When Dinosaurs Roamed the Hill

“The Hill," to those who know and love it, is the Cornell University campus. And on the Cornell alumni Internet mailing list, some of us who were there some decades ago joke about having attended that magical place of diversity and openness with the dinosaurs. Actually, we were at Cornell when the Ostrander elms were still there, sheltering and majestic, and when a three-legged dog named Tripod sunned himself on the steps of Willard Straight Hall, the student union.

For those of you who didn't attend Cornell with the dinosaurs, here's a brief glimpse of what the place looked like in the Age of Reptiles, as seen and remembered by Mimi. (Dinosaurs have good memories.)

The Library Tower clockworks.

Fall Creek Gorge, autumn.

Beebe Lake near the Johnny Parsons Club, autumn.

Myron and Anabel Taylor Halls, autumn.

Baker Lab, autumn.

Rockefeller Hall, autumn.

The Library slope at sunset, winter.

The Arts Quad in winter.

Statler Hall (the School of Hotel Administration), winter.

Statler Hall, winter.

The campus, winter.

Baker Lab viewed from the Circle Cottages, winter.

Willard Straight Hall, the student union, spring.

A path near Beebe Lake, spring.

Beebe Lake, spring.

The President's mansion, spring.

The Library tower at night.

Thanks to my good friend "Dr. Nurse" (her Ph.D. is from Cornell),
who found this postcard at a Cape Cod flea market and sent it along.

There's no date on the card, but it looks as though it predates the dinosaurs.

Here are some of the people with whom I shared my four years on the Hill. Above, Kismadi, whose driver's license read, "Kismadi—No Other Names," from Indonesia, a country I have since visited three times. Sadly, we lost Kis in late October of 2002.

My father used to tell me there were two things I should get from my college education—the knowledge of where to get the information I would need for my chosen field and, even more important, friends to last me the rest of my life. Here are a few of them.

Building a float for Spring Weekend. That's Bill Steele on the left.
The fellow standing at the right is a Federal judge.

Peter Lee Abeles, a starving student who used to pour
ketchup into his tea water to make tomato soup.

Bill Steele, who carried his last name perhaps a bit too far.

Frances Jean Yeomans, later Szasz, who introduced me to
the Society of Friends—and to many aspects of friendship.

Debby Epstein, later Miller, who changed her name
from Epstein to Miller by marrying a rabbi.

Aurora Tan Violanda, later Calo, whose older daughter
is now my friend as well. Yoy, from the Philippines, spent
many years in Tanzania with the United Nations Development Project.

Ted Stannard, my first Californian. He used to horrify me
by leaving his camera slung on a peg on a coat rack in
the lobby of the Straight—but nobody ever stole it.

Photography by Mimi Kahn and a Bolsey B-2!

Last revised November 7, 2003.

And now leaf through The Cornell Widow in its glory years.