Working from home (and via Zoom) means that we don’t get to see students rushing across campus to get to classes, clustered at reading room tables, or sitting on the steps of Low Library. Columbia librarians are discovering new and innovative ways to reach our now all-remote users, which is part of a long and […]
Tag: University Archives
Columbia’s Response to Other Pandemics
Students sent home mid-semester; online classes; non-essential staff and faculty working remotely; the cancellation of commencement. As the Columbia community continues to deal with the ever evolving COVID-19 health crisis, you may be wondering how Columbia responded to previous pandemics and health crises in New York City. There are two interesting tales to be told. […]
On the Harlem River | Sports Photographs
Sixty-seven years ago today, on March 9, 1953, a photographer captured the first day out on the water for the 1953 crew team as they rowed away from Baker Field. But, perhaps more importantly, he fortunately captured, on the left side of the frame, part of the emerging “C” of C Rock. […]
Spot the Differences: Columbia University campus view from 1903
Becky Chapin from the Geneva Historical Society recently shared this postcard with the University Archives. The postcard features a great shot of a very early Low Library and the Morningside campus. It also includes University President Nicholas Murray Butler’s signature and date, May 23, 1903. Look very carefully at the picture and see how many […]
Dining with Homer: University Commons in 1919
The University Archives exhibition cube currently features some photographs of the University Commons, the on-campus dining room in the old University Hall located behind Low Library. The Commons had served as a highly-efficient cafeteria while the student-soldiers of the Student Army Training Corps (SATC) were on campus in 1918-1919. With the end of World War I, […]