Book Describing Memorabilia Present on Campus
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UjMumaJK jm* Hqrrfy <fj i I JwS' CONTRIBUTIONS R TO CORNELL HISTORY Portraits, Memorabilia, Plaques and Artists Elizabeth Baker Wells, Cornell 1928 Revised 1984 URiS LIBRARY Contributions to Cornell History Portraits and Memorabilia Elizabeth Baker Wells, Cornell 1928 WITHDRAWN FROM CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Revised 1984 URIS LIBRARY MAR 2 8 1989 UhlP fcer) ^t LV /3V/ i^r CONTENTS Introduction 1 Portraits, Portrait Plaques, Portrait Statues 8 Plaques 72 Memorabilia: Bells, Benches, Class Memorials, Gates, Sculpture, Statues, Cornell War Memorial, etc 136 Windows 201 Artists . 218 Cornell Plantations and Garden Areas 246 Index 255 Cover: Memorial boulder presented to Cornell University by the first through class, 1872. See page 151. INTRODUCTION This catalogue includes portraits, portrait plaques, plaques, portrait statues, and the artists who created them, Sage Chapel memorial windows, and miscellaneous memorials, all of these located outside the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art. Not included are landscapes, still lifes, etc. in offices and corridors of University buildings. Many of these are owned by the Johnson Museum which keeps a register of them. I included one of Cornell's famous collection of casts, Augustus, q.v. These are being rounded up and restored by Professor Peter Kuniholm of the Department of Classics. This account has been compiled with the hope of stimulating an awareness of the variety and richness of the treasures displayed in and around many campus buildings. Too often we pass by in our daily round and see very little. For example, after a well-known portrait had been stolen, there was no agreement among those who had seen it nearly everyday on an accurate description of the man's suit, hair color, mustache or no mustache, tie, etc. Fortunately the portrait was returned safely, though rather muddy. How many know of the little carving at the former entrance of the north wing of Goldwin Smith Hall depicting the glass equipment used in the "Babcock test" for determining the amount of butterfat, and that the north wing of Goldwin Smith was originally a dairy building? The little carving is somewhat masked by vines, but you can find it. From the earliest years after the founding of the University, many generous people have taken pleasure in embellishing the grounds with plantings, such as the Ostrander elms. For an account of this gift, see Behind the Ivy by Rommeyn Berry. The elms, formerly along East Avenue, Introduction 2 are long since gone, but two red sandstone markers remain, one just east of Stimson Hall, and one at the southeast corner of the Joseph N. Pew, Jr. Engineering Quadrangle. Others have given plantings of all kinds, and still others have provided pathways and benches. The interiors of many of the campus buildings have been enriched by every kind of work of art. Andrew D. White was one of the most generous in embellishing the new buildings. One of his gifts was a collection of fifteen reproductions in color of famous European paintings for the two lowest Baker Dorm lounges, the first of the West Dorms (Cornell Alumni News, v.18, n.40, p.173, 1916). He felt that pleasant surroundings would contriubte to the students' well-being. When I visited the West Dorms in the spring of 1978, these pictures seemed to have vanished. However, the building manager remembered seeing something in a storeroom. We looked and there in a jumble of broken furniture was all that remained, two empty, broken frames, and one nearly whole frame with dusty, tattered paper fragments of a color print. Fortunately the little brass plate identifying it was still on the frame. I begged him to give me that plate and I took it to the Department of Manuscripts and Archives in the 01 in Library, where, suitably ticketed, it will remain to recall that gift of Andrew D. White. The following appeared, in part, in an article in the Cornell Alumni News, v.16, n.25, p.312, 1914: "There is a cheerful atmosphere about the interior of this building [Risley Hall] .. some of which it owes to the generosity of President White. He has given many pictures and other objects of art. In the dining room and halls is a collection of Arundel prints. For the parlors he has given other valuable and interesting prints and etchings. Many of these he has picked up abroad in his years of travel. They have a large intrinsic value which is increased by their 3 Introduction 3 association with the donor." See The Encyclopedia Britannica Vol. 11, 1911: 702 for a history of the Arundel Society. In 1919 the Library listed the following from the Society: 29 chromolithographs and engravings: 14 in Risley, 1 in Risley Cottage (a small house next to the Triphammer bridge southeast of Risley now gone), 5 in Sage, 9 in the Library: 2 sculpture reproductions: a head of a horse from the east pediment of the Parthenon and head of a female saint in bas relief attributed to Donatello, both noted as missing in 1919, as well as an entire collection of imitations of ancient ivory carvings. The other art objects in Risley Hall include statues and furniture. A short article in the Cornell Alumni News (v.19, n.14, p.157, 1917) describes a gift from Jacques Reich, a well-known engraver, of a large collecion of portraits of American worthies, including most of the Presidents, statesmen, writers, etc. There were some thirty engravings, many by Mr. Reich. These were hung in the reading room on the top floor of Goldwin Smith "to give the room a dignity and interest it lacked." All but one of these are gone, no one knows where. The remaining one is in the Department of Manuscripts and Archives in the John M. 01 in Library. Another loss is the portrait of Danny King painted by Professor Christian Midjo (Fine Arts) about 1910. Danny, a midget, was the Fine Arts Department janitor while the Department was in White Hall. The Portrait hung in the drafting room. Danny was beloved by faculty and students. They included him in all their fun, parties, picnics, etc. They dubbed him Professor of Sanitary Science. The portrait shows him with the tools of his trade, bucket, mop, and feather duster, standing beside a statue of Venus on a pedestal. When he died in 1913 the Cornell Alumni News devoted two pages to his obit, contributions by Hiram Gutsell Introduction 4 and 01af Brauner, both Fine Arts Department, and a cut of the Midjo portrait (Cornell Alumni News, v.12, n.8-9, p.318, 1910; and v.15, n.14, p.165, 1913). The latter citation includes the obit. Where is Danny? He may have been lost when the Department moved to Sibley. When I visited Sage Hall (Sage College), the manager took me to a small storage room on the fourth floor and showed me two portraits, Mrs. Willard Fiske and Professor Thomas F. ("TeeFee") Crane, sandwiched between old mattresses and a wall. Apparently they were not hung because no one had assumed the responsibility nor was there interest in doing so. I suggested that Archives would be willing to store them, and at much less risk. This suggestion was accepted and the two portraits are safe in the lower regions of the John M. 01 in Library. There are several other portraits of former faculty members put away in safe places, which I feel should be hung. These worthies are part of our Cornell heritage and should be visible even though few of us today know them, and, as time goes on, fewer will recognize them. They should be seen where they did their teaching or research. When I beg someone to hang one, the response often is, "Where? We've no room." Actually there are acres of bare walls. There is, of course, one catch - safety. A possible solution would be a gallery to hang these portraits where reasonable security could be maintained. Until such arrangements are possible perhaps it is wise to have them put away. I have included all of the painted portraits that I could locate, either hung or in storage and have noted lost or missing ones. I have not included photographs except where these represent the man for whom a building or laboratory was named; for example, Carpenter Hall, named for Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. Cornell 1910, who preferred to be shown by a 5 Introduction 5 photograph. Thus the numerous photographs on the walls of offices and halls in many buidlings are not listed. These are not considered art works sensu strictu and hence not eligible for inclusion. My plan has been to comb the literature, Cornell Alumni News, Cornell Era, Widow, Sun, Plantations, Cornell Countryman, and the well-known biographies of Cornellians, Who's Who, etc. and histories of Cornell. In addition I have visited every building on campus and questioned staff members from janitors to past University presidents. I have included nearby laboratories (Equine Research, for example) as well as the Geneva Experiment Station. The Cornell Medical School I leave to others' tender mercies. Many people have helped me with suggestions, with information that I otherwise would have missed, by looking up things for me, and by being generally encouraging. I am happy to mention first the staff of the Department of Manuscripts and Archives in the John M. 01 in Library. They are always unruffled and cheerful when I interrupt their serious pursuits. They can call up a genie from the depths with folders, boxes, etc. whenever I ask. I am most grateful to Kathleen Jacklin, Nancy Dean, Burton Huth, and Gould Colman for editorial assistance.