McGraw Hall, the third-oldest building at Cornell, will be getting a makeover starting this year. As the Department of History in the College of Arts & Sciences began its temporary move in December to make way for the renovations, they – naturally – began contemplating their own history in the building. Among the noted milestones was the hiring of the first female faculty member, in 1971: Mary Beth Norton, the Mary Donlon Alger Professor of American History, Emeritus, in 1971.
“The department of history was founded in 1868, though McGraw wasn’t built until 1872, so it took about 100 years for a woman to be hired for the history department,” said Paraska Tolan-Szkilnik, assistant professor of history and director of the Public History Initiative.
Norton was followed by Isabel Hull, John Stambaugh Professor of History, Emeritus, and Margaret Washington, Marie Underhill Noll Professor of American History, Emeritus – and many more. More than 50 percent of the department’s faculty are now women.
Tamara Loos, professor and chair of history, and Tolan-Szkilnik wanted to offer an homage to those first three women. They also wanted to offer the history community a way to honor the building that had been their home for so many decades.
And there were the walls, empty now of wall hangings and soon to be replaced. What better canvas on which to comment?
After attaining approvals, Loos sent out a call to the department that the top floor walls were open for reflections and reminisces. Some offered humor while other drawings related to their research. “This building has character,” someone wrote on a wall.
The centerpiece of it all is a wall-size homage to the first three women hired and McGraw itself, drawn by Tolan-Szkilnik. In addition to her academic and public history work, she is also a talented graphic artist, illustrating her own history-related graphic novels.
The drawing features Norton, Hull and Washington, along with the building itself. At the bottom it reads: “We love our history family and, as we stand on the threshold of transformation, let’s draw strength from our shared passion, weaving threads of unity and shared purpose to carry us forward together!”
Linda B. Glaser is news and media relations manager for the College of Arts and Sciences
