the skills required to make and maintain such an instrument, and of course to play and use it, drawing on the best of the past in pursuit of a rich future. This is not an exercise in reconstruction and museum-style curatorship but an effort to invigorate a constellation of skills and musical activities to help further energize both local culture and the University’s international standing.
Specification:
Hauptwerk (Manual I)
Principal 8′, Quintadena 16′, Floite dues 8′, Gedact 8′, Octav 4′, Violdegamb 4′, Nassat 3′, SuperOctav 2′, Mixtur IV, Trompete 8′, Vox humana 8′
Rückpositiv (Manual II)
Principal 8′, Gedact lieblich 8′, Octav 4′, Floite dues 4′, Octav 2′, Waltflöit 2′, Sesquialt II, Scharf III, Hoboy 8′
Pedal
Principal 16′, Octav 8′, Octav 4′, Nachthorn 2′, Rauschpfeife II, Mixtur IV, Posaunen 16′, Trommet 8′, Trommet 4′, Cornet 2′
Baroque Organ Fact Sheet
Total cost: approx. $ 2 million
Number of years of research, planning and construction: 7
Number of years organ is projected to last: several hundred
Pipes:
•Number of pipes 1,847
•Largest pipe; c. 16 feet long, 8 inches diameter
•Smallest pipe—c. 1 inch long, ¼ inch diameter
•Materials for pipes: lead, tin, pine
•Sheets of metal for pipes cast on beds of sand
•Seven and a half months required to “voice” pipes (ensure each has perfect sound in the chapel, and responds correctly to pressure and speed of the touch of the performer)
•42 ranks (individual rows of pipes)
•30 stops
Keyboards:
•2 manuals, each with 50 notes (C, D to d3)
•1 pedal, with 26 notes (C, D to d1)
•over 740 feet of wooden trackers traveling from key to pallet
Bellows:
•4 wedge bellows (each weighing approximately 430 pounds)
•two pumpers required to manually run the bellows
•fastened together with cow hide and cow hide organic glue
Scale:
•lowest pitch: c. 30 Hz
•highest pitch c. 8, 000 Hz
Case:
•quarter-sawn fumed white oak
•many tons of lumber in the case (estimated around 7)
•handcrafted; every surface hand-planed rather than sanded
•longest boards, 18 ft, imported from 300-year old sustainable forest in Germany
•case dimensions: 25ft wide; 4 and ½ feet deep; 23ft high in the center
•number of structural nails in case: zero—case held together by wooden pegs, dovetail joints, wedges, drawboard mortise and tenon
All nails, hinges, etc. hand-forged of solid iron in Sweden
Contacts
•Cornell University
oContact: Annette Richards, University Organist
oProfessor of Musicology and Performance (17th-18th-century music, organ)
oPh.D., Stanford University
o607-255-7102, ar34@cornell.edu
Annette Richards provided the passion and organization behind the Cornell Baroque Organ project. She managed every aspect, from coordinating the international team of builders to shoveling snow for the delivery trucks, and is now delighted to be one of the primary organists to play the unique instrument. More details at: music.cornell.edu/people/faculty/?page=cudm/facultyCtrl&a... and vivo.cornell.edu/humanities/individual/vivo/individual23295
•David Yearsley
oProfessor of Musicology and Performance (17th-18th-century music, early keyboards)
oPh.D., Stanford University
o607-255-9024, dgy2@cornell.edu
David Yearsley provided key support for the Cornell Baroque Organ project through his expertise with organs and his skill as a performer. He is also one of the primary organist to play this magnificent instrument. More details at: music.cornell.edu/people/faculty/?page=cudm/facultyCtrl&a...
•CCSN Woodworking
oContact: Christopher Lowe
oCabinet Maker
oFreeville, NY(607) 347-6633 scmarlowe@frontiernet.net
Christopher Lowe is a local craftsman who has been a cabinet maker for 28 years, specializing in everything from barn restoration to furniture making. This was his first organ commission.
•Göteborg Organ Art Center
oUniversity of Gothenburg, Sweden
oGOArt was responsible for the overall design and project coordination, the production of the pipework, and the voicing of the pipes. More details at www.goart.gu.se/Research/
oContact: Munetaka Yokota
oEmail: munetaka.yokota@goart.gu.se
Munetaka Yokota supervised the assembly of the organ at Cornell. He is the main researcher and designer of the instrument and the primary craftsman for the organ pipes. He brought his family to Ithaca to live for almost a year, while he installed and voiced the pipes at Cornell.
•Parsons Pipe Organ Builders
oCanandaigua, New York
oParsons Pipe Organ Builders was responsible for constructing the wind system inside the organ, including all the mechanicals and the bellows. More details at: www.parsonsorgans.com/home.htm
oContact: Richard Parsons
oPresident and owner (585) 229-5888 or (888) 229-4820 or info@parsonsorgans.com
Timeline
•2/2/10 Delivery of wind chest, organ case, to Anabel Taylor Chapel
•Assembly of organ begins
•2/8/10-2/19/10 Pipe racking (involves burning wood and making a great deal of smoke, and will happen in a little shed right outside the chapel)
•2/17/1 Voicing of pipes begins
•3/1/10 Basic organ assembly complete, though all pipes might not be in
•03/4-6/10 Inspection by the great Dutch organist and organ expert Jacques van Oortmerssen
•03/10-11/10 Final tuning of organ
•04/10 Open house to display assembled organ
•11/10 Late November concert to inaugurate organ for local audience
•3/11 Official inauguration of organ
Annette Richards
University Organist
Professor
Musicology, Performance
17th-18th-century music, organ
Ph.D., Stanford University
Tel#: 607-255-3712
ar34@cornell.edu
340 Lincoln Hall
In her work as a music historian and keyboard player, Annette Richards draws on her training in English literature, art history, musicology, and musical performance. Musical and visual aesthetics and criticism are of particular interest to her, as is music in literature, and changing attitudes and approaches to performance in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Her book The Free Fantasia and the Musical Picturesque (Cambridge, 2001) explores the intersections between musical fantasy and the landscape garden in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century music culture, ranging across German-speaking Europe to England. Other topics on which she has written include Mozart and musical automata, the German keyboard song and solitude, and Haydn and the grotesque. She is the editor of CPE Bach Studies (Cambridge, 2006), and, with David Yearsley, of the Organ Works of C. P. E. Bach for the new complete edition (Packard Humanities Institute, 2008). She is also the founding editor of Keyboard Perspectives. Prof. Richards is currently working on two projects: a reconstruction of the extraordinary collection of musical portraits belonging to C. P. E. Bach, and a book that expands on her work on death, fantasy, and the grotesque to explore the dark hermeneutics of musical life in the age of European enlightenment and revolution—Music and the Gothic on the Dark Side of 1800.
As a performer Annette Richards specializes in music of the Italian and North German Baroque, and has played concerts on numerous historic and modern instruments in Europe and the United States. She also regularly performs music from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and has won prizes in international competitions including the 1992 Dublin International Organ Competition and first prize for organ duo with David Yearsley at the Bruges Early Music Festival in 1994. Her CD Melchior Schildt and the North German Organ Art ( on the Loft label) was recorded on the historic organ at Roskilde Cathedral, Denmark.
Prof. Richards has won numerous honors, including fellowships at the Stanford Humanities Center, the Getty Center in Santa Monica and at the Society for the Humanities at Cornell. She has also held a New Directions Fellowship from the Mellon Foundation and a fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
At Cornell Prof. Richards teaches courses on eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century music aesthetics and criticism; intersections between music and visual culture; music and the uncanny; the undergraduate history survey; music of the Baroque; and the organ and its musical culture, as well as organ performance. She has organized several conferences and concert festivals at the university, including “German Orpheus: C. P. E. Bach and North German Music Culture” (1998) and “British Modernism” (2003).
Prof. Richards is also the Executive Director of the Westfield Center for Historical Keyboard Studies.
David Yearsley
Professor
Musicology, Performance
History, literature, and performance of 17th-18th-century music
Ph.D., Stanford University
Tel#: 607-255-9024
dgy2@cornell.edu
341 Lincoln Hall
David Yearsley was educated at Harvard College and Stanford University, where he received his Ph.D. in Musicology in 1994. At Cornell he continues to pursue his interests in the performance, literature and history of northern European music among other activities. His musicological work investigates literary, social, and theological contexts for music and music making, and he has written on topics ranging from music and death, to alchemy and counterpoint, musical invention and imagination, and musical representations of public spaces in film. His first book, Bach and the Meanings of Counterpoint (Cambridge, 2002) explodes long-held notions about the status of counterpoint in the mid-eighteenth century, and illuminates unexpected areas of the musical culture into which Bach’s most obsessive and complicated musical creations were released. More recently, his Bach’s Feet: the Organ Pedals in European Culture (Cambridge, 2012) presents a new interpretation of the significance of the oldest and richest of European instruments—the organ—by investigating the German origins of the uniquely independent use of the feet in music-making. Delving into a range of musical, literary, and visual sources, Bach’s Feet pursues the wide-ranging cultural importance of this physically demanding art, from the blind German organists of the 15th century, through the central contribution of Bach’s music and legacy, to the newly-pedaling organists of the British Empire, and the sinister visions of Nazi propagandists.
He is currently working on a monograph entitled The Musical Lives of Anna Magdalena Bach, a study of the changing musical contributions and restrictions, performing possibilities and perils that characterized the musical world of the women of the Bach household in the first half 18th century.
David’s musical and musicological interests extend to the Elizabethans, the Italian keyboard traditions of the seventeenth century, Handel’s operas, film music, musical travels, and the intersections between music and politics.
The only musician ever to win all major prizes at the Bruges Early Music Festival competition, David’s recordings of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century organ music are available from Loft Recordings and Musica Omnia.
While his primary interests are in European music culture of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, he has taught courses in music theory, film music, music and travel, and music historiography.
Works by David Yearsley
Articles
•An essay on the political implications of Bach’s vocal works: konturen.uoregon.edu/vol1_Yearsley.html
Performances
•Concert performance of C. P. E. Bach’s Abschied von meinem Silbermannischen Claviere for the Cambridge Society for Early Music played on Ferruccio Busoni’s 1906 Dolmetsch clavichord
•Concert performance of C. P. E. Bach’s Fantasia in C Major from Kenner und Liebhaber VI for the Cambridge Society of Early Music played on Ferruccio Busoni’s 1906 Dolmetsch clavichord
Why Cornell?
“A great university deserves to have a really great organ,” says Annette Richards, university organist and project manager. Although Cornell had a number of organs already, it lacked an instrument of the style and scope appropriate to the music of the noted German organist composers of the 17th and 18th centuries. “There was no great vehicle for playing the music especially of Johann Sebastian Bach and his North German predecessors. So I felt it was important for us to get a new really first class—world class—instrument at Cornell,” says Richards.
Cornell’s New Baroque Organ
“Cornell is an institution that fosters many kinds of scholarship, and it also has a long and very storied musical tradition,” continues Richards. “Andrew Dickson White was a big organ supporter and fan. He initiated getting an important organ for Bailey Hall when that building was built. And Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences has a music department where the 18th century is a real strength. It also has a fine collection of keyboard instruments already, and it made sense to build on all those strengths and that history to bring something like this here.”
When Nikon released the FA with its first generation matrix metering system, some companies did not stand ideally by and began to develop their system, Olympus was no different, and the OM-4 came with something of their design, the multi-spot meter complete with a memory system to save your exposure readings.
You can read the full review online:
www.alexluyckx.com/blog/index.php/2018/08/20/ccr-review-9...
Olympus OM-4 - Olympus Zuiko MC Auto-S 1:1,8 f=50mm - FPP EDU 100 @ ASA-100
Kodak HC-110 Dil. H 7:30 @ 20C
Scanner: Epson V700
Editor: Adobe Photoshop CC (2018)
In the beautifully renovated Stocking Hall on the east end of Tower Road, the Cornell Dairy Bar is a great place for breakfast, lunch, coffee, or a sweet treat. We offer Cornell Dairy ice cream, milk, yogurt, pudding, and Big Red Cheddar, produced right here at Cornell’s very own dairy processing plant.
The Dairy Bar offers Finger Lakes Coffee Roasters specialty coffees, a mouth-watering array of sandwiches made to order, grab-and-go FreshTake items, and even pints of ice cream to take with you. Please note that our fresh deli counter is open 10:30-4:00 Monday through Friday, and ice cream service begins at 10:30am. FreshTake sandwiches and packaged salads and ice cream items are available in our cooler outside those hours.
Our regular hours vary seasonally, especially weekend hours, so please check the specific hours on this page for updates.
Menu:
Finger Lakes Coffee Roasters Specialty Coffee, Mighty Leaf Tea, Hot Cocoa, Frozen Lattes and Mochas, Pepsi Beverages, Hot & Cold Sandwiches, Soups, and Grab-n-Go items. Order ice cream sandwiches for your events 72 hours in advance!
Nutrition Info:
Check the Cornell Dairy Bar nutrition details on our NetNutrition page!
Current Cornell Dairy ice cream flavors:
•Alumni Swirl
•Butter Pecan
•Kahlua Fudge
•Coconut
•Caramel Cubed
•Stocking West Saloon
•Bavarian Raspberry Fudge
•Cornelia’s Dark Secret
•Peanut Butter Mini
•French Vanilla
•Ezra’s Morning Cup
•Triple Play Chocolate
•Vanilla
•Chocolate
•Black Raspberry
•Cherry Pie
•Cookies & Cream
•Mint Chocolate Chip
•Strawberry
•Big Red Bear Tracks
•Cookie Dough Dream
•Mango Sorbet
Thanks for understanding if we’re temporarily out of a particular flavor, or need to make substitutions. Sometimes people eat a lot of ice cream, and we just run out of something!
Having a party? Handpacked pints and quarts are available, at $6.99/pint and $9.99/quart. Ice cream sandwiches are always available in limited quantities. Want a bunch for a special occasion? Whether you’re a parent ordering for your student, or a friend who wants to help a buddy celebrate, you can download and fill in the Dairy Bar’s ice cream sandwich order form, and we’ll do the rest. Please place your order at least 72 hours in advance. Or check out our Ice Cream Social offerings.
Did you know we can ship Cornell Dairy ice cream? Enjoy your favorite flavors in pints, quarts, and three gallon tubs, shipped overnight in a cooler with dry ice. Find out more about overnight ice cream delivery on the Department of Food Science web site.
Location:
Stocking Hall, Central Campus
Driving to campus? Parking is available right across Tower Road from the Dairy Bar in the Peterson Lot. The meter is in operation 7:30am-5pm Monday-Friday, and you can pay with cash or credit card.
In the beautifully renovated Stocking Hall on the east end of Tower Road, the Cornell Dairy Bar is a great place for breakfast, lunch, coffee, or a sweet treat. We offer Cornell Dairy ice cream, milk, yogurt, pudding, and Big Red Cheddar, produced right here at Cornell’s very own dairy processing plant.
The Dairy Bar offers Finger Lakes Coffee Roasters specialty coffees, a mouth-watering array of sandwiches made to order, grab-and-go FreshTake items, and even pints of ice cream to take with you. Please note that our fresh deli counter is open 10:30-4:00 Monday through Friday, and ice cream service begins at 10:30am. FreshTake sandwiches and packaged salads and ice cream items are available in our cooler outside those hours.
Our regular hours vary seasonally, especially weekend hours, so please check the specific hours on this page for updates.
Menu:
Finger Lakes Coffee Roasters Specialty Coffee, Mighty Leaf Tea, Hot Cocoa, Frozen Lattes and Mochas, Pepsi Beverages, Hot & Cold Sandwiches, Soups, and Grab-n-Go items. Order ice cream sandwiches for your events 72 hours in advance!
Nutrition Info:
Check the Cornell Dairy Bar nutrition details on our NetNutrition page!
Current Cornell Dairy ice cream flavors:
•Alumni Swirl
•Butter Pecan
•Kahlua Fudge
•Coconut
•Caramel Cubed
•Stocking West Saloon
•Bavarian Raspberry Fudge
•Cornelia’s Dark Secret
•Peanut Butter Mini
•French Vanilla
•Ezra’s Morning Cup
•Triple Play Chocolate
•Vanilla
•Chocolate
•Black Raspberry
•Cherry Pie
•Cookies & Cream
•Mint Chocolate Chip
•Strawberry
•Big Red Bear Tracks
•Cookie Dough Dream
•Mango Sorbet
Thanks for understanding if we’re temporarily out of a particular flavor, or need to make substitutions. Sometimes people eat a lot of ice cream, and we just run out of something!
Having a party? Handpacked pints and quarts are available, at $6.99/pint and $9.99/quart. Ice cream sandwiches are always available in limited quantities. Want a bunch for a special occasion? Whether you’re a parent ordering for your student, or a friend who wants to help a buddy celebrate, you can download and fill in the Dairy Bar’s ice cream sandwich order form, and we’ll do the rest. Please place your order at least 72 hours in advance. Or check out our Ice Cream Social offerings.
Did you know we can ship Cornell Dairy ice cream? Enjoy your favorite flavors in pints, quarts, and three gallon tubs, shipped overnight in a cooler with dry ice. Find out more about overnight ice cream delivery on the Department of Food Science web site.
Location:
Stocking Hall, Central Campus
Driving to campus? Parking is available right across Tower Road from the Dairy Bar in the Peterson Lot. The meter is in operation 7:30am-5pm Monday-Friday, and you can pay with cash or credit card.
Andrew Dickson White Library
Andrew Dickson White, Cornell University’s co-founder and first president, built a great library. Although seldom identified today as one of the foremost collectors of the 19th century, his achievements have left a remarkable legacy. Unlike other famous book collectors of his time—J. Pierpont Morgan, Henry Edwards Huntington, John Jacob Astor, and James Lenox—he did not establish a separate institution to house his personal collections of books and manuscripts. Instead, White donated his entire collection of 30,000 books to the Cornell University Library—at a time when the Library possessed a collection of just 90,000 volumes. White’s great generosity reveals his utilitarian approach to collecting and, in his words, a “strong belief in the didactic value of books.” As an educator and historian he believed that one could not have a great university without a great library, and he wanted his books to be read and used by Cornell’s faculty and students.
White’s collections of materials on architecture, witchcraft, the Reformation, the French Revolution, Abolitionism and the Civil War were among the finest in the world during his lifetime. Originally shelved in the large, three-story room within Uris Library that bears his name, White’s collections are no longer kept together in one place. Many of his books were moved to the stacks in Olin Library when it opened in 1961. In recent years, most of White’s books have been transferred to the Division of Rare & Manuscript Collections for their continued protection and preservation. Today, the Andrew Dickson White Library holds a portion of the humanities and social science collections found in the combined Olin and Uris Libraries.
It is perhaps more fitting and accurate to say that Andrew Dickson White built two great libraries. The first was his large and significant personal book collection. The second was the Cornell University Library. White hired Willard Fiske to be Cornell’s first University Librarian, and he worked closely with him to develop innovative and progressive policies for their library. White purchased its first books, and played an active role throughout his life in developing the library’s collections.
Even in his student days, White had considered the merits of the most prestigious European libraries, imagining what it would be like to build an important new research library. White conceived and developed his vision for an upstate New York university during a miserable first year at college. White’s visions of a beautiful university were honed during his first year at a college whose architecture he called “sordid,” and later at Yale, where he urged classmates to “adorn and beautify the place.” While his classmates occupied themselves with shenanigans, the sixteen-year-old consoled himself in the library, where he found a book on the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge. As a University of Michigan professor in the late 1850s, he planted elms and evergreens with the help of his students and was appointed superintendent of grounds. Two decades later he would preside over an institution that embodied the vision of his youth. The faculty included professors of modern history and literature, as well as classics and mathematics. They were free of control by religious sects and political parties. And learning was accomplished not by rote memorization and recitation, but through analysis, discussion, and experience. The Victorian beauty of the A. D. White Reading Room in Uris Library would probably have satisfied White’s exacting standards.
A trace of this inspiration can be found in the stained-glass windows that line the room. They portray the crests of several Oxford and Cambridge colleges. In the north windows, for instance, the blue escutcheon contains the motto for Oxford University, “Dominus Illuminatio Mea.” Translated from Psalm 27, it means, “The Lord is my Light.” Visitors from a new generation find the room’s ambiance comes from another source, calling it the “Harry Potter” library.
When White offered his personal library to the university, he set two conditions. He asked that the university provide a suitable space to house his collection—he stipulated a fire-proof room—and he requested that proper provision be made for the ongoing maintenance of his collections. That “suitable space” is the Andrew Dickson White Library. White played an active role in helping the building’s architect, William Henry Miller, design and ornament this space.
The maintenance and cataloging of the collection became the responsibility of George Lincoln Burr, a member of the Cornell class of 1871. Burr was White’s secretary and personal librarian as well as the first curator of the White Historical Library. Originally hired by White when he was a Cornell sophomore, Burr worked closely with White to develop and care for his library. We can safely posit that after 1879, the White collection must be seen as a collaborative effort between the two scholars. Each traveled to Europe on extended book-buying tours. Burr, also a renowned professor in the Cornell History department, is given special credit for building and enriching the Library’s collections on the Reformation and witchcraft.
Burr’s portrait by Cornell art professor Christian Midjo is prominently displayed on the north wall of the room, and a small drawing by R. H. Bainton on the first tier shows Burr as Cornell historian Carl Becker once described him: an “indefatigable scholar and bibliophile . . . browsing and brooding in the stacks.”
The Andrew Dickson White Library is filled with art work, furniture, and artifacts from White’s academic and diplomatic careers. He served as U.S. minister to Germany while still president of Cornell, and later also served as minister to Russia. Several pictures and photographs in the room depict Russian scenes. The artwork and the case of plaster casts of European coins and medallions were all collected by Mr. White.
Originally, this space had skylights and an open archway into the adjacent Dean Room (where the Burr portrait now hangs). Those features were lost to renovations, but the original three tiers of wrought-iron stacks still offer an open and dramatic display of their books. Upon first seeing these shelves filled with White’s books in September of 1891, George Lincoln Burr wrote that it “gave one such an idea of a multitude of books. You see and feel them all. They quite overawe one.” Setting the objective for the collection, he promised to make the White Library, in his words, “the great living, growing historical workshop of the University.
From the Cornell Chronicle:
Teaching Winery Opens on Campus
By Ted Boscia | April 2, 2009
With the snip of a grapevine, Susan A. Henry, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences, opened the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) Teaching Winery before a large crowd of faculty, students, vintners and other guests April 1.
Cornell, long known for its viticulture (grape-growing) research, now claims the only university teaching winery in the eastern United States. The $900,000 facility promises to prepare students for careers in New York’s wine and grape industry, which ranks third nationally in wine production and includes more than 250 wineries across the state.
Ian Merwin, the Herman M. Cohn Professor of Horticulture, and Ramón Mira de Orduña, associate professor of enology, helped Henry unveil the 1,800-square-foot building. The winery, attached to the Cornell Orchards store, will act as the Ithaca hub for CALS’s new viticulture and enology undergraduate major, which enrolls roughly 30 students and draws on more than 50 faculty members from the horticulture, food science technology, plant pathology, and applied economics and management departments. Inside the winery, students will access cutting-edge equipment to learn the science and art of winemaking.
“The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Teaching Winery represents a major enhancement to our Viticulture and Enology (V&E) program,” said Henry. “Having this facility in Ithaca is crucial for our undergraduates, who will gain from hands-on experience in winemaking and grape-growing.”
Previously, V&E students crafted wines in a makeshift lab on the mezzanine of Stocking Hall. At the ceremony, students offered tastes of experimental wines produced in a fall 2008 class. Nearby, Sabrina Lueck ’10, a V&E major, said, “I’m beyond excited to begin using all the winery’s beautiful equipment.”
The winery includes state-of-the-art fermentation tanks and a modern microbiological and chemical lab, elements needed for the storage of grapes and the preparation and analysis of wines. It will allow students and faculty convenient access to three acres of hybrid wine grapes at Cornell Orchards and is near the program’s Lansing vineyards, which grow more traditional varieties like Pinot Noir, Riesling and Chardonnay.
“The facility will be among the finest in the United States and will provide our students with the widest possible range of winemaking experience,” said Mira de Orduña.
Mira de Orduña thanked numerous wineries and companies that donated equipment, including de-stemmers, filters, barrels and tanks, and also enzymes, yeast, bacteria and fining agents used in the production of wine. He said, in particular, that oak barrels donated by Canton Cooperage of Lebanon, Ky., and that a custom-made WinePod fermenter by Provina of San Jose, Calif., would expose students to “both the most traditional and the latest equipment available in winemaking.”
Ted Boscia is a staff writer in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Essay writing has rapidly advanced its way to become the heartbeat of academia nowadays. www.buyassignment.com/online-essay-writers-wanted.html
I made sure to get over to the STC from Trafalgar Campus before they started moving everything and everyone out.
A1, the Office of the Registrar and one of the largest group of support staff on campus. Smaller offices off to the side housed the scheduling department and OTR Tech Team.
Hasselblad 500c - Carl Zeiss Distagon 50mm 1:4 - Fuji Acros 100 @ ASA-100
Kodak D-23 (Stock) 9:00 @ 20C
Meter: Pentax Spotmeter V
Scanner: Epson V700
Editor: Adobe Photoshop CC (2017)
114 | 365
Last Thursday, our daughter visited her dad's biological imaging lab for Bring Your Child to Work Day. She had a great time and was especially proud of the immunofluorescent image of a mouse liver that she helped make.
For Our Daily Challenge: Inventions
Clemson University student Deavin Rencher, a sophomore studying special education and member of the Call Me MISTER program, reads with Tydarius Cobb, 9, at Uptown Barbers in Central, S.C., as part of the Razor Readers program. (Photo by Ken Scar)
Andrew Dickson White Library
Andrew Dickson White, Cornell University’s co-founder and first president, built a great library. Although seldom identified today as one of the foremost collectors of the 19th century, his achievements have left a remarkable legacy. Unlike other famous book collectors of his time—J. Pierpont Morgan, Henry Edwards Huntington, John Jacob Astor, and James Lenox—he did not establish a separate institution to house his personal collections of books and manuscripts. Instead, White donated his entire collection of 30,000 books to the Cornell University Library—at a time when the Library possessed a collection of just 90,000 volumes. White’s great generosity reveals his utilitarian approach to collecting and, in his words, a “strong belief in the didactic value of books.” As an educator and historian he believed that one could not have a great university without a great library, and he wanted his books to be read and used by Cornell’s faculty and students.
White’s collections of materials on architecture, witchcraft, the Reformation, the French Revolution, Abolitionism and the Civil War were among the finest in the world during his lifetime. Originally shelved in the large, three-story room within Uris Library that bears his name, White’s collections are no longer kept together in one place. Many of his books were moved to the stacks in Olin Library when it opened in 1961. In recent years, most of White’s books have been transferred to the Division of Rare & Manuscript Collections for their continued protection and preservation. Today, the Andrew Dickson White Library holds a portion of the humanities and social science collections found in the combined Olin and Uris Libraries.
It is perhaps more fitting and accurate to say that Andrew Dickson White built two great libraries. The first was his large and significant personal book collection. The second was the Cornell University Library. White hired Willard Fiske to be Cornell’s first University Librarian, and he worked closely with him to develop innovative and progressive policies for their library. White purchased its first books, and played an active role throughout his life in developing the library’s collections.
Even in his student days, White had considered the merits of the most prestigious European libraries, imagining what it would be like to build an important new research library. White conceived and developed his vision for an upstate New York university during a miserable first year at college. White’s visions of a beautiful university were honed during his first year at a college whose architecture he called “sordid,” and later at Yale, where he urged classmates to “adorn and beautify the place.” While his classmates occupied themselves with shenanigans, the sixteen-year-old consoled himself in the library, where he found a book on the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge. As a University of Michigan professor in the late 1850s, he planted elms and evergreens with the help of his students and was appointed superintendent of grounds. Two decades later he would preside over an institution that embodied the vision of his youth. The faculty included professors of modern history and literature, as well as classics and mathematics. They were free of control by religious sects and political parties. And learning was accomplished not by rote memorization and recitation, but through analysis, discussion, and experience. The Victorian beauty of the A. D. White Reading Room in Uris Library would probably have satisfied White’s exacting standards.
A trace of this inspiration can be found in the stained-glass windows that line the room. They portray the crests of several Oxford and Cambridge colleges. In the north windows, for instance, the blue escutcheon contains the motto for Oxford University, “Dominus Illuminatio Mea.” Translated from Psalm 27, it means, “The Lord is my Light.” Visitors from a new generation find the room’s ambiance comes from another source, calling it the “Harry Potter” library.
When White offered his personal library to the university, he set two conditions. He asked that the university provide a suitable space to house his collection—he stipulated a fire-proof room—and he requested that proper provision be made for the ongoing maintenance of his collections. That “suitable space” is the Andrew Dickson White Library. White played an active role in helping the building’s architect, William Henry Miller, design and ornament this space.
The maintenance and cataloging of the collection became the responsibility of George Lincoln Burr, a member of the Cornell class of 1871. Burr was White’s secretary and personal librarian as well as the first curator of the White Historical Library. Originally hired by White when he was a Cornell sophomore, Burr worked closely with White to develop and care for his library. We can safely posit that after 1879, the White collection must be seen as a collaborative effort between the two scholars. Each traveled to Europe on extended book-buying tours. Burr, also a renowned professor in the Cornell History department, is given special credit for building and enriching the Library’s collections on the Reformation and witchcraft.
Burr’s portrait by Cornell art professor Christian Midjo is prominently displayed on the north wall of the room, and a small drawing by R. H. Bainton on the first tier shows Burr as Cornell historian Carl Becker once described him: an “indefatigable scholar and bibliophile . . . browsing and brooding in the stacks.”
The Andrew Dickson White Library is filled with art work, furniture, and artifacts from White’s academic and diplomatic careers. He served as U.S. minister to Germany while still president of Cornell, and later also served as minister to Russia. Several pictures and photographs in the room depict Russian scenes. The artwork and the case of plaster casts of European coins and medallions were all collected by Mr. White.
Originally, this space had skylights and an open archway into the adjacent Dean Room (where the Burr portrait now hangs). Those features were lost to renovations, but the original three tiers of wrought-iron stacks still offer an open and dramatic display of their books. Upon first seeing these shelves filled with White’s books in September of 1891, George Lincoln Burr wrote that it “gave one such an idea of a multitude of books. You see and feel them all. They quite overawe one.” Setting the objective for the collection, he promised to make the White Library, in his words, “the great living, growing historical workshop of the University.
Members of the Clemson Club swim team show off some of the books they collected during a book drive to benefit Monaview Elementary School in Greenville, Feb. 2, 2018. (Photo by Ken Scar)
Contax G2 - Carl Zeiss Planar 2/45 T* - FPP EDU 200 @ ASA-100 (Fomapan 200)
Pyrocat-HD (1+1+100) 7:30 @ 20C
Scanner: Epson V700
Editor: Adobe Photoshop CC (2018)
Andrew Dickson White Library
Andrew Dickson White, Cornell University’s co-founder and first president, built a great library. Although seldom identified today as one of the foremost collectors of the 19th century, his achievements have left a remarkable legacy. Unlike other famous book collectors of his time—J. Pierpont Morgan, Henry Edwards Huntington, John Jacob Astor, and James Lenox—he did not establish a separate institution to house his personal collections of books and manuscripts. Instead, White donated his entire collection of 30,000 books to the Cornell University Library—at a time when the Library possessed a collection of just 90,000 volumes. White’s great generosity reveals his utilitarian approach to collecting and, in his words, a “strong belief in the didactic value of books.” As an educator and historian he believed that one could not have a great university without a great library, and he wanted his books to be read and used by Cornell’s faculty and students.
White’s collections of materials on architecture, witchcraft, the Reformation, the French Revolution, Abolitionism and the Civil War were among the finest in the world during his lifetime. Originally shelved in the large, three-story room within Uris Library that bears his name, White’s collections are no longer kept together in one place. Many of his books were moved to the stacks in Olin Library when it opened in 1961. In recent years, most of White’s books have been transferred to the Division of Rare & Manuscript Collections for their continued protection and preservation. Today, the Andrew Dickson White Library holds a portion of the humanities and social science collections found in the combined Olin and Uris Libraries.
It is perhaps more fitting and accurate to say that Andrew Dickson White built two great libraries. The first was his large and significant personal book collection. The second was the Cornell University Library. White hired Willard Fiske to be Cornell’s first University Librarian, and he worked closely with him to develop innovative and progressive policies for their library. White purchased its first books, and played an active role throughout his life in developing the library’s collections.
Even in his student days, White had considered the merits of the most prestigious European libraries, imagining what it would be like to build an important new research library. White conceived and developed his vision for an upstate New York university during a miserable first year at college. White’s visions of a beautiful university were honed during his first year at a college whose architecture he called “sordid,” and later at Yale, where he urged classmates to “adorn and beautify the place.” While his classmates occupied themselves with shenanigans, the sixteen-year-old consoled himself in the library, where he found a book on the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge. As a University of Michigan professor in the late 1850s, he planted elms and evergreens with the help of his students and was appointed superintendent of grounds. Two decades later he would preside over an institution that embodied the vision of his youth. The faculty included professors of modern history and literature, as well as classics and mathematics. They were free of control by religious sects and political parties. And learning was accomplished not by rote memorization and recitation, but through analysis, discussion, and experience. The Victorian beauty of the A. D. White Reading Room in Uris Library would probably have satisfied White’s exacting standards.
A trace of this inspiration can be found in the stained-glass windows that line the room. They portray the crests of several Oxford and Cambridge colleges. In the north windows, for instance, the blue escutcheon contains the motto for Oxford University, “Dominus Illuminatio Mea.” Translated from Psalm 27, it means, “The Lord is my Light.” Visitors from a new generation find the room’s ambiance comes from another source, calling it the “Harry Potter” library.
When White offered his personal library to the university, he set two conditions. He asked that the university provide a suitable space to house his collection—he stipulated a fire-proof room—and he requested that proper provision be made for the ongoing maintenance of his collections. That “suitable space” is the Andrew Dickson White Library. White played an active role in helping the building’s architect, William Henry Miller, design and ornament this space.
The maintenance and cataloging of the collection became the responsibility of George Lincoln Burr, a member of the Cornell class of 1871. Burr was White’s secretary and personal librarian as well as the first curator of the White Historical Library. Originally hired by White when he was a Cornell sophomore, Burr worked closely with White to develop and care for his library. We can safely posit that after 1879, the White collection must be seen as a collaborative effort between the two scholars. Each traveled to Europe on extended book-buying tours. Burr, also a renowned professor in the Cornell History department, is given special credit for building and enriching the Library’s collections on the Reformation and witchcraft.
Burr’s portrait by Cornell art professor Christian Midjo is prominently displayed on the north wall of the room, and a small drawing by R. H. Bainton on the first tier shows Burr as Cornell historian Carl Becker once described him: an “indefatigable scholar and bibliophile . . . browsing and brooding in the stacks.”
The Andrew Dickson White Library is filled with art work, furniture, and artifacts from White’s academic and diplomatic careers. He served as U.S. minister to Germany while still president of Cornell, and later also served as minister to Russia. Several pictures and photographs in the room depict Russian scenes. The artwork and the case of plaster casts of European coins and medallions were all collected by Mr. White.
Originally, this space had skylights and an open archway into the adjacent Dean Room (where the Burr portrait now hangs). Those features were lost to renovations, but the original three tiers of wrought-iron stacks still offer an open and dramatic display of their books. Upon first seeing these shelves filled with White’s books in September of 1891, George Lincoln Burr wrote that it “gave one such an idea of a multitude of books. You see and feel them all. They quite overawe one.” Setting the objective for the collection, he promised to make the White Library, in his words, “the great living, growing historical workshop of the University.
From the Cornell Chronicle:
Teaching Winery Opens on Campus
By Ted Boscia | April 2, 2009
With the snip of a grapevine, Susan A. Henry, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences, opened the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) Teaching Winery before a large crowd of faculty, students, vintners and other guests April 1.
Cornell, long known for its viticulture (grape-growing) research, now claims the only university teaching winery in the eastern United States. The $900,000 facility promises to prepare students for careers in New York’s wine and grape industry, which ranks third nationally in wine production and includes more than 250 wineries across the state.
Ian Merwin, the Herman M. Cohn Professor of Horticulture, and Ramón Mira de Orduña, associate professor of enology, helped Henry unveil the 1,800-square-foot building. The winery, attached to the Cornell Orchards store, will act as the Ithaca hub for CALS’s new viticulture and enology undergraduate major, which enrolls roughly 30 students and draws on more than 50 faculty members from the horticulture, food science technology, plant pathology, and applied economics and management departments. Inside the winery, students will access cutting-edge equipment to learn the science and art of winemaking.
“The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Teaching Winery represents a major enhancement to our Viticulture and Enology (V&E) program,” said Henry. “Having this facility in Ithaca is crucial for our undergraduates, who will gain from hands-on experience in winemaking and grape-growing.”
Previously, V&E students crafted wines in a makeshift lab on the mezzanine of Stocking Hall. At the ceremony, students offered tastes of experimental wines produced in a fall 2008 class. Nearby, Sabrina Lueck ’10, a V&E major, said, “I’m beyond excited to begin using all the winery’s beautiful equipment.”
The winery includes state-of-the-art fermentation tanks and a modern microbiological and chemical lab, elements needed for the storage of grapes and the preparation and analysis of wines. It will allow students and faculty convenient access to three acres of hybrid wine grapes at Cornell Orchards and is near the program’s Lansing vineyards, which grow more traditional varieties like Pinot Noir, Riesling and Chardonnay.
“The facility will be among the finest in the United States and will provide our students with the widest possible range of winemaking experience,” said Mira de Orduña.
Mira de Orduña thanked numerous wineries and companies that donated equipment, including de-stemmers, filters, barrels and tanks, and also enzymes, yeast, bacteria and fining agents used in the production of wine. He said, in particular, that oak barrels donated by Canton Cooperage of Lebanon, Ky., and that a custom-made WinePod fermenter by Provina of San Jose, Calif., would expose students to “both the most traditional and the latest equipment available in winemaking.”
Ted Boscia is a staff writer in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
If you're a fan of the Film Photography Project you'll know that they recently released their own Monobath! Well I finally got around to testing out the bottle I was sent and when I pulled out the first roll from the tank, I'll have to say I am pretty impressed! Though I did notice that the film base stayed that lovely TMAX purple, but the images speak for themselves! Wow!
Minolta Maxxum 7000 - Minolta AF 35-70mm 1:4 - Kodak TMax 100 @ ASA-100
FPP Super Monobath (Stock) 5:30 @ 20C
Scanner: Epson V700
Editor: Adobe Photoshop CC (2018)
Production Date: Circa 1945
Source Type: Postcard
Publisher, Printer, Photographer: Don Bartels, Koppell of New Jersey (#DB-219, #12457)
Postmark: None
Collection: Steven R. Shook
This postcard does not appear in Tenney and Hilbert's Large Letter Postcards book.
Source: Tenney, Fred, and Kevin Hilbert. 2009. Large Letter Postcards: The Definitive Guide 1930s to 1950s. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. 176 p.
Copyright 2020. Some rights reserved. The associated text may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Steven R. Shook.
Tale of John Harvard’s Surviving Book
On his 400th anniversary, a look back at the bequest, the fire, and the “lone survivor”
•By: Jennifer Tomase, HCL Communications
•Date: November 1, 2007
This November, Harvard University will mark the 400th anniversary of the birth of John Harvard, not the institution’s founder as he is sometimes credited, but rather its first major benefactor. Such a noteworthy anniversary warrants reflection, although, unfortunately, a great many details about both the history of John Harvard and the legacy of his library are lost to time.
What is known is that John Harvard was born in the Southwark borough of London in 1607 and was baptized Nov. 29 in Southwark Cathedral. The son of Katherine Rogers and Robert Harvard, a butcher, he attended St. Saviour’s Grammar School, where his father was a governor. In 1625, the plague swept through London, claiming most of Harvard’s immediate family—his father and several siblings.
Two years later, he entered Emmanuel College at Cambridge, England, graduating in 1632 with a B.A. and M.A. In 1636, he married a woman named Ann Sadler, and the following year—which also saw the deaths of his mother and remaining brother—he set sail for New England seeking religious freedom. Upon settling in Charlestown, Harvard was named town minister, a short-lived appointment. He soon after fell ill with tuberculosis, dying on Sept. 14, 1638, at age 31. Buried in the Phipps Street Cemetery in Charlestown, the man who gave Harvard its name had lived in Massachusetts for less than a year and a half.
Upon his death, Harvard bequeathed half of his estate, £779, and his entire library of some 400 volumes brought over from England to New College, which had been founded in 1636 in Newtown—what would become Cambridge. The majority of the books in Harvard’s collection were notably theological in nature. Also represented were dictionaries, grammar books, and the classics, some in their original languages, others in well-known translations.
Although founded in 1636, the College’s construction began in 1638, and in March 1639, the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony decreed, in honor of its first major donor, “that the colledge agreed upon formerly to bee built at Cambridg shalbee called Harvard Colledge.”
The Downame Book
Over the years, scholars have tried to trace what happened to Harvard’s donation of library books. The biggest obstacle has been the 1764 fire that destroyed the early library along with the rest of the original College. The fire spared 400 or so total volumes, and those only because they were on loan to faculty and students. The traditional story goes that just one volume from John Harvard’s collection at that time was checked out—and overdue—and so it survived. That book was the fourth edition of “The Christian Warfare Against the Devil World and Flesh” by John Downame, published in 1634.
The claim of the book’s origins is not a new one. Just inside the cover of the hefty tome, stored in its red morocco case, the reader finds a handwritten note from 19th century College Librarian John L. Silbey, dated May 24, 1843. The note begins, “This book is the only one in the Library which, beyond a doubt was given by John Harvard.”
Although the history is scanty, someone did in 1667, years after the gift, enter a list of John Harvard’s books into the college records: 329 titles representing about 400 volumes. The University Archives now holds this list, which although replete with misspellings, clearly lists the Downame book.
Unfortunately, John Harvard never inscribed his name in the volume, which would have provided more definitive proof for scholars. “There’s no signature,” says Peter Accardo, coordinator of Programs at Houghton Library. “It’s one of the things that have troubled people over the years.”
Still, “The Christian Warfare” itself speaks to its history. “There is a good deal of physical evidence in this book,” says Accardo. Much of the proof lies in three small digits handwritten just inside the cover: 3.2.8. This, explains Accardo, refers to the early library’s cataloging system, which would have placed the book in bookcase number 3, on shelf number 2, as volume 8 — a setup that would have worked for a library much, much smaller than that of today. The low cataloging numbers suggest that this particular book indeed resided in the College Library from the very beginning.
Furthermore, although it counts as later evidence, a 1723 catalog of the library’s entire 3,500 volumes lists the book, indicating that it clearly existed in the library prior to the fire. The volume contains a very old bookplate, dating to the late 1700s, but that would have been added some 175 years after the book first entered the library.
However, the traditional story no longer remains quite so simple. “Today it’s pretty well received that it’s not the only book that survives from John Harvard’s library,” says Accardo. “Personally, I’ve brought in lots of books into the Houghton collections that were once in the Widener stacks. In provenance work, there is no such thing as an easy answer.”
That said, the question still warrants a good deal of research, and it is difficult to say what other possible titles might make the same claim as “The Christian Warfare.” Today the Downame book is seldom used by researchers but sits on display in Houghton’s lobby in a sectioned bookcase labeled “Harvard.” Alongside this original piece of Harvard’s legacy reside copies of many of the books he gave to the library in 1638.
Harvard College Library will mark the 400th anniversary of John Harvard’s birth with the exhibition “Heralds of Light: John Harvard and the Memorial Church, 1607.1932.2007,” which will run Nov. 1-Dec. 21 in Pusey Library. Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
From the Cornell Chronicle:
Teaching Winery Opens on Campus
By Ted Boscia | April 2, 2009
With the snip of a grapevine, Susan A. Henry, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences, opened the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) Teaching Winery before a large crowd of faculty, students, vintners and other guests April 1.
Cornell, long known for its viticulture (grape-growing) research, now claims the only university teaching winery in the eastern United States. The $900,000 facility promises to prepare students for careers in New York’s wine and grape industry, which ranks third nationally in wine production and includes more than 250 wineries across the state.
Ian Merwin, the Herman M. Cohn Professor of Horticulture, and Ramón Mira de Orduña, associate professor of enology, helped Henry unveil the 1,800-square-foot building. The winery, attached to the Cornell Orchards store, will act as the Ithaca hub for CALS’s new viticulture and enology undergraduate major, which enrolls roughly 30 students and draws on more than 50 faculty members from the horticulture, food science technology, plant pathology, and applied economics and management departments. Inside the winery, students will access cutting-edge equipment to learn the science and art of winemaking.
“The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Teaching Winery represents a major enhancement to our Viticulture and Enology (V&E) program,” said Henry. “Having this facility in Ithaca is crucial for our undergraduates, who will gain from hands-on experience in winemaking and grape-growing.”
Previously, V&E students crafted wines in a makeshift lab on the mezzanine of Stocking Hall. At the ceremony, students offered tastes of experimental wines produced in a fall 2008 class. Nearby, Sabrina Lueck ’10, a V&E major, said, “I’m beyond excited to begin using all the winery’s beautiful equipment.”
The winery includes state-of-the-art fermentation tanks and a modern microbiological and chemical lab, elements needed for the storage of grapes and the preparation and analysis of wines. It will allow students and faculty convenient access to three acres of hybrid wine grapes at Cornell Orchards and is near the program’s Lansing vineyards, which grow more traditional varieties like Pinot Noir, Riesling and Chardonnay.
“The facility will be among the finest in the United States and will provide our students with the widest possible range of winemaking experience,” said Mira de Orduña.
Mira de Orduña thanked numerous wineries and companies that donated equipment, including de-stemmers, filters, barrels and tanks, and also enzymes, yeast, bacteria and fining agents used in the production of wine. He said, in particular, that oak barrels donated by Canton Cooperage of Lebanon, Ky., and that a custom-made WinePod fermenter by Provina of San Jose, Calif., would expose students to “both the most traditional and the latest equipment available in winemaking.”
Ted Boscia is a staff writer in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Contax G2 - Carl Zeiss Planar 2/45 T* - FPP EDU 200 @ ASA-100 (Fomapan 200)
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I made sure to get over to the STC from Trafalgar Campus before they started moving everything and everyone out.
The mills.
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From the Cornell Chronicle:
Teaching Winery Opens on Campus
By Ted Boscia | April 2, 2009
With the snip of a grapevine, Susan A. Henry, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences, opened the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) Teaching Winery before a large crowd of faculty, students, vintners and other guests April 1.
Cornell, long known for its viticulture (grape-growing) research, now claims the only university teaching winery in the eastern United States. The $900,000 facility promises to prepare students for careers in New York’s wine and grape industry, which ranks third nationally in wine production and includes more than 250 wineries across the state.
Ian Merwin, the Herman M. Cohn Professor of Horticulture, and Ramón Mira de Orduña, associate professor of enology, helped Henry unveil the 1,800-square-foot building. The winery, attached to the Cornell Orchards store, will act as the Ithaca hub for CALS’s new viticulture and enology undergraduate major, which enrolls roughly 30 students and draws on more than 50 faculty members from the horticulture, food science technology, plant pathology, and applied economics and management departments. Inside the winery, students will access cutting-edge equipment to learn the science and art of winemaking.
“The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Teaching Winery represents a major enhancement to our Viticulture and Enology (V&E) program,” said Henry. “Having this facility in Ithaca is crucial for our undergraduates, who will gain from hands-on experience in winemaking and grape-growing.”
Previously, V&E students crafted wines in a makeshift lab on the mezzanine of Stocking Hall. At the ceremony, students offered tastes of experimental wines produced in a fall 2008 class. Nearby, Sabrina Lueck ’10, a V&E major, said, “I’m beyond excited to begin using all the winery’s beautiful equipment.”
The winery includes state-of-the-art fermentation tanks and a modern microbiological and chemical lab, elements needed for the storage of grapes and the preparation and analysis of wines. It will allow students and faculty convenient access to three acres of hybrid wine grapes at Cornell Orchards and is near the program’s Lansing vineyards, which grow more traditional varieties like Pinot Noir, Riesling and Chardonnay.
“The facility will be among the finest in the United States and will provide our students with the widest possible range of winemaking experience,” said Mira de Orduña.
Mira de Orduña thanked numerous wineries and companies that donated equipment, including de-stemmers, filters, barrels and tanks, and also enzymes, yeast, bacteria and fining agents used in the production of wine. He said, in particular, that oak barrels donated by Canton Cooperage of Lebanon, Ky., and that a custom-made WinePod fermenter by Provina of San Jose, Calif., would expose students to “both the most traditional and the latest equipment available in winemaking.”
Ted Boscia is a staff writer in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
The Memorial Transept
This memorial space boasts a 2,600 square foot marble floor, a sixty foot high wooden Gothic vault, two stained glass windows spanning 708 square feet each, black walnut paneling, stenciled walls and 28 white marble tablets bearing the names of 136 Harvard associates who fell on behalf of the Union cause during the Civil War. The youngest, Sumner Paine, class of 1865, fell at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863, two years before his intended graduation. The Paul Joseph Revere listed is the grandson of the famous Paul Revere.
Three different stained-glass works have been installed in the north transept window. The original work designed for this window by Donald MacDonald was removed and replaced by Sarah Wyman Whitman’s Martin Brimmer Memorial Window in 1898. There are no records indicating the reason for the replacement nor the fate of the original north transept window. In 1902 or 1903, the Whitman window was transposed with MacDonald’s Virtues window which was originally installed in the south window. The transposition was made, presumably, to allow more light for the Brimmer Memorial Window.
Public viewing hours of the transept are dictated by the College’s academic calendar, the Sander’s Theater performance schedule and maintenance requirements. Typically, visitors may gain access to the transept on weekdays from 12:00 noon until 6:00 PM.
Andrew Lewis and his wife, Stefanie, in Clemson University's Military Heritage Plaza, Oct. 25, 2017. (Photo by Ken Scar)
Past client in my educational consulting business. She is now a 3rd year student in college and has consistently maintained a 3.0 and above GPA.
In the beautifully renovated Stocking Hall on the east end of Tower Road, the Cornell Dairy Bar is a great place for breakfast, lunch, coffee, or a sweet treat. We offer Cornell Dairy ice cream, milk, yogurt, pudding, and Big Red Cheddar, produced right here at Cornell’s very own dairy processing plant.
The Dairy Bar offers Finger Lakes Coffee Roasters specialty coffees, a mouth-watering array of sandwiches made to order, grab-and-go FreshTake items, and even pints of ice cream to take with you. Please note that our fresh deli counter is open 10:30-4:00 Monday through Friday, and ice cream service begins at 10:30am. FreshTake sandwiches and packaged salads and ice cream items are available in our cooler outside those hours.
Our regular hours vary seasonally, especially weekend hours, so please check the specific hours on this page for updates.
Menu:
Finger Lakes Coffee Roasters Specialty Coffee, Mighty Leaf Tea, Hot Cocoa, Frozen Lattes and Mochas, Pepsi Beverages, Hot & Cold Sandwiches, Soups, and Grab-n-Go items. Order ice cream sandwiches for your events 72 hours in advance!
Nutrition Info:
Check the Cornell Dairy Bar nutrition details on our NetNutrition page!
Current Cornell Dairy ice cream flavors:
•Alumni Swirl
•Butter Pecan
•Kahlua Fudge
•Coconut
•Caramel Cubed
•Stocking West Saloon
•Bavarian Raspberry Fudge
•Cornelia’s Dark Secret
•Peanut Butter Mini
•French Vanilla
•Ezra’s Morning Cup
•Triple Play Chocolate
•Vanilla
•Chocolate
•Black Raspberry
•Cherry Pie
•Cookies & Cream
•Mint Chocolate Chip
•Strawberry
•Big Red Bear Tracks
•Cookie Dough Dream
•Mango Sorbet
Thanks for understanding if we’re temporarily out of a particular flavor, or need to make substitutions. Sometimes people eat a lot of ice cream, and we just run out of something!
Having a party? Handpacked pints and quarts are available, at $6.99/pint and $9.99/quart. Ice cream sandwiches are always available in limited quantities. Want a bunch for a special occasion? Whether you’re a parent ordering for your student, or a friend who wants to help a buddy celebrate, you can download and fill in the Dairy Bar’s ice cream sandwich order form, and we’ll do the rest. Please place your order at least 72 hours in advance. Or check out our Ice Cream Social offerings.
Did you know we can ship Cornell Dairy ice cream? Enjoy your favorite flavors in pints, quarts, and three gallon tubs, shipped overnight in a cooler with dry ice. Find out more about overnight ice cream delivery on the Department of Food Science web site.
Location:
Stocking Hall, Central Campus
Driving to campus? Parking is available right across Tower Road from the Dairy Bar in the Peterson Lot. The meter is in operation 7:30am-5pm Monday-Friday, and you can pay with cash or credit card.