Cornell

Tomorrow, August 18, 2025, my grandson, Nate Gerstein, will move into his dorm room to begin his career as a matriculated undergraduate student at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.  Best wishes, Nate!

Cornell University was named after its co-founder, Ezra Cornell, who was born in New York City in 1807.  In his early life, he travelled New York State as a professional carpenter.

Upon first setting eyes on Cayuga Lake (one of the Finger Lakes) and nearby Ithaca in 1828, Ezra decided that Ithaca would be his future home.

Cornell made his fortune in the telegraph business as an associate of Samuel Morse. Cornell constructed and strung the poles for the Baltimore–Washington telegraph line, the first telegraph line of substance in the U.S. 

To address the problem of telegraph lines shorting out, Cornell invented using glass insulators at the point where telegraph lines are connected to supporting poles. 

A lifelong enthusiast of science and agriculture, Cornell saw great opportunity in the 1862 Morrill Land-Grant Acts to found a university that would teach practical subjects on an equal basis with the classics favored by more traditional institutions. Andrew Dickson White helped secure the new institution's status as New York's land-grant university, and Cornell University was founded and granted a charter through their efforts in 1865.

On Thanksgiving 1958 I had my first contact with Cornell University as a spectator at the annual Cornell-Penn football game at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.  Cornell won 19-7.

One of my teachers at Oswego High School was a graduate of Cornell University:  Jessie Fleischman (English).

In 1964 and 1966, as a Penn student, I travelled to Cornell University to attend the Cornell-Penn football game.  Penn lost both times.

The last time I was on the Cornell campus was in the early 1990s to acquaint my daughter Rachel with the University.

C O R N E double L,

Win the game and then ring the bell,

What's the big intrigue,

We're the best in the Ivy League,

Score the point that puts us ahead,

Knock 'em dead, Big Red

1, 2, 3, 4, who are we for,

Can't you tell, old Cornell