A short notice in the New York Times on September 6, 1858 announces that the faculty of Columbia College, the graduating class of 1858, and friends of David Ledyard Mallison “are requested to attend his funeral, on Tuesday September 7.” Just a few months after what should have been his graduation, Columbia College held a […]
Category: Columbia University Archives
The George L. Rives Balustrade
If you stand by the Sundial and look towards Broadway, you will see an inscribed bronze tablet on the post of the College Walk railing. If you look towards Amsterdam, there is a matching tablet with a relief portrait on the other side’s post. This subtle, almost hiding-in-plain-sight, monument honors George Lockhart Rives – a […]
An Overdue Book from the King’s College Library
On September 6, 1950, Enos M. Johnson returned to the Columbia University Libraries a book last checked out in 1772 from the King’s College library, long before it was known as Columbia. Johnson found this historical item in the attic of his aunt Susan Ruggles’ home in Binghamton, NY. Johnson’s donation joined the few other […]
Meet me at the Sundial
“Meet me at the Sundial.” It’s heard all over campus, but have you ever wondered how that platform on College Walk is (or was) a sundial? Well, the Sundial is missing its “dial” or a 7-foot granite sunball that used to tell time. […]
Now Available | The JoAnn Winsten Papers
The JoAnn Winsten papers document her advocacy work on behalf of the University’s administrative staff. An administrative assistant and later director of administration of the Applied Physics Department until her retirement in 2017, Winsten served on the Commission on the Status of Women, the University Senate and the Columbia Administration Staff Association (CASA), among other […]