Alumni efforts will help return campus's Goldwin Smith Bench

Two Cornell symbols are pictured on the Arts Quad about 1915 -- Andrew Dickson White and the Goldwin Smith Bench. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections/Carl A. Kroch Library

By Paul Cody

On May 9, 1871, an item appeared in the Ithaca Daily Journal: "A fine stone seat has been placed under the pine near the south edge of the campus. It is another gift from Goldwin Smith. About six persons can be accommodated comfortably with seats. The back is carved on the front sides in the early English style, with three panels. The central panel contains this inscription: 'Above All Nations Is Humanity.' The workmanship reflects much credit on the skill of Messrs. Colquhoun & Kirk, who have had the work in charge. The stone was quarried from Mr. Cornell's quarry. The cost is about two hundred and seventy-five dollars."

"As the quote above indicates," said Associate Professor Michael A. Tomlan, director of Cornell's graduate program in historic preservation in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning, "the Goldwin Smith Bench was placed on the Cornell campus in 1871. From under 'the pine at the south edge of the campus,' it was moved near the north entrance of Stimson Hall by the early 20th century, and to the south of the portico of Goldwin Smith Hall a few years later. In spring 1988, however, the back was broken, and the bench collapsed. The pieces were removed from the Arts Quad to the rear of Sibley Hall where, under the care of the graduate program in historic preservation planning, an attempt was launched to reinstall it. A physical examination indicated that a number of pieces had fractured so badly that any attempt to repair it would be fruitless."

Now efforts are under way to reproduce the bench and bring it back to the Cornell campus.

"The stone is the well-known Llenroc," Tomlan said, "the local schist so common in the area. Hence, the intent was always to have the Goldwin Smith Bench reproduced as exactly as possible, in size, proportion and detail, using the original as a template for the replacement bench. After several attempts to interest the administration in the idea of including the sculpture in fund-raising efforts, in early 1989 an alumnus, Michael C. Nolan, Class of '77, became involved in making the restoration and reinstallation a class gift. To Nolan and his classmates goes much of the credit for bringing this minor landmark back to the Arts Quad. Jeffrey Lallas, project manager in Cornell's maintenance management department, also remained steadfast in coordinating the effort on behalf of the university."

The entire cost of the project will exceed $40,000.

"One of the best suppliers and fabricators of special stonework in the region," Tomlan said, "Ottavino Stone of Ozone Park, Queens, has the contract to provide the duplicate work. At the university, master mason Pete Capalongo will prepare the new base, where the bench last sat, just south of the principal portico of Goldwin Smith Hall. By late August, after over a decade's absence, the quote 'Above All Nations Is Humanity' will once again be seen by all who pass by."

"We're very excited that the project is coming to fruition," said Nolan. "Replacing this bench is a small but crucial way the university needs to be faithful to its history. The university could have replaced this with a much cheaper concrete or wooden bench, but that would have been historically, aesthetically and ethically incorrect. That would be like having McGraw Tower without the chimes or the Arts Quad without the statues of Ezra Cornell and A.D. White, or seeing Tower Road without its trees."