Glorious to View In Living Color: A Photographic Portal to a Past Cornell Browse through another long-ago East Hill scrapbook, from a game of medicine ball on the Ag Quad to a Collegetown festival Editor’s note: Do you have additional info on these images? Do you or anyone you know appear in them? Scroll down to leave a comment! By Joe Wilensky A few months back, we debuted our “Glorious to View” feature that showcased selections from a vast collection of little-seen color images stashed in the University Archives. Most of the photos are from the 1960s through the 1980s, taken by official University photographers for a variety of publications and other one-time needs and have never been scanned or digitized before. Scroll down for a look at another baker’s dozen of these windows into the past on the Hill. Some views remain familiar to this day, while others—like the photo that includes the famed tree stump that long served as a campus bulletin board and political canvas—have not been seen for decades. A typical scene at the original Temple of Zeus café in Goldwin Smith Hall in 1967, watched over by some of the iconic statues from the College of Arts and Sciences’ Plaster Cast Collection. Students stroll past the legendary stump near Willard Straight Hall in 1972. An extra-large medicine ball is kept aloft by a group of students on the Ag Quad in this undated photo. This 1967 image, taken in the Sigma Phi dining room, was described in the files as a “typical fraternity dining hour.” There’s not a laptop or smartphone in sight as these students study in Uris Library in 1984. Cotton candy is served during a 1974 spring festival in Collegetown. Cornellians gather at the Olin Library information desk in 1983. (Today, the iconic numbered call board above the desk is being rewired for use as a clock as part of the library’s ongoing renovations.) For several years in the mid-late ’70s, a swing on the Arts Quad near Lincoln Hall (pictured here in 1975) was a popular attraction. Big Red cheerleaders show off their spirit (and stunts) during a routine in Schoellkopf Stadium in 1984. Students confab in an upstairs meeting room in Willard Straight Hall in 1967—complete with cigarettes and ashtrays on the table. Two students relax in a thoughtfully decorated sloped-ceiling dorm room (likely in Balch Hall) in 1984. No vintage Cornell collection of images would be complete without spotlighting the omnipresent campus dogs—this one seen here lounging happily in the fall of 1983. Top: The Big Red football team on the line of scrimmage at Schoellkopf Field in 1977. (All images courtesy of Rare and Manuscript Collections.) Published November 20, 2024 Do you have more info on these images? Do you or anyone you know appear in them? Comments Grey Perry 26 Nov, 2024 Sigma Phi dining room. Coat and tie required for dinner, suits on Wednesdays and Sundays. Reply Hans Henkes, Class of 1993 26 Nov, 2024 Confirmed. As a member of Sigma Phi’s Epsilon Association Board of Directors, I can add that the dining room was fully restored to its original beauty in 2021 by the local artisan millwork company, Kingsley Quality Woodworking. Reply Ira Langstein, Class of 1983 26 Nov, 2024 I have about 150 photos from 1980 to 1983 that I took on campus while a student. Happy to share my color images for an additional column. Ira Langstein, ’83. CALS Reply Deidre Hubbard Michael, Class of 1990 28 Nov, 2024 Please do! Reply Britt Snider, MILR, Class of 2024 3 Dec, 2024 That would be great to see. Thank you for the thoughtful contribution. Reply Amy LaGambino, Class of 1983 3 Dec, 2024 I hope they take you up on this! Reply Gina Strauch, Class of 1980 26 Nov, 2024 I don’t recognize anyoe in the snapshot, but I worked at the Temple of Zeus in the late 70s when the plaster casts didn’t get much respect. A buch or them were just stored int eh prep room, which was a long tunnel. Lydia Dutton mamaged Zeus back then, a great work-study job. Reply Nancy Havens Hasty, Class of 1967 26 Nov, 2024 The first student (the largest image) on the reight in the confab is Jim Montenari. I think the two students in the dorm are in Comstock. Reply Edd Farmer, Class of 1972 26 Nov, 2024 Always great to see The Stump! I worked at the Straight back in 1972 so I walked by that spot daily. Reply Yo, Class of 1976 4 Dec, 2024 And remember when someone sawed the stump down to a few inches high in 1971 or 72?! It was a sad day… Reply Ned Daly, Class of 1967 26 Nov, 2024 Definitely Sigma Phi dining room. Probably 1967 or 68. Reply Eric Roth, Class of 1974 26 Nov, 2024 I don’t remember cotton candy in Collegetown, but I do have fond memories of Discount Records! Reply Rebecca Scott, Class of 1991 26 Nov, 2024 I believe the thoughtfully decorated sloped-ceiling dorm is in Balch Hall. My room had a sloped ceiling like that. I used to love to listen to the rain hitting the roof at night. Reply David Harding, Class of 1972 26 Nov, 2024 From the size and loft I doubt that the “extra-large … ball” on the Arts Quad was a medicine ball. I had a mail order “weather balloon” about that size that we inflated with the exhaust from a vacuum cleaner. Reply Marilyn Brewer Lhuillier, Class of 1965 27 Nov, 2024 I agree with Rebecca Scott (comment above) that the dorm room is in Balch Hall. I recognize the style of the mirror and the tables in the room. Reply Amy LaGambino, Class of 1983 3 Dec, 2024 Dogs running loose all over campus was a significant influence in the atmosphere at Cornell. I remember I’d pass many dogs on the way to classes, and each of those dogs was headed to their own particular destination. I feel sorry for today’s students stuck in a “humans only” social system. Reply sudip thakor, Class of 1986 4 Dec, 2024 Is it just me, but don’t the students feel way more “connected” to each other and their environment before the iPhone and internet were around? Great pictures of simpler times! ’86 Arts & Sciences Reply Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ Other stories You may like Alumni Cheer for These Cornellian Athletes at the Paris Olympics Quizzes & Puzzles Far(ther) Above: The Campus Stairways Quiz Alumni Meet the Overtons—A Big Red Family for Six Generations