(Re)Illuminating History

A New Life for the Olin Library Callboard

Full Exhibit coming soon!

Vladimir Nabokov: Lepidopterist

From the life and net of a butterfly scientist

Vladimir Nabokov, often recognized as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, was also from early childhood impassioned by a very different subject: butterflies.

Dr. Joyce Brothers

Mother of Media Psychology

Uris Library Cocktail Lounge

Ready for a New Generation!

In 1982, Uris Library opened a new addition carved out of Libe Slope, featuring a panoramic window with glorious western views and very comfortable seating. It soon became known as the cocktail lounge, a popular spot for late-night studying and the occasional nap. In 2019, the well-loved room underwent a renovation to renew furnishings and equipment, and make it more accessible. This exhibition focuses on the design and renovation process.

Uris Historical Tour

The University Library building, later renamed Uris Library, opened on October 7, 1891, precisely twenty-three years after classes began at Cornell University. The architect, William Henry Miller, was Cornell’s first student of architecture, remembered through his many buildings on campus and portrait, which hangs in the Uris Library lobby. In addition to the library, with its iconic tower, he designed Barnes Hall, Stimson Hall, Boardman Hall, and Risley Hall, two fraternities, the A. D. White House, the Central Avenue Bridge, and Eddy Gate.

Olin @ 50: Inspiration Since 1961

Half a century ago, life in John M. Olin Library looked very different — but the building itself is a long-standing symbol for generations of Cornellians. The exhibition on view in Olin and Uris libraries traces Olin’s history through photographs, drawings and artifacts. Beginning with Boardman Hall, the building that preceded Olin on the south side of the Arts Quad, it explores the state of Cornell’s libraries in the 1950s, which led to the building of one of the country’s largest university research libraries.

Building a Collection: Giok Po Oey and the John M. Echols Collection

Beginning with his hire in 1957, Giok Po Oey (1922-2010) worked tirelessly to build a world-class library collection of publications from and about Southeast Asia. Giok Po worked closely with the founders of Cornell’s Southeast Asia Program to build up this magnificent treasure known around the world as the John M. Echols Collection on Southeast Asia.

Notes from Cornell Typewriters

From May to September 2018, Library users were invited to record their thoughts on vintage typewriters set up in Olin and Uris libraries. Inspired by Notes from a Public Typewriter, the typewriters allowed Cornellians to connect with each other and the past. This exhibit spotlights the machines and some of the messages left by people who were experiencing manual typing for the first time, and others who were reconnecting with a bygone technology and with it, long-forgotten memories.

A. D. White Library Tour

A curated tour through the President Andrew Dickson White Library, the historic heart of Cornell's first library, and iconic university landmark. This online exhibition explores the architecture, history, and people associated with the A. D. White Library.

The Trees of Cornell

Cornell's trees are at the core of the beauty of the university's campus, but of course they are also so much more.

Electrifying Music

The Life and Legacy of Robert Moog

Women Empowered: Fashions from the Frontline

WOMEN EMPOWERED: Fashions from the Frontline chronicles how women have strategically and persistently used fashion to empower and uplift. From activists to politicians, academics to servicewomen, artists to athletes, entertainers and everyday unsung heroes, WOMEN EMPOWERED uses fashion to tell the stories of women on the frontlines. The exhibit is therefore organized according to physical spaces--The Street, The Government, The Stage, The Sports Arena, The Academy--where fashion transforms, at times transgresses, and ultimately empowers.

Senator Justin S. Morrill, the Land-Grant College Act and Cornell

Opening the Doors of Education to "Any Person"

Song of the Vine

A History of Wine

"I Would Found an Instituton"

The Ezra Cornell Bicentennial Exhibition

In the Founders’ Footsteps

Builders of the Cornell University Library

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity

A Centennial Celebration

Legacy of Leadership

Cornell's Presidents

Early Black Women at Cornell

Part and Apart, 1890s-1930s

Nabokov at Cornell

Celebrating Lolita's Fiftieth Anniversary

The Passionate Collector

Willard Fiske and His Libraries

Liberty Hyde Bailey

A Man for All Seasons

From Domesticity to Modernity

What Was Home Economics?

125 Years of Achievement

The History of Cornell’s College of Architecture, Art, and Planning

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