Archive for Cornell
MacNeil 1887
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teaches at Cornell
A very young looking Hermon A MacNeil in 1887 when hired to teach engineers free hand drawing by Robert H. Thurston, Dean of Engineering at Cornell.
Professor Robert Henry Thurston (1839-1903). Founding Director of the Sibley College School of Engineering of the Cornell University.
“In the 1880s, Thurston was a man of vision who became a central pioneer in the developing field of Mechanical Engineering. He would soon become the first president of the newly organized American Society of Mechanical Engineers (A.S.M.E.). The faculty of Cornell brought him there to start the Sibley College of Engineering.”
“Thurston hired and mentored Hermon Atkins MacNeil from 1886-1889 — age 20 to 23 to teach industrial art, drawing, to the engineering students. A duplicate of this bronze bust and memorial plaque was erected at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) office in NYC. Thurston was the first President of ASME.” [SOURCE: https://hermonatkinsmacneil.com/2013/09/01/professor-robert-henry-thurston-encourager-of-macneils-genius-part-1/
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The young Art Instructor went on teach engineering students to sketch, mold in clay, do orthographic projections.
Key Orthographic Drawing Examples:
Mechanical Parts: Detailed views showing the front, top, and right-side projections of an object to define its exact shape and dimensions.
Simple Block Objects: A 3D model created from 3–6 blocks, sketched from different viewpoints (top, side, front) to understand spatial orientation.
Technical Designs: Shipping containers or a grand piano shown in top, front, and side views for manufacturing.
Dean Thurston wanted his engineering students to:
- visualize,
- think, and
- communicate through drawings.
He wanted a educated artist capable of teaching such skills through.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
His solution was to hire
Hermon Atkins MacNeil
in 1887
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Sept., 01, 2013
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Sept. 015, 2013
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I never met Hermon MacNeil.
I never met my maternal grandfather, Tom Henry McNeil.
ALL OF LIFE and our family histories are filled with people we HAVE NEVER MET.
In 2014 I wrote an article for the MacNeil Clan Magazine,
The Galley.
I include the the pages and the text of that article below in this post:
The photos can also be viewed in this previous post.
Hermon Atkins MacNeil – American Sculptor – (1866-1947)
MacNeil Clan history, like all family history, is filled with people we have never met. One MacNeil who has always fascinated me is Hermon Atkins MacNeil. Researching “Uncle” Hermon has also led me to another amazing man, Robert Lister MacNeil. Both men were present when the Clan MacNeil Association was formed ninety-three years ago.
MacNeil kinsman.
On May 26, 1921, the Clan MacNeil Association of America was organized in New York City. Central to that moment were Robert Lister MacNeil, (The MacNeil of Barra – 45th Chief of the Clan), and Hermon Atkins MacNeil, a sculptor, who served as the clan’s first president. At that time, Robert Lister was 32 years of age, a practicing architect in New York City, and a veteran of the First World War. He had succeeded to the chiefship of the Clan MacNeil just six years earlier. His dreams of the Isle of Barra and restoring Kisimul Castle (as told in his book The Castle in the Sea) were but faint hopes that would await decades and the efforts of many MacNeils for their accomplishment.
Dan “Neil” Leininger in a MacNeil kilt at Kisimul Castle, Isle of Barra, Scotland 2014. WHAT A TOUR it was!!!
His other kinsman was Hermon Atkins MacNeil. Hermon was the older of the two, an accomplished sculptor, also practicing in New York City, he had already created a myriad of statues, sculptures, monuments, as well as, the U.S. Standing Liberty Quarter first minted in 1916. Although these two MacNeils were 23 years apart in age, they were both trained in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, a school for architects and sculptors in the Classic Greco-Roman styles. A lasting bond between them formed through their shared artistic talents, professional skills, and years of Clan MacNeil activity.
Hermon MacNeil designed a bronze plaque that was unveiled and dedicated on May 28, 1928 on the campus of Flora MacDonald College in Red Springs, NC. The plaque commemorated the 1735 landing of Neil MacNeil of Jura, Scotland with 350 followers. This group made up mostly of clan members landed at the Cape Fear Settlement in North Carolina. The plaque was placed on a red granite stone and marked another clan project shared by these two men.
In his later years, Robert Lister stated: “Hermon was an outstanding sculptor and one of my dearest friends all the rest of his life.” In 1970, six years after publishing those words, Robert Lister MacNeil died at the age of 81. Twenty-three years earlier (in 1947), Hermon Atkins MacNeil had died, also at the same age of 81. All of the above was discovered as I “searched for Uncle Hermon.” I never met either of these two MacNeil men. The more I learn of them both, the more striking I find the parallels in their lives.
MacNeil roots. The third MacNeil man that I never met was my own grandfather, Tom Henry McNeil (1860-1932). Whenever my mother spoke of her father or of her “Uncle Hermon,” I would see a certain smile on her face and a sparkle in her eye. Emotionally, recalling her McNeil memories seemed to take her to “a very pleasant place.” On the MacNeil family tree, her father and Hermon MacNeil were first cousins. But “Uncle Hermon” was what the whole family always called him and what he always considered himself to be. Though she did not share them often, my mother’s stories instilled in me a sense of “wonder” about these two “MacNeil” men.
Genetically, my mother gave all of us six children her MacNeil biology, but when I first realized that my parents also gave me the middle name of “Neil,” I felt some extra portion of my Scottish ancestry. That feeling has only grown as I get older. My grandfather McNeil died before I was born. I was just two years old when Hermon MacNeil died. Now as an old man myself this MacNeil heritage and my memories of the sparkle in mother’s eyes have expanded my interest in these three MacNeils, and in the many other MacNeils that I have yet to meet.
MacNeil pursuits. So I am pursuing my MacNeil Clan interests in several ways. In 2010 I formally began searching for “Uncle Hermon” by building a “digital gallery” of the life and work as a sculptor. I built HermonAtkinsMacNeil.com, a website dedicated to making his sculpture and career available to the world. A web search of the name “Hermon MacNeil” will take you there. His sculptures, statues, monuments are scattered from Washington, DC to Portland, Oregon, and from New York City to Gallup, New Mexico. Now this virtual gallery features over 500 photos and 125 stories of Hermon MacNeil’s life and work. There you can see his statues of George Washington from Washington Arch, NYC; Ezra Cornell at Cornell University, William McKinley at Columbus, Ohio; Abraham Lincoln at Champaign, Illinois; Pony Express at St. Joseph, Missouri; Pere Marquette in Chicago; and monuments in Philadelphia, Charleston, Albany, and Flushing, and dozens of other cities.
In 2013 I became a member of the Clan MacNeil Association of America. I did not know its existence until I saw the 1928 news story of the MacNeil plaque dedication in Red Springs. For the last three yearsI have shared “MacNeil stories” at our annual family reunion of my siblings and our children and grand children. In August 2013 I went to my first Highland Festival. My nephew in Colorado told me about the attended the Longs Peak Scottish Irish Highland Fest in Estes Park. What a great celebration of Celtic pride and heritage.
Donna and I have booked our spots on the 2014 MacNeil Clan Tour of Scotland. We reserved our passage before I received the Fall/Winter issue of The Galley with Rory MacNeil’s invitation to the World Gathering of the Clan MacNeil on the Isle of Barra from August 4-7, 2014. We hope to meet some of you there this summer.
- I joined Clan MacNeil Association I have attended the 2013 Estes Park Highland Fest
- I have booked spots for Donna and I on the 2014 MacNeil Clan Tour of Scotland
- I continue to research HAM
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Hermon MacNeil Featured in “The Galley”
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Dan Leininger holds the “Galley” for Summer 2014 with MacNeil’s “Pony Express” statue on the cover and an 8 page feature story inside.
“Clan MacNeil Connections and Hermon Atkins MacNeil”
The current issue of the Clan MacNeil Association of America magazine has a feature story on Hermon Atkins MacNeil by webmaster, Dan Leininger
The Galley edited by Vicki Sanders Corporon titles Dan’s story as “Clan MacNeil Connections and Hermon Atkins MacNeil.” The feature and photos fill 8 pages in the “Galley” issue for Spring/Summer 2014.
Ezra Cornell statue at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY was dedicated in 1918 after WWI. Page 19 of the “Galley” (This Photo from Cornell University is Courtesy of Chris Carlsen).
Page 20 of the “Galley” for Summer 2014
The featured photos include the East Pediment of the Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C. (with a detail close-up of Moses, Confucius, and Salon); The George Rogers Clark monument in Vincennes, IN at the site of his victory over the British in 1779; Confederate Defenders of Charleston, SC; the Young Lawyer Abraham Lincoln in Champaign, IL; General George Washington on the Washington Arch, NYC, NY. Also in this article are photos of the grouping Coming of the White Man in Portland, OR; The WWI Angel of Peace Monument in Flushing NY; and a bust of Dwight L. Moody (who MacNeil sketched during the 1893 Chicago Worlds Fair.
Page 18 of the “Galley” for Summer 2014
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Hermon Atkins MacNeil to be featured in “The Galley”
Posted by: | CommentsHermon MacNeil was the first president of the Clan MacNeil Association of America. This summer, the Galley will contain a feature article about him, written by Dan Leininger, webmaster of this website — HermonAtkinsMacNeil.com.
“The Galley” Spring/Summer 2013; Official Publication of the Clan MacNeil Association of America
The previous posting of February 8, 2013, entitled, “MacNeil Kinsman ~ Hermon Atkins MacNeil and Robert Lister MacNeil,” tells part of the story of these two men.
Vicki Sanders Corporon, editor of the Galley, has accepted the article and accompanying photos that tell more of the story. She said in recent correspondence:
“Thanks for sending such excellent photos of Hermon’s sculptures. I know their inclusion, along with your article, will be the highlight of the upcoming issue! He really was one of America’s finest sculptors … how important is your mission to make sure he is fully appreciated!”
Sculpture photos of the Supreme Court (East Pediment); George Washington from the Washington Arch in NYC; Abraham Lincoln from University of Illinois; Ezra Cornell at Ithaca; Confederate Defenders Monument (1932) Charleston harbor, SC; and George Rogers Clark at Vincennes will illustrate the story.
On May 26, 1921, the Clan MacNeil Association of America was organized in New York City. Central to that moment were Robert Lister MacNeil, (The MacNeil of Barra – 45th Chief of the Clan), and Hermon Atkins MacNeil, the clan’s first president.
Stay tuned for more as the publication is released.
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Professor Robert H. Thurston ~ ‘MacNeil’s Encourager’ (Part 3 of 3)
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“Ezra Cornell” the man in front of the telegraph and behind the University, sculpted by Hermon A. MacNeil. [Photo courtesy of Chris Carlsen]
In 1917 when Hermon MacNeil made the standing sculpture of Ezra Cornell, he placed a “machine” behind The man who made Cornell University. While MacNeil never knew Ezra Cornell, he did know Robert Thurston. Both Thurston and Cornell were men of machines. This third and final segment of the MacNeil ~ Thurston Story offers more on the brilliant engineer’s influence on the brilliant sculptor. Their individual creativity became a meeting ground of mechanical vision and artistic vision, foundational to Sibley College, and eventually, Cornell University College of Engineering.
Hermon MacNeil include this sculpture of the ‘original telegraph’ into his tribute to Erza Cornell in 1917. [Photo courtesy of Chris Carlsen ]
Francis C. Moon in his 2007 volume on The Machines of Leonardo Da Vinci and Franz Reuleaux tells his story this way, combining three elements:
“Thurston – MacNeil – and Machines”
Source: Francis C. Moon, The Machines of Leonardo Da Vinci and Franz Reuleaux: Kinematics of Machines from the Rennaisance to the 20th Century: Springer, 2007, p.180. [The Two Cultures is the title of an influential 1959 Rede Lecture by British scientist and novelist C. P. Snow. Its thesis was that “the intellectual life of the whole of western society” was split into the titular two cultures — namely the sciences and the humanities — and that this was a major hindrance to solving the world’s problems. ]
For Hermon MacNeil to come to Cornell as a young 20 year old artist was a serendipitous opportunity. For him to work directly with this mechanical engineer and seasoned educator, Robert Thurston, and to teach Thurston’s engineering students drawing and design was a melding of “The Two Cultures” ** of science and humanities. Thurston wanted to educate engineers who could draw, who could solve problems, and had an artist’s eye for detail and design.
** [The Two Cultures is the title of an influential 1959 Rede Lecture by British scientist and novelist C. P. Snow. Its thesis was that “the intellectual life of the whole of western society” was split into the titular two cultures — namely the sciences and the humanities — and that this was a major hindrance to solving the world’s problems. ]
In MacNeil, Thurston found the artist/sculptor that he wanted. His encouragement of the ‘sculptor’ in MacNeil led Hermon on to Paris, Chicago, Rome and eventually, New York City. but he kept returning to Cornell. In 1893 he make the bust of Justice Douglas Boardman. After Thurston’s death, he made the bronze bas-relief honoring the Dean. In 1917-18 MacNeil returned to make to the statue of Ezra Cornell. And after MacNeil’s own death in 1947, his personal papers were placed in the Cornell Universiry Library at his bequest. Robert Thurston appears to be the encourager and instigator of that loyalty. It seems that MacNeil never forgot Cornell.
Thurston achieved his mastery of steam engine technology early in life by working in the machine shop at his father’s steam engine manufacturing company in Providence, Rhode Island. He later volunteered to serve in the Navy Engineering Corps during the Civil War and afterwards taught at the US Naval Academy at Annapolis. Writing 21 books and 574 scientific articles, he spanned a prolific career first as President of Stevens Institute of Technology for 14 years, and later as director of Sibley College, Cornell University for 18 more years.
Professor Robert Thurston became a recognized expert on the “steam engine,” the primary ‘work horse’ of the 19th and early 20th centuries. He wrote dozens of monographs on the subject. His visionary approach to engineering education brought Cornell to the forefront of the field. The choice of young Hermon Atkins MacNeil, a trained artist and ‘soon-to-be’ sculptor, brought an artist’s eye to Thurston’s vision for Cornell’s scientifically trained engineering graduates. That vision has now shaped the “growth” of Cornell, engineering education, and the A.S.M.E. for 125 years. Steam engines, telegraphs, and even engineering schools, can all be coinsidered “great inventions.” Here is what Thurston had to say about the “growth” of such great discoveries:
“Great inventions are never, and great discoveries are seldom, the work of any one mind. Every great invention is really an aggregation of minor inventions, or the final step of a progression. It is not usually a creation, but a growth, as truly so as is the growth of the trees in the forest.” — Robert H. Thurston[In ‘The Growth of the Steam-Engine’, The Popular Science Monthly (Nov 1877), 17 ]
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Professor Robert Henry Thurston ~ ‘Encourager of MacNeil’s Genius’ (Part 1 of 3)
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Professor Robert H. Thurston, first Director of Sibley School of Mechanical Engineering at Cornell, 1886-1903
Hermon MacNeil’s three years at Cornell (1886-1889) with Professor Robert Henry Thurston shaped the rest of his sixty years of life and his entire career as a sculptor. After leaving there, MacNeil would eventually return to make four major sculptures for the University. In his will executed after his death, he ordered that all of his professional papers be left to the Cornell University Library (Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections #2425).
Of Robert H. Thurston’s thousands of career accomplishments, perhaps his quietest yet most profound, was his personal praise for Hermon MacNeil‘s sculptural talent and the confidence with which he encouraged Hermon to develop those skills in Europe and the Beaux Arts schools of Paris.
Professor Robert Henry Thurston (1839-1903). Founding Director of the Sibley College School of Engineering of the Cornell University. Thurston hired and mentored Hermon Atkins MacNeil from 1886-89 age 20 to 23 (1886-89) to teach industrial art, drawing, to the engineering students. A duplicate of this bronze bust and memorial plaque was erected at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) office in NYC. Thurston was the first President of ASME.
In the 1880s, Thurston was a man of vision who became a central pioneer in the developing field of Mechanical Engineering. He would soon become the first president of the newly organized American Society of Mechanical Engineers (A.S.M.E.). The faculty of Cornell brought him there to start the Sibley College of Engineering.
The bronze memorial sculpture at the right was a tribute to Thurston who died in 1903. The Cornell University, its Sibley College of Engineering and the Ithaca community conceived, subscribed and and commissioned MacNeil to sculpt this bas-relief in 1908. A duplicate of this bronze memorial was placed in New York City at the offices of the ASME. Thurston was the first president of that national engineering society.
In 1886, Hermon MacNeil was a fresh twenty year-old graduate of Boston State Normal Art School. MacNeil was then the same age as a certain carpenter named Ezra Cornell when he walked forty-one miles (in 1826) into the town of Ithaca from DeRuyter, New York. Arriving at the crest of Libe Slope (the current location of MacNeil’s statue of him), Cornell could see the town of Ithaca in the valley below. The place looked so promising as young Ezra could see manufactured goods and commodities being transferred from wagons to steamboats and barges. University history explains it this way:
At last he had come to a place, Cornell decided —before continuing down the hill, taking a boardinghouse room for the night and finding a carpentry job the next morning— where he could make something of himself. [ Cornell Engineering: A Tradition of Leadership and Innovation, p. 2. ]
Exactly sixty years later, another twenty year old was brought to Ithaca, this time by Professor Robert Thurston. MacNeil had just Graduated with first honors from the Boston State Normal Arts School (Massachusetts School of Art). This talented youth brought skills that Thurston desired all of his engineers to develop (mechanical drawing, drafting, architectural drawing, geometries, modeling and sculpting.
So Thurston hired Hermon MacNeil as Instructor of Art to teach these skills. The engineer degree required four years of these classes. Thurston wanted mechanical engineering students to know how to draw and to absorb the visual skills of a true artist.
Stay tuned for more (Part 2) on MacNeil’s first attempts at sculpting at Cornell and Professor Thurston’s vital role in affirming Hermon’s talent and future as a sculptor.
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1893 – Bust of Judge Douglas Broadman ~ Cornell Univerity
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Judge Douglas Boardman ~ 1893 ~ Cornell University (Photo Courtesy of Chris Carlsen)
Judge Douglas Boardman ~ Cornell Univerity 1893 ~ (Photo Courtesy of Chris Carlsen)
Judge Douglas(s) Broadman became the first Dean of the Cornell University Law School in 1887 when Hermon MacNeil was on the faculty. After the Judge’s death in 1891, MacNeil was commissioned to sculpt a bust of Professor Boardman for the University. This was one of MacNeil’s earliest works in marble. At the time he was residing in Chicago working on the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition
MacNeil taught modeling of sculpture at Cornell from 1886-89. He would have known Broadman who came to teach Law in 1887 after a distinguished career on the bench
According to Cornell Archives:
Douglass Boardman graduated from Yale in 1842 and then studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1845 and practiced law in Ithaca, New York. From 1848-1851 he served as District Attorney of Tompkins County, New York, and from 1852-1856 was County Judge. In 1856 he and Judge Francis M. Finch formed a law partnership which continued until 1866 when Boardman was elected a justice of the Supreme Court for the 6th district. He was a director of the First National Bank of Ithaca from its organization in 1864 and became its president in 1884; became a trustee of Cornell University in 1875; and was appointed Dean when the Cornell Law School was organized. Judge Boardman retired from the Supreme Court in 1887, and died in 1891. [ http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/RMM01622.html ]
For More history see:
“Guide to the Douglass Boardman Papers, 1839-1891;Collection Number: 1622. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections of the Cornell University Library”
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MacNeil Cousins ~ Hermon and Tom Henry
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Thomas (Tom) Henry McNeil (b. 1860 – d. 1932)
Hermon Atkins MacNeil (b. 1866 – d. 1947)
Hermon Atkins MacNeil (1866-1947) and Thomas Henry McNeil (1860-1932) were cousins.
They shared a common grandfather, Peter McNeil (1786-1847).
Hermon is the sculptor celebrated on this website.Thomas (Tom Henry) was my grandfather. My mother, Ollie Francis McNeil, always referred to Hermon as “Uncle Hermon”. Their parents wanted her (and her sisters and brother) to do that out of respect.
Hermon was more correctly their “first cousin, once removed”. But “Uncle” seems both easier and more respectful. Hermon would be my “first cousin, twice removed” [ see ancestry chart below ].
The MacNeil Cousins share a common grandfather, Peter MacNeil, who is my great-great-grandfather.
MacNeil of Barra tartan
Tom Henry was born in Missouri, near Burdette in Bates County. He graduated from the University of Michigan. He played football there as the first starting quarterback in consecutive seasons. He practiced as a lawyer for Kansas City Railways Company, and in later years, he was responsible for making accident reports to the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Public Service Commission of Missouri. He died in 1932.
Hermon was born in Everett (Chelsea, Malden) Mass. In 1886 he graduated from Normal Art School in Boston (now Mass Art). He moved to Cornell University, New York, until 1889, leaving to study in Paris as a pupil of Henri M. Chapu and Alexandre Falguière. He sculpted in Chicago from 1891-1895, at the Columbian World Exposition (1893 Chicago World’s Fair) meeting Carol Brooks (also a sculptor). They married on Christmas Day 1895 and sailed days later for Rome (1895-99). Following another year in Paris (1899-1900), they settled in New York City building a home and studio in College Point, Long Island. He worked and lived there until his death in 1947.
FOR MORE read:
Dan Leininger
Daniel Neil Leininger, webmaster, HermonAtkinsMacNeil.com
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Hermon MacNeil include this sculpture of the 'original telegraph' into his tribute to Erza Cornell in 1917. (Photo courtesy of Chris Carlsen)
Original telegraph receiver, used in Baltimore for the receipt of the first telegraph message, May 24, 1844. (On loan from the Cornell University College of Engineering.)
Hermon MacNeil often included symbolic details in his sculptures and statues. Here is a prime example. MacNeil came to the Cornell University faculty twelve years after Ezra Cornell’s death. Teaching at Cornell for those three years, from 1886-1889, he had a first hand knowledge of Ezra Cornell’s story.
Hermon Atkins MacNeil chose the telegraph as the appropriate object to place “behind-the-man who was behind-the-University.” Compare MacNeil’s bronze relief work on the RIGHT to the Cornell Archives photo of the “Original telegraph receiver” on the LEFT. (On loan from the Cornell University College of Engineering). http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/Ezra-exhibit/EC-life/EC-life-5.html
In his lifetime Ezra Cornell made and lost several fortunes. He envisioned the telegraph as the most promising device of the immediate future of communication. Holding that vision through ups and downs, booms and busts, he rode the wave of communication technology into the future. In the end his wealth from his Western Union shares that evolved from the telegraph became the profit that made his dream of a University a reality. He continued to achieve success and failure as an entrepreneur and investor.
The short story goes this way:
Ezra made his fortune in the telegraph business as an associate of Samuel Morse, having gained his trust by constructing and stringing the telegraph poles between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland, as the first ever telegraph line of substance in the U.S. To address the problem of telegraph lines shorting out to the ground, Cornell invented the idea of using glass insulators at the point where telegraph lines are connected to supporting poles. After joining with Morse, Cornell supervised the erection of many telegraph lines, including the Erie and Michigan Telegraph Company connecting Buffalo to Milwaukee. He earned a substantial fortune as a founder of the Western Union company. [ Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Cornell ]
The University’s website tells the story this way:
Ezra Cornell's Patent Picture of his "useful" trenching machine
While traveling in Maine, Ezra Cornell met F.O.J. Smith, editor of the Maine Farmer. When Congress appropriated $30,000 for the laying of a test telegraph cable between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Smith had taken a contract from the inventor, Samuel F.B. Morse, to lay the lead pipe which enclosed the telegraph wires. In the summer of 1843, on his second trip to Maine, Cornell visited Smith’s office and found him struggling to design a machine to lay the cable underground. At Smith’s request, Cornell created a plow that would both dig the trench and lay the cable. Morse came to Maine for a demonstration of the machine, approved it, and hired Cornell to lay the cable for the test line. In October 1843, Cornell went to Washington to begin work on laying the telegraph line. As the work proceeded, he became concerned that the insulation of the wires was defective. He notified Morse, who ordered the work stopped. Cornell then devised a machine for withdrawing the wires from the pipes and reinsulating them.
Cornell spent that winter in Washington studying works on electricity and magnetism in the Patent Office library and the Library of Congress. His reading convinced him that underground wiring was impractical and that the wires should be strung on glass-insulated poles. He was retained as Morse’s assistant at the pay of $1000 per year. In the spring of 1844, Cornell built the overhead line from Washington to Baltimore, and on May 24, Morse tapped out the historic message: “What hath God wrought.” Some of Cornell’s earliest telegraph communications relayed the results of the 1844 Whig and Democratic Conventions, which nominated Henry Clay and James K. Polk, respectively. http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/Ezra-exhibit/EC-life/EC-life-5.html
CORNELL’S COMMITMENT to the ‘TELEGRAPH’
Ezra Cornell's Patent for a "new and useful machine for cutting trenches."
Ezra Cornell’s commitment to his vision of the potential of this invention drove him forward. Again the Ezra Cornell’s university tells his story this way:
Ezra Cornell’s story is the story of the telegraph in America. Always confident of its great commercial future, he enthusiastically demonstrated it, enlisted capital, and built lines. Although doing so frequently left his family destitute, he always took a large part of his pay in stocks, and invested in the first telegraph company, which connected New York and Washington. He built lines from the Hudson to Philadelphia and from New York to Albany, as well as lines in New York, Vermont and Quebec, and west to Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, and Milwaukee. He was involved in the rapid construction of subsidiary lines, especially in the midwest, where the telegraph preceded rather than followed the railroad.
The early days of the telegraph industry were tumultuous. Many companies were formed, operated briefly and died. Stronger companies managed to survive despite conflicts, deception, and numerous lawsuits. Service on the hastily built lines was frequently unreliable. In 1851, the New York & Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company was organized in Rochester by Hiram Sibley and others, with the goal of creating one great system with unified and efficient operations. Meanwhile, Cornell had bought back one of his bankrupt companies and renamed it the New York & Western Union Telegraph Company. Originally fierce competitors, by 1855 both groups were finally convinced that consolidation was their only alternative for progress. The merged company was named The Western Union Telegraph Company at Cornell’s insistence. Western Union rapidly expanded operations to most parts of the United States and Canada. While Cornell now took a less active role, he continued to have great faith in the telegraph. He held on to his Western Union stock, and for more than fifteen years was the company’s largest stockholder. http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/Ezra-exhibit/EC-life/EC-life-6.html
CORNELL’S COMMITMENT to the “UNIVERSITY”
While Cornell’s commitment to the “telegraph” makes a fascinating story, his greater vision and commitment to the idea of a “UNIVERSITY” marks the zenith of his ingenuity.
His vision of co-education, free of sectarian coercion, open to all, is encapsulated in an open letter he wrote on the occasion of the the opening of Sage College. He addressed it to “The coming Man and woman” — those students of the nineteenth, twentieth, and now, twenty-first centuries that would grace the halls of Cornell:
Ezra Cornell to “The coming man and woman.”
Ithaca, May 15, 1873.
Autograph letter signed by Ezra Cornell
(read original HERE)
To the Coming man & woman
On the occasion of laying the corner stone of the Sage College for women of Cornell University, I desire to say that the principle [sic] danger, and I say almost the only danger I see in the future to be encountered by the friends of education, and by all lovers of true liberty is that which may arise from sectarian strife.
From these halls, sectarianism must be forever excluded, all students must be left free to worship God, as their concience [sic] shall dictate, and all persons of any creed or all creeds must find free and easy access, and a hearty and equal welcome, to the educational facilities possessed by the Cornell University.
Coeducation of the sexes and entire freedom from sectarian or political preferences is the only proper and safe way for providing an education that shall meet the wants of the future and carry out the founders idea of an Institution where “any person can find instruction in any study.” I herewith commit this great trust to your care.
Ezra Cornell
On the Arts Quadrangle Hermon Atkins MacNeil’s vision of Ezra Cornell can be seen in bronze. Behind this man behind the University, MacNeil has tucked away inconspicuously, a Samuel Morse style ‘telegraph.’ Cornell’s commitment to this little piece of nineteenth century technology provided the ‘seed-money’ for his “Dream of a University” which has encompassed this sculpture for nearly a century.
[ For a fascinating TIME-LINE of Erza Cornell’s life and the Founding of the University, chick HERE. ]
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MacNeil’s “Ezra Cornell” ~ New Photos
Posted by: | CommentsHere are the first nine photos of the statue of Ezra Cornell taken on a recent trip through New York state and Cornell University campus by my friend and a fellow history buff, Chris Carlsen and his son, Jensen. Chris was staying at “Old Stone Heap,” the home of his friend William Buckley “Buck” Briggs, an Adjunct Professor of Law at Cornell. Click on Buck’s name above to check out his bio and see his extensive NFL expertise. ( Buck can also be heard doing the “color” radio broadcasts for the “Big Red” Cornell Football team. “Uncle Ezra” would be proud! )
Anyway, quality photos of ‘Uncle Ezra’ like these by Chris are rare. Detail closeups of the signature, foundry mark, and image features have never been seen before on this website. Nor have I seen them on any other website either. We have them from a 360 degree perspective. [ Webmaster is Proud. “Uncle Ezra would be proud!” ]
MacNeil once told an interviewer that as he sculpted Ezra Cornell’s features, he realized the man’s resemblance to his own father, John Clinton MacNeil. After that insight, the sculptor said that his labors became a work of happy enthusiasm. [ “Papa John AND Uncle Hermon would be proud!” ]
This MacNeil work was begun in 1917. It’s public dedication was delayed until 1919 due to World War I. A photo of all the straw hats at the dedication can be seen at Chronicle On-Line: Nov 6, 2007
“Stay tuned more to come later.” ~ Webmaster
Thanks Chris 
H. A. MacNeil, Sc. 1917
Roman Bronze Works in NYC was the premire foundry used by MacNeil for its 'Lost Wax' process of casting.
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Upon graduation from Massachusetts Normal Art School, MacNeil’s work was recognized with the award ‘first prize’ in his graduating class. This honor attracted the attention of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. They invited him to teach as Instructor of Industrial Art. His discipline there was sometimes described as ‘modeling’ – meaning sculpturing from live models.
Hermon Macneil's 'green likeness' of Ezra Cornel is what most Cornell students visualize ads "Dear Uncle Ezra".
For three years (1886-89), he taught on the faculty. It seems a formative time. He saved his money, followed his dreams, and resigned in 1889 to travel to Europe studying art in Paris. The Cornell University, wanting to stay connected to this promising young sculptor, told him they would hold his faculty position for him.
Upon returning to the USA, MacNeil decided to settle in Chicago, instead. The reason was that the Chicago Worlds Fair was generating commissions for Sculpture as part of this ‘modern’ extravaganza.
Yet despite Hermon MacNeil’s decision to not return to Cornell University, the ties and the mutual affection, have remained over the years as evidenced in the following:.
- In 1893, he was commissioned to sculpt a bust of the first dean of the Law School Judge Douglas Boardman . The work remains in Myron Taylor Hall, inside of the Rare Book Room (as seen in the above link).
- In 1930 he was asked to make a sculpture of Ezra Cornell, the founder of the school to grace the campus. A moving account of his experience of this sculpture will be posted later on this website.
- Later, toward the end of his life, he chose to archive his personal papers in the library at Cornell where they remain the largest repository of his records and correspondence, to this day. See MacNeil Personal Papers
MacNeil’s fingerprints remain on Cornell University to this day.
The upcoming post, MacNeil Month #3, will feature “Studies in Paris.”
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“Dear Uncle Ezra” : Live and Well on Cornell Website
Posted by: | CommentsHermon MacNeil’s ‘green likeness’ of Ezra Cornell on the Arts Quad is what most students visualaze.
Over two hundred years after his birth [See the Party], Ezra Cornell is advising students on-line at Cornell University. His statue, sculpted by Hermon A. MacNeil, offered some sense of the founders presence on campus when it was dedicated ninety-one years ago. But MacNeil’s figure like all other such art captured the benefactor as ‘frozen in time’ and non-interactive.
So, enter the digital world, circa 1986. Jerry Feist, Assistant Dean of Students and Steve Worona ’70, M.S. ’73 inaugurated Dear Uncle Ezra (DUE) as the world’s first online advice column. Feist became the first Uncle Ezra, answering questions for years many before passing the torch to his unknown successor. The creation has continued to answer “over 20,000 questions, ranging from the serious (“I’m stressing out big time — where can I get help?”) to the silly (“Why is there no chair lift on the slope?”).”
The site provides an interactive voice for Cornell students to meet their “Dear Uncle Ezra” (whose identity is kept strictly under wraps). Not only is it popular on Cornell but several universities have copied the idea for their own campus websites. “Uncle Ezra is the original, of which all others are copies.
![MacNeil’s said of this statue, “When I began to work on that, my heart fairly leaped within me. Mr. Cornell, I discovered, looked like my own father! … And so throughout it was a labor of love; it almost worked itself out.” [ J. Walker Mc Spadden, Famous Sculptors of America, pp. 319-320. ]](https://i0.wp.com/hermonatkinsmacneil.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/IMG_4698.jpg?resize=320%2C480&ssl=1)
MacNeil’s said of this statue, “When I began to work on that, my heart fairly leaped within me. Mr. Cornell, I discovered, looked like my own father! … And so throughout it was a labor of love; it almost worked itself out.” [ J. Walker Mc Spadden, Famous Sculptors of America, pp. 319-320. ]
Resident Cornell history buff and former Sun columnist Corey Earle ’07 says “I think Dear Uncle Ezra is a phenomenal resource for the Cornell community,” noting that “with all the vast resources that Cornell students have available to them at Cornell, the most difficult thing is finding the right one to use. More than anything else, Uncle Ezra points people in the right direction.”
We at HermonAtkinsMacNeil.com have brought our own “Dear Uncle Hermon” into the digital age. Perhaps both Uncles would be proud. If Uncle Hermon’s art gave Ezra a three dimensional likeness on campus, then Dear Uncle Ezra (DUE) certainly gave him a voice. Ezra has come a long way from his telegraph technology days and Western Union fortune and empire that he used to build Cornell University. Thanks to both of our Uncles. You have provided quite an inheritance.
MacNeil’s said of this statue, “When I began to work on that, my heart fairly leaped within me. Mr. Cornell, I discovered, looked like my own father! … And so throughout it was a labor of love; it almost worked itself out.” [ J. Walker Mc Spadden, Famous Sculptors of America, pp. 319-320. ]
Weblinks:
Dear Ezra http://ezra.cornell.edu/
Cornell Daily Sun http://cornellsun.com/node/2726
See Also: [ J. Walker Mc Spadden, Famous Sculptors of America, Libraries Press: Freeport, New York, pp. 319-320. ]
[mappress]
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Hermon MacNeil’s “Standing Liberty Quarter” Praised As Favorite
Posted by: | CommentsNinety-four years after its first minting, the MacNeil “Standing Liberty quarter” retains a strong following among coin collectors. Tom LaMarre of Coins Magazine calls it MacNeil’s “real masterpiece.”
That says a lot coming from a coin expert like LaMarre. In a fascinating article at NumisMaster.com, he offers the usual numismatic history of the SLQ mixed with new information and delightful humor. The author has studied enough about MacNeil to mention about a dozen of his other works in the article including, “Sun Vow”, “Pony Express”, and “Ezra Cornell.” So, the “real masterpiece” compliment seems more than just another ‘two-bit’ comment. Some of LaMarre’s words which laud MacNeil’s Standing Liberty quarter include:
“Rich in symbolism and finely engraved detail, the new quarter reflected the spirit of peace and preparedness just before the United States entered World War I. It also revived a classical style in sharp contrast to the abstract and modern trends that were sweeping the art world at that time.”
MacNeil's "Real Masterpiece" the Standing Liberty quarter design was one of the first US Coins created by an sculptor.
LaMarre gives a thorough history of the design development, the changes, the controversies and the over-involvement of the Director of the Mint. A previous post on this website describes Jay H. Cline’s research book on the Standing Liberty Quarter includes nearly forty pages of letters between MacNeil and the Mint. LaMarre, finds this humorous quote on the over-involvement Mr Woolley in MacNeil’s project:
Mint Director Robert W. Woolley was so involved overseeing the preparation of the quarter design at the Mint that the Gettysburg Times predicted it would be known as the “Woolley quarter” or simply the “Woolley.”
Jay Cline's 4th Ed. of Liberty Quarters has excellent information on Hermon MacNeil and this artwork piece minted from 1916- 33
The article offers some details of MacNeil history not seen before. He gives a discussion of the two women who served as models for the MacNeil’s art, namely Doris Doscher and Irene MacDowell. I had not known that Doris Doscher went public with her role in the SLQ on the TV show “I’ve Got A Secret” (or click HERE for second link).
Coin Collectors, especially SLQ fans and MacNeil enthusiasts alike, will enjoy Tom LaMarre’s article “MacNeil’s Standing Liberty Remains a Favorite.” It summarizes the importance of this art piece for collectors, it’s fascinating history, and MacNeil’s persistent creativity in developing the SLQ. LaMarre states:
The Standing Liberty quarter had a sculptural quality that set it apart from all previous quarter dollars. The Numismatist described it as “strikingly beautiful.” The New York Times called it a “silvern beauty.”
Coin collectors looking for more can graduate to Jay Cline’s book on Liberty Quarters. Cline’s book devotes Chapter 5 to telling the story of the two models that posed.
Either way the coin provides in interesting study in history, art and human nature. Treasury officials, namely Secretary William MacAdoo, had concerns about MacNeil’s delicate engraving not wearing as well in circulation as less artistic coin images of the past. But numismatists fine the delicate piece simply a treasure. Again LaMarre offers a good twist:
According to the Treasury secretary, it was a “fast-wearing” design that never quite worked out. In the opinion of collectors, it is a masterpiece that will stand in beauty forever.
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MacNeil’s Sculpture of Ezra Cornell
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MacNeils likeness of Cornell University founder Ezra Cornell with cane and hat in hand overlooks the campus.
The statue of Cornell University founder, Ezra Cornell, was dedicated on June 12, 1919 after a delay brought on by the World War I. A picture of the dedication event (complete with straw-hats on the gentlemen in attendance) can be seen at the link below to the Cornell Chronicle Online along with a news account of the decication. Hermon Atkins MacNeil came to Cornell in 1886 (at the age of 20) to teach modeling (Instructor of Industrial Art). He taught there for 3 years. The Cornell Chronicle article sites a tradition that “Miniatures of the statue, known as the ‘coveted Ezra,’ are given to the university’s foremost benefactors as a token of the university’s appreciation for their support.”
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Nov07/Ezra.Files.12.gl.html
Some marketing of these miniatures of this MacNeil sculpture are still done today by art dealers. The following link provides an example with further data, photo detail, and dimensions.
http://www.georgeglazer.com/prints/portraits/ezracornell.html
MacNeil's Ezra Cornell stands with hat and cane in hand
More on Ezra Cornell can be viewed in the The Erza Files
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Cornell University
Posted by: | CommentsMacNeil began his teaching at Cornell. He taught as an Instructor of Industrial Art there for three years beginning in 1886. He also sculpted a bust of the first dean of the Law School Judge Douglas Boardman in 1893. Later, he archived his personal papers in the library at Cornell. In 1930 he was asked to make a sculpture of Ezra Cornell, the founder of the school to grace the campus. MacNeil’s fingerprints remain on the university as seen below:
Video of Cornell Campus with a brief view of the Ezra Cornell Statue sculpted by MacNeil (23 seconds in):
The Collected Papers of Hermon Atkins MacNeil were placed in the Cornell Library. The detail description list as follows:
Letters from colleagues, public figures, friends, relatives, and others concerning the execution and sale of various works, his nomination to membership in honorary and professional societies and related professional and social matters; an autobiographical sketch (typescript carbon), 1943, membership certificates and citations, numerous photographs of the artist and his sculpture, newspaper clippings on his career, and miscellaneous printed items. Also, messages of condolence and formal tributes sent to his widow, Cecelia W. Muench MacNeil, obituaries, and press reports concerning a memorial established for the artist. Correspondents include Adriaan Jacob Barnouw, Emile Brunet, Jo Davidson, William Henry Fox, Carl Paul Jennewein, Leon Kroll, and Victor Emanuel III”
Link to Papers of Hermon Atkins MacNeil archieved at Cornell Library:
http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/RMM02425.html
The Cornell Law Library contains a bust sculpture by MacNeil of the first dean,
The semicircular oriel window in the room contains the bust of Judge Douglass Boardman, first dean of Cornell Law School, 1887-1891. The artist was Herman A. MacNeil, who dated the work 1893. This bust stood in the main staircase of Boardman Hall before it was moved to Myron Taylor Hall, first outside the Moot Court Room and then into the Rare Book Room.
http://library.lawschool.cornell.edu/WhoWeAre/Our-Space/Rare-Book-Room.cfm
