McGraw Tower
McGraw Tower at Cornell University
McGraw Tower is located in New York
McGraw Tower
Location within New York
General information
TypeClock tower
LocationIthaca, New York, United States
Coordinates42°26′51″N 76°29′06″W / 42.44757°N 76.48505°W / 42.44757; -76.48505
Completed1891
Height173 feet (53 m)

McGraw Tower is a masonry clock tower located on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. The tower was known as Library Tower when it was first built but was renamed in 1961 in honor of either John McGraw, one of Cornell's original donors, or his daughter Jennie McGraw, the philanthropist in whose honor the tower and its adjacent library were originally commissioned by Henry W. Sage.[1][2][3][4][5]

McGraw Tower has housed the Cornell Chimes, which Jennie McGraw donated to the university in 1868, since its construction finished in 1891. The bells were moved from McGraw Hall, a separate building, which had not been designed to support the weight of the bells.[1] The Cornell Chimes were the first chimes housed and rung on an American college campus.[3] The chimes play music three times each day during the school year.[1] They also ring every fifteen minutes between 7:00 A.M. and 11:00 P.M.

History

McGraw Tower was designed as part of Uris Library by William Henry Miller, and construction finished in 1891.[1][2] The construction of the library and tower, then called the University Library, was funded by Henry W. Sage to be built in the memory of Jennie McGraw.[3] Sage believed McGraw had intended to donate her estate to the construction of a library on Cornell's campus upon her death; however, this claim was contested by her husband, Cornell professor and librarian Willard Fiske.[3] The university took Sage's view, leading to years of litigation, but eventually, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Fiske.[3]

Pranks

The pumpkin atop the tower, November 21, 1997.

On October 8, 1997, passersby noticed a pumpkin on top of the tower's spire.[6] Because of the danger involved in retrieving it, administrators decided to leave it until it rotted and fell off. However, the pumpkin rapidly dried out in the cold air and remained on the tower until it was removed with a crane on March 13, 1998 (it was planned that Provost Don M. Randel would remove it, but in a practice run the crane basket was blown by a gust of wind and knocked the pumpkin off).[7] Who placed the pumpkin atop the tower, why they did so, and how remain unknown.[8] Widely considered the greatest prank in the university's history, the pumpkin prompted national media coverage, the creation of a live webcam, its own daily feature in one of the school papers, and at least two scientific inquiries into whether the object on top of the tower was, in fact, a pumpkin.[6][8] (Morphological, chemical, and DNA analysis confirmed that it was.)[8][9] It also inspired a unique version of the Cornell alma mater.[10] It was removed on March 13, 1998.[9]

In April 2005, a disco ball was attached to the top of the tower. A crane was hired to remove the offending orb, costing the university about $20,000.[11]

On December 1, 2019, a large Santa Claus hat was discovered on top of the tower.[12]

Later history

On April 11, 2022, the tower resumed allowing public attendance of its chimes concerts after a near two-year hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[13]

Starting in the Fall of 2023, McGraw Tower underwent a major renovation, which saw scaffolding placed up the entire height of the tower. On October 20, 2023, a pumpkin was once again placed atop the spire of McGraw Tower, 26 years after the initial prank.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "About | Cornell Chimes". chimes.cornell.edu. Retrieved 2022-06-21.
  2. 1 2 O'Driscoll, Philip. "A Look Into Cornell University's McGraw Clock Tower". www.ny1.com. Retrieved 2022-06-21.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Lang, Susan S. "Behind McGraw Tower chimes is story of love and legal wrangling". Cornell Chronicle. Retrieved 2022-06-21.
  4. ↑ Sun, The Cornell Daily (2013-10-17). "EZRA'S ORACLE: Oct. 19, 2013". The Cornell Daily Sun. Retrieved 2022-06-21.
  5. ↑ Stiles, Martin B. (1989-10-26). "Uris Library Celebrated". Cornell Chronicle. 21 (9): 1, 8.
  6. 1 2 Friedlander, Blaine. "Pumpkin prank perpetrator puzzle persists 20 years later". Cornell Chronicle. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  7. ↑ Camila Domonoske (October 31, 2017). "After 20 Years, Can Cornell Finally Bust Open Its Great Pumpkin Mystery?". NPR.
  8. 1 2 3 Domonoske, Camila (2017-10-31). "After 20 Years, Can Cornell Finally Bust Open Its Great Pumpkin Mystery?". NPR. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  9. 1 2 Friedlander, Blaine. "Cornell releases Kingsbury commission finding: 'It is a pumpkin!'". Cornell Chronicle. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  10. ↑ "Cornell Library's Pumpkin Watch: Lyrics". pumpkin.library.cornell.edu. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  11. ↑ Dear Uncle Ezra - Questions for Tuesday, August 9, 2005 - Cornell University Archived February 6, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ "Santa Hat Caps McGraw Tower". The Cornell Daily Sun. 2019-12-01. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
  13. ↑ Wehrle, Camden (2022-04-20). "As McGraw Tower Reopens to Visitors, Cornell Chimes Program Continues to Evolve". The Cornell Daily Sun. Retrieved 2022-06-21.
  14. ↑ Mong, Jonathan (2023-10-25). "26 Years After Infamous Prank, Pumpkin Placed on McGraw Tower Again". The Cornell Daily Sun. Retrieved 2023-11-24.
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