Cornell University Library

Rare transcript, photos of MLK Jr. union speech discovered

January 17, 2025

Claire Deng ’22 was doing a survey of archival papers last summer at a library in the ILR School when she came across something unexpected. …

Cornell University Library leaders connect with peers in Iceland

December 17, 2024

Cornell’s first University Librarian, Daniel Willard Fiske, sailed to Iceland in 1879 and, already familiar with its storied literature, grew deeply enamored with its people …

Behind the stacks: The silent pillars of Cornell University Library

December 2, 2024

The following story is republished from Cornell’s Human Resources website. Cornell University Library is a complex web woven by individuals who each play a critical …

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Ties that Bind

Quilting at the Clarke Africana Library

This two-part exhibit celebrates quilting in the African American community.

This exhibition features art made with photosynthetic bacteria. This first painting, Winogradsky Rothko, appeared outside Mann Library in 2004. Winogradsky Rothko combines the work of a 19th century soil microbiologist -Sergei Winogradsky- with a 20th century colorfield painter -Mark Rothko. Since then, many pieces have been constructed to visualize the diverse liveliness of microbes in diverse ecosystems, ranging from pristine waterways to some of the most toxic superfund sites such as the Gowanus Canal in NYC. Of note, there is a new living painting (installed March 13, 2022) in the foyer of Mann Library. This project is made of mud from BeeBee Lake. The endogenous microbes will synthesize pigments and develop a transforming colorfield painting (March-September). This project connects back to my first 'mud painting' name Winogradsky Rothko (2004) also made from mud from BeeBe Lake. This time, the 2 vessel was made to reference two 19th century Japanese Landscape Paintings. One will have just Beebe Lake mud, the other will hold 10% biochar, a long-term carbon sequestration mechanism. Both frames will be outfitted with pH, eH and temperature sensors. As the outside visually changes, the chemical and physical characteristics will be logged here.

Cultivating Silence

NIkolai Vavilov and the Suppression of Science in the Modern Era

NIkolai Ivanovich Vavilov was one of the most brilliant geneticists of the 20th century - yet his life ended in a Soviet prison, jailed for his ideas.

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