Cornell Chimes

McGraw Tower
John McGraw Hall, foreground with McGraw Tower in the background.
A late 19th or early 20th century view of the clocktower

The Cornell Chimes is a 21-bell chime in McGraw Tower on the central campus of Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York, United States.

The chime originally had nine bells, donated by Jennie McGraw.[1] They first rang at the University's opening ceremonies on October 7, 1868, and have since marked the hours and been used for chiming concerts.

The tower, long called "the Library Tower", was renamed in 1961.[2] Whether the new name was intended to honor Jennie McGraw or her father, trustee John McGraw, was not specified at the time.[3]

  1. ^ Parsons, Kermit C. (1963-12-01). "The Quad on the Hill: An Account of the First Buildings at Cornell". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 22 (4): 199–216. doi:10.2307/988191. JSTOR 988191.
  2. ^ Uris Library celebrated by Martin B. Stiles, 'Cornell Chronicle', October 26, 1989
  3. ^ "Ezra's Oracle". Cornell Daily Sun. October 19, 2013. Archived March 30, 2014, at the Wayback Machine