Archives at Cornell

Sage Hall cornerstone box

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: 1-1-3251

Scope and content

Lead box found in the cornerstone of Sage Hall included a letter from Ezra Cornell; photographs of Henry W. Sage and Susan Linn Sage; a copy of the Cornell University Registers from 1868-69, 1869-70, 1870-71, 1871-72, and 1872-73 (2 copies); Cornell University Laws and Documents; the Cornell Era, May 9, 1873; the Evening Journal Almanac, 1873; and newspapers from May 14, 1873, including The Ithaca Journal, The Ithaca Daily Democrat, and The New-York Times. Also, photographs of the opening of the cornerstone in 1997.

Dates

1873-1997.

Biographical / Historical

In March 1997, the cornerstone of Sage Hall was opened. This was possible because extensive remodeling had left all of the walls exposed. Among the other items placed in the sealed lead box (as listed in the program for the cornerstone laying ceremony), was a letter from Ezra Cornell, a letter, he had said"addressed to the future man and woman, of which I have kept no copy..".