Write Columbia's History

Over the course of 2004, comments, anecdotes, and images were added to a permanent Columbia 250 history archive, to be maintained at Columbia in a Digital Time Capsule. Read and view our history as seen by those who studied here, taught here, and worked here through the years.


First Mother at the J-School
Sylvia Auerbach
Alumna
Graduate School of Journalism 1960
"Can youthful dreams come true? In my case, yes . . ." View

Somewhere Child
Bonnie Lee Black
Alumna
School of General Studies 1979
"Following is a passage from my book, Somewhere Child . . ." View

Political Turmoil on Campus
Reinaldo Bonachea
Alumnus
School of Engineering and Applied Science 1972
School of Engineering and Applied Science 1974
Columbia College 1971
"I have many great memories of Columbia, but also had the misfortune to start . . ." View

Love Letter to Alma Mater
Rudy Carmenaty
Alumnus
School of Law 1990
"Columbia is indeed a special place. Every time I walk across College Walk . . ." View

9/11/2001
Steven Chao
Alumnus
Columbia College 2003
"September 11, 2001 will go down in American history as one of its most tragic days. But despite . . ." View

Reflections—An Octogenarian's Recollection
Jeremiah J. Ciancia
Alumnus
School of Pharmaceutical Sciences 1939
"Generally speaking, student life at Columbia circa 1935 was quite different . . ." View

More Than "Just the Facts"
Charles Ciccone
Alumnus
School of General Studies 1966
"I came to Columbia in a very unusual way in those turbulent years . . ." View

A Wonderful and Baffling Mix
Steve Conway
Alumnus
Columbia College 1969
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences 1971
"As one of seven kids in a Philadelphia working-class home, I never expected college . . ." View

The Dual Degree
Charles D. Cook
Alumnus, Other
School of Law 1950
School of International and Public Affairs 1950
"The Law School was in Kent Hall, and Ike would walk across from the presidential residence . . ." View

Don't Trust Anyone Under 50!
Frank da Cruz
Alumnus, Neighbor, Parent, Staff Member
School of Engineering and Applied Science 1977
School of General Studies 1970
"What can be said about the 1968 student uprising at Columbia . . ." View

Computing at Columbia
Frank da Cruz
Alumnus, Neighbor, Parent, Staff Member
School of Engineering and Applied Science 1977
School of General Studies 1970

"It will come as a surprise to many that some of the most significant events in the history of digital computers took place at Columbia University . . ." View

Regarding Sid Luckman
Andy Dolan
Alumnus
School of Law 1970
School of Public Health 1980

"I grew up in Chicago, two doors down from Luckman . . ." View

Columbia University: Who Could Ask for Anything More?
Joe Dorinson
Alumnus, Faculty
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences 1968
School of General Studies 1965
Columbia College 1958

"I entered Columbia College in 1954, a neophyte Marxist in an era dominated by Joe McCarthy . . ." View

Donald Keene Changed my Life
Ann Marie (Bonasera) Errera
Alumna
School of International and Public Affairs 1975
Teachers College 1975

"I remember that the School of International Affairs in the 1970s was like a mini-United Nations . . ." View

An Epiphany of Certainty
Daniel Feldman
Alumnus
Columbia College 1970

"I told one of my SDS friends that, thirty years later, when he'd be a right winger . . ." View

No More Nukes
Stanley Futterman
Alumnus, Parent
Columbia College 1961

"On a beautiful sunny day in the spring of 1961 . . ." View

Fraternizing with the Enemy in '68
John Gaguine
Alumnus
Columbia College 1969

"During the events of spring 1968, I joined the members of the Majority Coalition . . ." View

Writing Home
Joseph Gerver
Alumnus
Columbia College 1970

"From a letter to my parents, May 16, 1967 . . ." View

The Last All-Male Class
Philippe Gouamba
Alumnus
Columbia College 1982

"I am proud to say that the Class of '82 is a very special class indeed . . ." View

A Decade of Love and Hate
Peter Graham
Alumnus, Staff Member
School of General Studies 1969
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences 1970

"I was a staff member and a student at various times from 1960 through 1970 . . ." View

Remembering Sam
Florence (Flo) Grant
Staff Member

"I came to work at Columbia in 1961, and enjoyed knowing Sam Steinberg for 21 of his 40 years here . . ." View

The Launch of Sputnik
Thomas Wm. Hamilton
Alumnus
Columbia College 1960

"I was a sophomore, taking Astronomy 1 with Professor Jan Schilt, when Sputnik 1 was launched . . ." View

Studying and Protesting in 1968
Robert Hegel
Alumnus
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences 1967
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences 1973

"As a Ph.D. candidate finishing my coursework during the spring of 1968 . . ." View

Swaying the Vote
Donald Hymes
Alumnus
Columbia College 1953
Graduate School of Journalism 1954

"In the early 1950s, we were much like our predecessors, hoping Lou Little could return . . ." View

Memories of the Columbia Journalism Guild
Amos Jones
Alumnus
Graduate School of Journalism 2003

"We were the Journalism School class that entered Columbia along with President Lee Bollinger . . ." View

Columbia and Race: In the Right and in the Wrong
Wendy Jones
Alum
School of the Arts 1981

"After three years of living, working, and studying in Japan and three months of backpacking . . ." View

Unity on Common Grounds
Eli Kavon
Alumnus
Columbia College 1987

"Class was about to begin in an auditorium of the Columbia Law School on a November afternoon . . ." View

Jesse Jackson Comes to Campus
Elizabeth King
Alumna
Columbia College 1988

"Some of my most vivid memories are connected to the three weeks of apartheid protests . . ." View

Columbia in the 1960s
Howard Lipan
Alumnus, Staff Member
School of General Studies 1966

"Columbia University in the 1960s was host to important causes I felt passionately . . ." View

Margaret Mead: Behind Enemy Lines
Howard Lipan
Alumnus, Staff Member
School of General Studies 1966

"In September 1962, I began my undergraduate studies, majoring in psychology . . ." View

Technology in Education
Jason Magnus
Alumnus, Staff Member
Columbia College 2003

"What amazes me about my time at Columbia was the seamless and unrecognized transition, in regards to computer use . . ." View

Memories of the Cold War Era
Eugene Milone
Alumnus
Columbia College 1961
"I remember my first-year Contemporary Civilizations course in 1957 . . ." View

How Columbia Students Petitioned the New York City Government to Improve the Safety of the 116th Street and Broadway Subway Station
Chauncey Olinger
Alumnus
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences 1971

"During the 1963-64 academic year, the students of Columbia University joined together . . ." View

Eisenhower at Columbia
Robert Orkand
Alumnus
Columbia College 1958

"Ike stood on the stage of McMillan Theater in September 1950 and welcomed . . ." View

Two Times at Columbia
Maressa Hecht Orzack
Alumna, Other
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences 1951

"My connection with Columbia was twofold . . ." View

Graduating from Law School at the Millennium
Monick Paul
Alumnus
School of Law 2000

"I remember being a 3L at Columbia in 2000, the year many law firms' starting salaries . . ." View

Cross-Cultural History
Gregory Rideout
Alumnus
Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation 1996
Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation 1994

"New York / Paris program (1993 - 1994) Co-Director Meredeth Sykes knew Paris like the back of her hand . . ." View

A Cute Story About Early Coeducation
Ena Roseman
Alumna
School of Nursing 1978

"As nursing students entering as freshman in 1974, we were placed in the Columbia dorms . . ." View

No Beethoven, Please! We're Electronic!
Albert C. Ruocchio
Alumnus, Staff Member, Student
Columbia College 1958
School of Engineering and Applied Science 1959
School of Engineering and Applied Science 1961

"As a student of the School of Engineering from 1957 to 1961, I had the privilege . . ." View

Graduating While Serving in WWII
Paul Sandhaus
Alumnus
Columbia College 1944

"On May 8, 1943, the Columbia Enlisted Reserve Corps (ERC) was called to active duty . . ." View

Our C250 Wedding
Kathryn Schneider
Alumna
Columbia College 1988
School of Law 1991

"On October 19, 2003, during C250 kickoff weekend, I married fellow attorney . . ." View

Through the Eyes of a Returning Vietnam Vet
Christian Seger
Alumnus
Graduate School of Business, 1966

"For four years, I served my country proudly in the United States Navy . . ." View

Columbia Born
Thomas Shapiro
Alumnus, Neighbor, Student
Columbia College 1962

"Until I was about 14, we lived at 411 West 114 Street. My father, Dr. Harry L. Shapiro, taught . . ." View

Opening Doors with a Columbia Education
Barry Siegel
Alumnus
Columbia College 1961
Graduate School of Business 1965
School of Law 1965
"Columbia College mercifully rescued a callow, untutored Queens youth . . ." View

Gilbert & Sullivan on Morningside Heights
Samuel Silvers
Alumnus
Columbia College 1982
School of Law 1985
"For about 45 years, ending in 1991, the Barnard Gilbert & Sullivan Society offered students . . ." View

Orgo Night Y2K
Tamar Simon
Alum
Columbia College 2003
"One of my most memorable experiences at Columbia was Orgo Night . . ." View

Richard Cloward
Robert Solomon
Alum
School of Social Work 1976
"The years have passed quickly since my first day as a young graduate student at Columbia . . ." View

All-Star Physicists
Michael Tannenbaum
Alumnus
Columbia College 1959
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences 1960
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences 1965
"In my career as an undergraduate and graduate student at Columbia . . ." View

On Meeting and Remembering Paul Robeson
Juliana M. Taylor
Student
Teachers College 2006
"When I was somewhere between the ages of about 10 and 12, I met Mr. Paul Robeson . . ." View

From Morningside Heights to Foggy Bottom
Stephen Joel Trachtenberg
Alumnus, Friend, Parent
Columbia College 1959
"I was a history major at Columbia, the perfect, all-purpose course of study . . ." View

Remembering Jim Stallman
Harris Turkel
Alumnus
Columbia College 1966
Graduate School of Business 1968
"With respect to Chauncey Olinger's story about the removal of the 116th Street subway kiosk . . ." View

CU on TV
Lila Harvey Youngs
Alumna
School of General Studies 1960
"Did you know that Columbia was the very first school to be on educational TV? . . ." View



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