History of Cornell University
The history of Cornell University begins when its two founders, Andrew Dickson White of Syracuse and Ezra Cornell of Ithaca, met in the New York State Senate in January 1864. Together, they established Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, in 1865. The university was initially funded by Ezra Cornell's $400,000 endowment and by New York's allotment of the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862.
However, even before Ezra Cornell and Andrew White met in the New York Senate, each had separate plans and dreams that would draw them toward their collaboration in founding Cornell. White believed in the need for a great university for the nation that would take a radical new approach to education; and Cornell, who had great respect for education and philanthropy, desired to use his money "to do the greatest good." Abraham Lincoln's signing of Vermont Senator Justin Morrill's Land Grant Act into law was also critical to the formation of many universities, including Cornell, in the post–Civil War era.
Precursors
A generation before the founding of Cornell University, abolitionist and philanthropist Gerrit Smith of Peterboro in Upstate New York proposed the creation of a major university for the state. In 1835, he hosted the relocated meeting of the New York State Anti-Slavery Society at his home after it was forced out of Utica by the mayor. Smith was active in numerous reform movements and widely known for his philanthropy. In addition to emergency relief and anti-slavery efforts, he provided significant financial support to progressive educational institutions including Oberlin College, the Oneida Institute, Berea College, and Fisk University. He also considered founding a university in New York for the "highest education of men and women, white and black," but the plan was never realized.One educational initiative closely associated with Smith was the founding of Central College in 1849 in McGraw, approximately west of Peterboro. Conceived as a successor to the failed Oneida Institute, Central was also part of the manual labor college movement, which promoted combining academic study with physical labor as both spiritually and economically beneficial. Central College was one of the first American institutions to admit women, Black students, and Native Americans on an equal basis from its founding. It also hired Black faculty members who taught integrated classes. Despite its progressive mission, Central struggled financially and faced widespread racial prejudice; according to contemporary accounts, some parents refused to send their children to what was referred to as "a nigger college." When the institution went bankrupt, Smith assumed its debts and remaining assets.
Founders
As newly elected members of the New York State Senate, Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White chaired committees with jurisdiction over legislation related to the federal land-grant program. Cornell led the Committee on Agriculture, while White chaired the Committee on Literature, which addressed educational policy. The land-grant program required recipient institutions to provide instruction in agriculture and the mechanic arts, "without excluding other scientific and classical studies, and including military tactics".Although they came from different backgrounds, Cornell and White shared a commitment to education and public service. Cornell, a self-taught businessman, accumulated significant wealth through his involvement in the development of telegraph infrastructure, particularly through his investment in the Western Union Telegraph Company. Having lived much of his life in poverty, Cornell later expressed a desire to use his fortune to benefit future generations. He wrote, "My greatest care now is how to spend this large income to do the greatest good to those who are properly dependent on me, to the poor and to posterity." His philanthropic interests centered on expanding access to practical education in fields such as agriculture, applied science, engineering, and veterinary medicine.
White began his academic career at Geneva Academy before transferring to Yale University. While at Geneva, he became interested in European models of higher education, particularly the institutions at Oxford and Cambridge. At Yale, White found the curriculum to be more structured than he preferred, later criticizing the emphasis on rote memorization.
During the late 1850s, White served as a professor of history at the University of Michigan, where he was influenced by the university's secular administration and comparatively liberal curriculum. These experiences shaped White’s vision of a nonsectarian, modern university that could serve both the state and the nation.
Conception
was impressed by one of Ezra Cornell’s early actions as a state senator: the introduction of a bill to establish a public library in Ithaca, to which Cornell pledged $100,000. White noted both the scale of the donation and what he described as Cornell’s inclusive approach to governance. In his memoir, White wrote:The most striking sign of this was his mode of forming a board of trustees; for, instead of the usual effort to tie up the organization forever in some sect, party or clique, he had named the best men of his town—his political opponents as well as his friends; and had added to them the pastors of all the principal churches, Catholic and Protestant.
Despite their shared values, Cornell and White initially supported different approaches to distributing New York’s federal land-grant funds under the Morrill Act. In 1863, the New York State Legislature designated the proceeds of the land grant to the People's College in Havana, provided it met certain conditions within a specified timeframe. Given the five-year deadline imposed by the Morrill Act for each state to designate a land-grant institution, there was growing concern that the People's College would not fulfill the requirements.
At the time, Cornell served on the board of the New York State Agricultural College in Ovid and supported a proposal to allocate half of the grant to that institution. White opposed the measure, arguing that the state’s educational resources were already too fragmented. He advocated instead for using the entire grant to establish a single, comprehensive university.
On September 25, 1864, during a meeting in Rochester, Cornell offered to donate $300,000—later increased to $500,000—to endow a university in Ithaca, contingent upon securing the land-grant funds and relocating the college there. Although White continued to oppose dividing the grant, he expressed willingness to support a unified proposal that incorporated Cornell’s offer. This alignment of interests marked the beginning of their formal collaboration, which ultimately led to the founding of Cornell University.
Establishment
On February 7, 1865, State Senator Andrew Dickson White introduced legislation to establish Cornell University. The proposed bill allocated the full proceeds from the federal Morrill Act land grant to the new institution. Although White and Ezra Cornell had reached an agreement, the proposal encountered significant opposition. Competing claims came from the People's College in Havana, the Agricultural College at Ovid, and other institutions across the state. Additional objections came from religious groups, who criticized the proposed nonsectarian composition of the university’s board of trustees, and from segments of the secular press, which expressed skepticism about Cornell’s financial role in the arrangement.To address concerns from legislators representing Ovid, White helped facilitate the establishment of the Willard State Asylum for the Insane on the site previously designated for the Agricultural College. The bill also capped the university's property and endowment holdings at $3 million.
The legislation was amended multiple times to secure broader support. One revision granted the People's College an additional three months to meet the conditions of its earlier 1863 charter. Another amendment resulted from negotiations with a Methodist faction supporting Genesee College, which agreed to back the bill in exchange for a $25,000 donation from Ezra Cornell. Cornell insisted that this arrangement be formally included in the legislation.
The bill was signed into law by Governor Reuben E. Fenton on April 27, 1865. On July 27, the People's College officially forfeited its claim to the land grant, clearing the way for the establishment of Cornell University.
Between 1865 and the university’s opening in 1868, Cornell and White worked to lay its foundations. Cornell focused on construction and finance, overseeing the building of Morrill Hall and managing the investment of federal land scrip in western lands—an effort that eventually generated millions of dollars for the university. Meanwhile, White, who was elected the university’s first president on November 21, 1866, concentrated on academic and administrative planning. He traveled to France, Germany, and England to visit educational institutions, acquire books and equipment, and recruit faculty. Upon his return, White was inaugurated as president in 1868 and served in that role until his retirement in 1885.
Early years
Cornell University officially opened on October 7, 1868, with inaugural ceremonies held in Ithaca. On the day prior, prospective students sat for entrance examinations. A total of 412 were admitted, making it the largest entering class at any American university at the time. During the opening ceremonies, Ezra Cornell addressed the assembled audience, expressing his hope "to combine practical with liberal education," and serve "the poor young men and the poor young women of our country." He also offered the guiding ideal that would later become the university’s motto: "I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study."The university's early facilities reflected this practical and accessible vision. Two Ithaca institutions previously founded by Ezra Cornell played key roles in the university’s launch. The Cornell Free Library, opened in 1866, functioned as both a classroom and a library for the initial students. Cascadilla Hall, originally constructed as a water cure sanitarium in 1866, became the university’s first dormitory. Cornell was also among the first American universities to admit women. The first female student enrolled in 1870, despite the absence of a dedicated women’s residence. To address this, Henry W. Sage pledged $250,000 in 1872 to construct a women's dormitory. The resulting Sage College opened in 1875, enabling broader coeducational participation.
Significant curricular reforms also distinguished Cornell in its early years. Under President Andrew Dickson White, the university adopted the elective system in 1868, granting students the ability to choose their own courses of study rather than follow a fixed curriculum. This model anticipated similar changes at other institutions, including Harvard University under President Charles William Eliot in 1872.
These developments—coeducation, practical facilities, and curricular innovation—contributed to Cornell’s influence on higher education in the United States. Historian Frederick Rudolph later wrote:
Andrew D. White, its first president, and Ezra Cornell, who gave it his name, turned out to be the developers of the first American university and therefore the agents of revolutionary curricular reform.
One of the university's major early philanthropic challenges came in connection with the construction of its main library. In her will, benefactor Jennie McGraw left over $1 million in bequests, including $200,000 for a university library. However, Cornell’s charter limited its property holdings to $3 million, and it could not legally accept the full estate. Upon learning of the restriction, McGraw’s husband, Willard Fiske, initiated a legal challenge known as The Great Will Case. In 1890, the United States Supreme Court upheld the lower court's ruling that Cornell could not receive the inheritance. In response, Henry W. Sage donated $500,000 to fund the construction of the library, which opened in 1892 and was later named Uris Library.