Henry W. Sage - Involvement With Cornell

Involvement With Cornell

In 1870 Sage was elected to the Board of Trustees of Cornell University, and elected president of the Board in 1875. At his direction, the University resisted selling its Wisconsin land grants in the aftermath of the Panic of 1873, earning millions of dollars for the university's endowment.

An avowed supporter of equal access to higher education, he established Sage College for Women, Cornell's first residence for female students (today known as Sage Hall and home to the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management). He also built Sage Chapel, the first non-denominational house of worship at a U.S. university (and later endowed by his son Dean Sage); Sage House, now home to the Cornell University Press; the Sage Infirmary, now known as Schuyler House; and Stimson Hall, original home of the Cornell Medical College in Ithaca. He endowed the Susan Linn Sage School of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences, named after his wife.

Sage's most notable contribution was the construction of the University Library (since 1962, Uris Library). Jennie McGraw, who had inherited his partner John's fortune in 1877, and died of tuberculosis shortly after marrying University Librarian Daniel Willard Fiske. She bequeathed $1 million to build a library, but Fiske sued to break the will, sparking what became known as The Great Will Case. The United States Supreme Court ruled in Fiske's favor in 1890.

Infuriated by the decision, Sage donated funds for the construction of the Library himself, including a large plaque memorializing his indignation:

The good she tried to do shall stand as if 'twere done

GOD finishes the work by noble souls begun.

In loving memory of JENNIE MCGRAW FISKE whose purpose to

found a great library for Cornell University has been defeated

this house is built and endowed by her friend

HENRY W. SAGE.