MOUNT VERNON — Cornell College doesn’t give up its secrets easily, but classics professor and registrar emeritus Charles Milhauser found enough interesting tidbits after 30 years of research to fill a 160-page coffee-table book, “Cornell College: 150 Years From A to Z,” published this month by WDG Publishing of Cedar Rapids for Cornell’s sesquicentennial.
Milhauser will sign copies of the book from noon to 1 p.m. Monday, April 14, on the Orange Carpet in The Commons at Cornell. An open house and reception for him follows, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Brackett Guest House on campus. The book can be purchased at both events.
Rich in archival photos never before printed, the book showcases Cornell history that is “memorable, funny or quaint, charming or unusual,” Milhauser writes in the preface. His research touches on more than 100 topics, including conductor Aaron Copland losing his score in Mount Vernon, Frank Lloyd Wright lecturing by candlelight in a building he ranked as the second ugliest in the world, the Cornell airport and Cornell’s connection to Abraham Lincoln, Carl Sandburg, Martin Luther King Jr. and other major historical figures.
Milhauser, a former teacher of Latin, Ancient Greek and English at the University of Iowa, came to Cornell in 1964 as assistant professor of classics. From 1970 until his retirement in 1993, he was registrar, frequently fielding requests for historical information and documentation. In these searches he often came across facts and anecdotes unrelated to the question at hand. These tidbits he jotted down on index cards, eventually amassing thousands, his own archive of Cornell history.
“At first, my subjects involved academic matters and the buildings, but as I sought the answer to a question at hand, my eyes invariably spotted items about Cornell students, faculty and campus visitors. Here, in these personal accounts, I discovered a truly fascinating history of Cornell College,” says Milhauser, who lives in Tequesta, Fla.
“The book contains what I consider the choicest items from my collection about people, places and events that define Cornell,” he says. “Were it not for the fact that I live in Florida, I should be spending my retirement in the college’s archives.”
Since 1980, Milhauser has offered historical tours of the campus, and at last count conducted 362 such walking tours. As he did with the book, he donates his research and writing time for a column, “Cornelliana,” that he authors for the college magazine, the Cornell Report.
“My 30 years at Cornell were unequivocally happy and rewarding both professionally and personally. My book is my way of saying thank you for all that Cornell has given me,” he says.
“Cornell College: 150 Years From A to Z” costs $44.95 and is available at the Cornell Bookstore in The Commons, by phone at (319) 895-4378 or online. Two Mount Vernon gift shops, the Silver Spider and the Perfect Blend, also sell the book.
Cornell will mark its sesquicentennial during the 2003-2004 school year, with a major celebration during homecoming Oct. 18 and special exhibits at the History Center, the Eastern Iowa Airport and the Cedar Rapids Public Library. A formal history of the college, written by emeritus history professors C. William Heywood and Richard Thomas, will be published toward the end of the celebration.