Ephemera from the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, including programs, tickets, seating charts, menus and other memorabilia, document past inaugurations of Cornell's presidents.

Andrew Dickson White, 1868

On Wednesday, October 7, 1868, a warm and bright autumn day, Cornell University celebrated its first Inauguration Day. The Arts Quad was little more than a cow pasture, with only one still-unfinished building (Morrill Hall). Several hundred distinguished guests, students, and citizens attended the ceremonies at the hall of the Cornell Library, which stood on the corner of Tioga and Seneca streets. At 10:00 a.m., President Andrew Dickson White, the Faculty, and the Trustees entered, as the audience arose and the band played “Hail to the Chief.” Because of the controversy over the new university’s nonsectarian foundation, Gov. Reuben E. Fenton did not attend the ceremonies, but was represented by Lt. Gov. Stewart L. Woodford, a strong supporter of the new institution.

Ezra Cornell delivered a brief address:

I hope we have laid the foundation of an institution which shall combine practical with liberal education, which shall fit the youth of our country for the professions, the farms, the mines, the manufactories, for the investigations of science and for mastering all the practical questions of life with success and honor. I believe that we have made the beginning of an institution which will prove highly beneficial to the poor young men and the poor young women of our country…. I trust we have laid the foundation of an university - an institution where any person can find instruction in any study.

Lt. Gov. Woodford administered the oath of office to Andrew Dickson White and presented him with the Charter, Seal and keys of the university. White delivered a lengthy address in which he asserted the formative ideals of the new university and declared its educational independence. Later that day, the crowd climbed up East Hill to the site of the university, where they gathered around a rough wooden structure from which hung a chime of nine bells presented by Miss Jennie McGraw of Ithaca.

Charles Kendall Adams, 1885

Cornell’s second Inauguration took place on November 19, 1885, in the Old Armory, a building that stood on the approximate site of the current Engineering Quad. The University suspended all classes for the day, and at 1:30, a procession of students, faculty, Trustees and invited guests formed on the Arts Quad, with an “Inaugural March” composed for the occasion by Chimesmaster Harry Faulkenau. Preceded by the 54th Regiment Band of Rochester, about 800 people marched to the Armory, where participants attended formal ceremonies that lasted several hours, with three-and-one-half hours of speeches. The new president, Charles Kendall Adams, spoke about the development of higher education in America and his plans for a new form of education. Trustee Henry W. Sage formally presented the new president with the Charter and Seal.

Later that night, the Armory was transformed into a festive hall, with dancing that lasted until midnight.

The time until supper, about 10 o’clock, was taken up in general hand-shaking and promenading, the band furnishing excellent music. Soon after ten the dancing commenced, and from that time until after midnight the floor was filled with merry dancers.

Jacob Gould Schurman, 1892

Livingston Farrand, 1921

Livingston Farrand was inaugurated on October 20, 1921, at the dawn of the “Roaring Twenties,” on a day of drizzling rain. For his inauguration, the university invited about 200 colleges and universities to be represented; about half sent delegates to attend. About thirty of the over eighty Cornell alumni associations and clubs also sent representatives. The university suspended all regular exercises for the day. After a breakfast for the delegates, the inaugural procession of faculty and delegates assembled at Risley Hall, and proceeded to Bailey Hall, where the Inauguration began at 10:40, with a processional by the University Organist. The Acting President, Albert William Smith, presented the Charter and Seal to President Farrand, and Judge Frank Harris Hiscock, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, inducted the President into office. In his inaugural address, President Farrand spoke about the crisis in Europe, with special regard for the plight of Poland and the need for the university to recognize its “international responsibility.” Speakers representing the faculty and representatives of other universities followed with Addresses of Greeting.

After a luncheon for the delegates in Prudence Risley Hall, Gov. Nathan L. Miller joined the laying of the cornerstone of the Baker Laboratory of Chemistry as the climax of the day’s ceremonies. In the evening, a formal dinner was given by the Trustees and Faculty to President and Mrs. Farrand in the Old Armory for about 700 people, including Trustees, Faculty, and delegates and their wives, with Professor Emeritus Thomas E. (“Teefy”) Crane serving as toastmaster.

Edith Marks Wilson's Dress

Beaded “flapper” evening dress worn by Edith Marks Wilson, wife of Law Professor Lyman P. Wilson at the formal Inaugural Dinner given by the Trustees and Faculty to President and Mrs. Livingston Farrand in the Old Armory for about 700 people, including Trustees, Faculty, and delegates and their wives, October 20, 1921.

Edmund E. Day, 1937

Deane W. Malott, 1951

Deane W. Malott requested that his Installation be treated as a “family affair,” in keeping with the simplicity of events at the university during and just after the war years. A simple ceremony attended by more than 10,000 persons, including trustees, faculty, staff, students, and alumni, was held on Libe Slope at 11 a.m. on September 19, 1951. A Chimes concert provided a 15-minute prelude, and Professor Robert Cushman gave an address on “The Cornell Tradition.” Neal Dow Becker, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, presented President Malott with the Cornell Charter, installing him as President, and President Malott gave his Inauguration Address. The Glee Club sang The Evening Song, followed by a medley of marching songs on the Chimes.

At 12:30 there was an Installation Luncheon at Statler Hall, with Arthur H. Dean, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees, presiding. There were “Greetings” from the student body, from the alumni, and from the Ithaca community. New York State Governor Thomas E. Dewey presented an address, followed by concluding remarks by President Malott. The Alumni Quartet provided entertainment.

James A. Perkins, 1963

Dale R. Corson, 1969

Dale R. Corson had been at Cornell for 23 years, rising from Assistant Professor of Physics to Provost, before he was chosen to be the university’s eighth President on September 5, 1969. His naming as President was marked with a dinner at the time of the announcement, and his formal investiture took place at Commencement ceremonies in Barton Hall on Monday, June 8, 1970. A guest speaker, Dr. Julius A. Stratton, Chairman of the Board of the Ford Foundation and President Emeritus of MIT, spoke on “The President and his University, 1970.” Robert W. Purcell, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, presented the University Mace to Dr. Corson.

In his formal address, Corson said:

The last several years have been increasingly critical and traumatic for the country as a whole and for the universities. Cornell has been no exception. I would . . . express the hope that all of us may learn increasingly to respond to these problems out of a deep sense of our common destiny.

The Glee Club sang and the degree ceremony proceeded. On Sunday, the Board of Trustees hosted a dinner in honor of President Corson at the Memorial Room in Willard Straight Hall.

Frank H. T. Rhodes, 1977

Three Presidents Emeriti (Malott, Perkins and Corson) were among more than 7,000 guests gathered in Barton Hall on November 10, 1977, for the inauguration of Frank H. T. Rhodes. On the previous day, Carl Sagan, the David Duncan Professor of Astronomy and Space Sciences, had moderated a panel on “Spaceflight and the Future.” On Thursday morning, delegates from major colleges and universities, Trustees, executive staff, and special guests assembled at the Statler and marched to Barton Hall. Faculty assembled at Uris Hall. Because of worries about November weather, the procession was entirely within Barton with preludes and fanfares by the Cornell bands and the Cornell Orchestra. Robben W. Fleming, President of the University of Michigan, delivered remarks. Robert W. Purcell, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, presented the University Mace to President Rhodes.

In his inaugural address, “...And Perhaps Cornell,” Rhodes enumerated his goals as president:

We must reaffirm, first, the power of reason; second, the strength of community; third, the priority of research; and, fourth, the wider partnership of Cornell.” He emphasized that major research universities are “a national asset, whose well-being is of paramount importance to the nation’s welfare, security, prosperity, and health. . . . the great reservoir on which the fulfillment of all our hopes and larger social aspirations must draw. . . . humankind’s best hope against the stark alternatives of the future.

At 1:00 p.m. there was an Inaugural Luncheon. In the afternoon, there were two-hour receptions with exhibits by Cornell authors and artists - past and present - at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Olin Library and Mann Library, and Dr. and Mrs. Rhodes attended each to receive guests.

Hunter Ripley Rawlings III, 1995

Hunter R. Rawlings III was installed as Cornell’s tenth president on Thursday, October 12, 1995 at 3:00 p.m. in Barton Hall. On Wednesday, an academic symposium entitled “History and Humane Values in American Life,” moderated by Michael Kammen, took place in the Alice Statler Auditorium. On Thursday, “A Cornell Sampler” provided campus tours and exhibits, and from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. President and Mrs. Rawlings greeted members of the Cornell community at a reception on the Arts Quad. The inaugural procession of nearly 1,000 student leaders, faculty, trustees, alumni, and delegates proceeded from the Arts Quad, with members of the campus community lining the way. Symbols of the Inauguration included the Mace, the Great Seal, and the University Charter.

In his inaugural address before a crowd of almost 6,000 new and old friends, Hunter R. Rawlings III sounded a clarion call to members of the Cornell University community, inviting them to join with him in composing a new Cornell - “a Cornell we can now only imagine.” In his address, titled “To Compose Cornell: Cultivating the Mind,” Rawlings charged Cornellians everywhere with the task of helping to reinvent and reinvigorate the campus community. “The cultivation of the human mind for the sake of the individual, together with its moral improvement for the sake of society, remains the University’s fundamental reason for being,” said Rawlings. He concluded by underscoring his belief that students are at the heart, and make up the soul, of the academic enterprise. The installation ceremony was followed immediately by a buffet reception for 2,000 invited guests at the Field House, and the day ended with Cirque de Cornell, a student, faculty and staff performance festival of musical and theatrical productions in Barton Hall.

Jeffrey Sean Lehman, 2003

Jeffrey S. Lehman gave his first inauguration speech on October 12, 2003, at the Weill Cornell Medical Center in Doha, Qatar, where he declared that Ezra Cornell's American university had “matured into the transnational university of the future.” His second inauguration speech, delivered at Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City three days later, focused on the need for cross-disciplinary research and collaboration to further the life sciences. He returned to Ithaca and began his Inauguration Day there with a visit to the Tompkins County Public Library, where he spoke with community leaders. The Distinguished Inaugural Guest Lectures featured Cornell faculty members Alice Fulton and Kenneth McClane; N.R. Narayana Murthy, chairman and CEO of Infosys Technologies Limited; and Cornell architect Richard Meier.

At 1:15 p.m., the Inaugural Procession began on the Arts Quad and headed to Barton Hall. The formal inauguration ceremony was held in Barton Hall, highlighted by opening remarks by Cornell alumna and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. President Lehman’s inaugural speech characterized Cornell as “revolutionary and beloved,” citing Andrew Dickson White’s copy of Copernicus’s On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres and Toni Morrison’s Beloved.

To follow the global theme of the inauguration, the Department of Food Science created an ice cream that featured a flavor or component from every continent. Called “Ezra and Andrew's World View,” it was an espresso ice cream with a fudge swirl and hints of cinnamon and vanilla, crushed hazelnuts and praline pecans. In the evening, hundreds of Cornell students participated in “Ezra and Andy's Excellent BIG RED Adventure,” a theatrical production in Barton Hall.

Revolutionary Cornell

Nicolaus Copernicus. De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium. Norimbergae: Ioh. Petreium, 1543.

Lehman invoked a “revolutionary” and “beloved” Cornell in his inaugural address. He began his speech with a reference to Copernicus's Revolutions, a copy of which (given by Andrew Dickson White) resides in the History of Science Collections, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Carl A. Kroch Library.

Toni Morrison. Beloved: a Novel. New York: Knopf, 1987

Lehman also spoke at length about the importance of Beloved, a Pulitzer prize-winning novel by Cornell graduate and Nobel laureate Toni Morrison (MFA 1955). Beloved, he suggested, “leads us to wonder in new ways about what it means to be a person, to be alive, to be a slave, to love someone else. It makes us wonder whether, and to what extent, our responses to such questions are conditioned by our races, and to what extent our responses transcend race and are more purely human.”

Egalitarian Cornell

Justice Ginsburg praised Cornell's egalitarian tradition, which reaches all the way back to Ezra Cornell. In particular, she cited a letter that Cornell wrote to his granddaughter in 1867.

My Dear Grand Daughter

I shall be very glad when I get through with the business here so I can go home and see you and your little brothers, and have you and them go with me up on the hill to see how the workmen get along with the building of the Cornell University where I hope you and your brothers and your cousins and a great many more children will go to school when they get large enough and will learn a great many things that will be useful to them and make them wise and good women and men. I want to have girls educated in the university as well as boys, so that they may have the same opportunity to be come wise and useful to society that the boys have. I want you to keep this letter until you grow up to be a woman and want to go to a good school where you can have a good opportunity to learn, so you can show it to the President and Faculty of the University to let them know that it is the wish of your grand Pa, that girls as well as boys should be educated at the Cornell University.

Ezra Cornell Papers, Cornell University Archives.