Ives Hall, Cornell University: A History
Ives Hall at Cornell University stands as a significant building, reflecting the institution's evolution and commitment to industrial and labor relations. Housing the School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR), Ives Hall has a rich history intertwined with the development of Cornell's campus and the changing landscape of the American workplace.
Early Campus Development
Cornell University's campus planning has been guided by a series of master plans developed by both internal committees and external architects, beginning with Frederick Law Olmsted. The university has shown a preference for renovating and repurposing existing structures rather than demolishing them. The Arts Quadrangle, with its iconic "stone row" of Morrill, White, and McGraw Halls, exemplifies this approach.
The Engineering Quad, developed in the 1940s and 1950s, reflects a later phase of campus expansion, with programs initially housed in buildings on the Arts Quad moving to the new location. Similarly, the Agriculture Quadrangle (Ag Quad) houses programs in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, with buildings like Caldwell Hall, Plant Science Building, and Mann Library representing different architectural styles and eras.
The Genesis of ILR and Its Home
The School of Industrial and Labor Relations was established in 1945, marking a pioneering effort in the field. The school's legacy in New York State was celebrated on February 2015. The ILR school was located in temporary buildings (quonsets) on the Engineering Quad, which still had yet to fully develop. The first iteration of ILR’s library was in Warren Hall with a one-volume collection, a dictionary.
The enabling legislation that created the college also provided funds for a veterinary building at Cornell. The building opened in the fall of 1896, and is now a portion of Ives Hall. Law Hall, Moore Lab and the other smaller buildings where the ILR school stands today were the vet school buildings. A new veterinary complex for Cornell and the college was created in 1957 at the east end of Tower Road. The main building is named Schurman Hall.
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Ives Hall: A Building of Many Iterations
Ives Hall itself has undergone several transformations. The building that opened in the fall of 1896 as a veterinary building, is now a portion of Ives Hall.
ILR's Evolution and Adaptation
ILR studies many areas that shape the working world and contribute to an organization’s success in a global economy. An ILR education is grounded in the social sciences. Students and faculty explore and gain an understanding of human behavior through the lens of the workplace. Students also learn how organizations work and how they fit into the larger society and economy. As a result, they acquire knowledge and skills that help them to solve problems on-the-job and to build and manage productive work relationships. ILR has more full-time faculty involved in teaching and research that spans the broad range of work and employment disciplines than any other educational institution of its kind. Its Martin P.
The Distinguished Founding Faculty of the ILR School were true pioneers. They took the broad New York State Legislative mandate (1944) that created the School and forged ground-breaking academic programs for students, for practitioners, for labor, and for management. The Founding Faculty accomplished this feat in the absence of any educational models of a full ILR undergraduate and graduate program to draw upon. With vision, commitment, and determination, they shaped and reshaped resident, extension, and library programs in the face of diverse, often contradictory, crosscurrents in labor-management relations of the time. These pages are designed to introduce and honor the legacy and enduring contributions of the ILR Founding Faculty.
ILR's library was initially housed in Warren Hall with a single volume, a dictionary. "The State is Our Campus" is the mantra of ILR Extension. Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, "mother of the New Deal," lectured at ILR until her death in 1965. The “American Ideals” course taught by Professor Milton Konvitz beginning in 1947 continued to 1974.
As many members of ILR's original faculty began to retire, the school's second generation of faculty was hired. More emphasis was placed on human resource studies and organizational behavior courses as the school adapted to a decline in unionized workplaces. The Chemical Hazard Information Program, which grew into what is now the ILR Workplace Health and Safety Program, started in 1986. ILR received its first major endowment - $2.5 million from the R. Brinkley Smithers Foundation to support research on alcoholism in the workplace. As dean from 1988 to 1997, David B.
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ILR underwent a major physical expansion when structures on Tower Road were torn down. The new Catherwood Library building was dedicated in 1997. Cornell Speech and Debate moved to ILR from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, but continues to welcome students from across campus. 2015ILR received a $10 million gift from K. The school’s third generation of faculty is hired, expanding course offerings on new world of work topics. In fall 2025, the school began renovations of King-Shaw Hall. When the building reopens in 2027, it will be home to the ILR Student Commons, which will include the Offices of Student Services and ILR Registrar and the brand new ILR Café.
Architecture and Design Influences
Cornell's campus architecture reflects a blend of styles and influences. Early buildings like Morrill and White Halls were built from native gray siltstone, while later structures such as Lincoln Hall and Sage Chapel incorporated red brick. The Romanesque Revival style is evident in Franklin and Lincoln Halls, designed by Cornell's first architecture professor, Charles Babcock. William H. Miller, an alumnus of the architecture school, employed the same style in Uris Library.
Later additions to the campus, such as Goldwin Smith Hall and the Sheldon Memorial Exedra and Sundial, showcase Neoclassical themes. More recent buildings like Klarman Hall and Milstein Hall represent contemporary architectural designs.
Campus Life and Traditions
The Johnny Parson Club was named after a mechanical drawing professor in the Engineering college from 1895 to 1938. It’s said that he was the one who established ice skating on Beebe Lake. In addition, it was he who began the Cornell hockey tradition, by encouraging students to form a team. In 1922, the University built a two-story facility where skaters could spend time, eat, drink, and warm up, naming it after Professor Parson. However, in 1958, when skating events were moved to Lynah Rink, the University chose to take down the top two floors of the Club. The remaining basement area was covered and is now used by Cornell Outdoor Education.
Back in the day, it was common for houses to be on campus, where the Human Ecology school is today, where the Engineering Quad is today, and even on Central Campus.
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Libraries and Academic Resources
Cornell University has a long-standing commitment to libraries and academic resources. Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White both recognized the importance of libraries for a great university. White began developing the University’s library, with University funds, through his own purchases, and by encouraging the gifts of others. The trustees and Ezra Cornell also provided funds for books. In 1872, the library of 15,400 volumes moved from Morrill Hall to McGraw Hall, a new building funded by trustee John McGraw. Cornell’s may have been the first American university library intended for extensive use by undergraduates as well as by the faculty.
In 1882, the Library Bulletin had promised that “a complete alphabetical author catalogue and a subject catalogue are now in preparation, but their completion will necessarily require a considerable period of time.” With the move into the new building, University Librarian George W. Harris created his own classification system.
In 2014, the many libraries that comprise the Cornell University Library are nationally known for their innovative services, extensive collections, and staff expertise. The Library integrates digital with traditional resources and services, and promotes access to its physical and online collections through a variety of programs, including instruction, tours, and exhibitions.
Following the Architecture Library, Cornell’s second unit library was Law, established for the new Law School in 1886. The College of Veterinary Medicine developed its library in 1897, with the support of former New York State Governor Roswell P. Flower. The State of New York established the New York State College of Agriculture in 1904; it had a rudimentary library in a room set aside for the purpose, but many departments maintained their own libraries. In 1915, the library moved to Stone Hall and hired a full-time librarian. Thirty years later, two additional unit libraries accompanied the creation of their respective schools: in 1945, the first four-year school of Industrial and Labor Relations in the country, and in 1946, the Business School.
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