College Hall Cornerstone
An inconspicuously unassuming object, the College Hall cornerstone stands among many time capsules hidden in plain sight, encasing and sealing archival material while simultaneously standing as the foundation building block for what became the first dormitory and student union building.
Description
The cornerstone is a light gray quoin situated on the right-hand side of the College Hall building just a few feet from the ground. It is made of concrete, bearing a smooth, sanded texture in contrast to the stone and bricks that surround it. It is additionally secured by the lightly weathered mortar that holds the stone exterior in place. Inscribed on the front facing side of the cornerstone is the year “1950,” carved a few inches into the rock and indicating the year the stone was placed. Though hidden beneath the larger stones on top, the inside of the cornerstone is hollow, with a protective cover placed on top of the materials deposited before being sealed with the lid of the stone. There are visible chips to the stone, though it remains pristine in contrast to its surrounding rocks.
Provenance
Though the origins of the cornerstone could not be traced to a construction company or manufacturer, the stone itself was created for the College Hall Cornerstone Ceremony, set on May 22, 1950. It, along with the larger College Hall building including its dormitories and learning facilities, is owned by the State University of New York at New Paltz, unmoved since its placement.
Narrative
The year was 1949, a year to close out the decade of wartime with new changes to the State University of New York State Teachers College. A bulletin dating back to August 18 of that week invited students, faculty, and members of the community within and beyond New Paltz to attend the groundbreaking ceremony of the “Student Dormitory and Social Activities Building,” presided by the college president, Dr. William J. Haggerty. This ceremony was not only for the simple construction of a new building but an indicator of the college’s growth in its student population and engagement in what would be reflected in this building named College Hall.
Prior to 1949, the main campus included academic and administrative buildings, two of which still stand as Old Main and van den Berg Hall (originally the Campus Elementary School). Students lived off campus and commuted to class, which was becoming an increasing strain for the school’s steadily rising enrollment. By 1946, funding from the State Dormitory Authority of New York was secured to build College Hall, which would provide a separate space for student living and activities and replace the dilapidated makeshift dormitories (Lang and Lang, 137).
The cornerstone is typically the first stone set on a building, historically serving as the literal foundational block that a building’s exterior structure was supported on. Recently, through modern construction methods, the cornerstone has been removed of that structural burden and instead has taken on a more symbolic meaning. This is an echo of its historical practices as the placement of the cornerstone was a significant deal to many cultures, often celebrated with public ceremonies. “...ceremonies still tend to resemble their ancient forebears, the foundation deposit ceremonies of Egypt and Mesopotamia. Those ancient building customs live on in today's cornerstone and time capsule dedication rituals” (Jarvis 288). This practice is also reflected in the college’s own celebration of its placement in the 20th century.
Cornerstones can be solid rock, but in the 19th and 20th centuries, they took on a role as a building’s repository – a time capsule of items from that year to be sealed and eventually opened by future generations. Unlike time capsules, these cornerstones do not have a time limit and are meant to remain so long as the building stands (Jarvis 279).
The cornerstone was given its own ceremony on May 22, 1950. The college welcomed officials from the State Dormitory Authority, SUNY Board of Trustees, SUNY Presidents across the state, and congressmen from local to state levels. By this point, the SUNY system had been established for two years, not only allowing for this event to be a celebration of new expansion but of the successes of this new college network. In a press release from May 10, just 12 days prior, there is an explicit mention of all material deposits into the stone, stating “As is customary in much proceedings, a number of college publications and programs of special events will be deposited in a box for placement in the cornerstone.”
From the press release, we know that inside the cornerstone lies a multitude of objects ranging from books to letters to pamphlets and spanning from materials related to the college all the way to globally recognized documents. The more notable examples of deposited materials include a copy of the 1949 Paltzonian, a bulletin of faculty salaries, a copy of the student handbook, the college catalog, and the Declaration of Human Rights. These items along with several others were deposited by multiple university officials, including President Haggerty himself. Full of items to preserve for the unforeseen future, the cornerstone was placed in its spot, symbolizing the start of a new era for the campus.
Now, over 70 years later, the cornerstone still stands beneath the weight of its building, holding strong despite the multiple changes to its core. College Hall now stands as part dormitory and part academic facilities, with a section of its dormitories being split into what is now known as Shango Hall. It has continued to preserve the materials it holds from a decade lost to time.
This object, by the time this piece is published, is set to be demolished along with the rest of the building in an announcement made on February 5, 2025, by SUNY New Paltz’s Facilities and Management. Despite being one of the oldest buildings on campus, the building has “reached the end of its functional lifespan,” as the department cited “accessibility, energy efficiency and other quality standards,” as primary issues that cannot be remedied through renovations. The building will be replaced by a new academic building, though few details have been given.
As the building’s foundational block, the cornerstone’s function will cease to the university, but its existence has offered more than a reminder of the building’s age; it has stood as a testament to the changing landscape of the university and the spark that allowed for the construction of more buildings such as Old Library and Bouton Hall, synonymous with the expansion of the university body’s diversity. As the oldest dormitory on campus, though College Hall may have reached the end of its lifespan, we can turn to the cornerstone as a symbol of the work that it has done to uphold the building, allowing for it to complete a purpose it was given, and crack open its shell to remember the history from a SUNY New Paltz long ago.
~Sara Vala
Works Cited
“Architect's Rendering of Dormitory and Attendant Facilities Building, State Teachers College, New Paltz, NY, Harry Halverson, Architect.” 1949. Dedication of College Union 1951 folder. Building Dedications, Box 1. University Archives & Rare Books, Sojourner Truth Library, State University of New York at New Paltz.
Britannica. “Cornerstone | Architecture.” Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2019, www.britannica.com/technology/cornerstone. Accessed 17 Sept. 2025.
“Cornerstone Laying Ceremony for the Dormitory and Student Union Building.” 22 May, 1950. William J. Haggerty Papers, Box 105, University Archives & Rare Books, Sojourner Truth Library, State University of New York at New Paltz.
Facilities Management. “[all-stu] Construction Project: Three Major Projects Starting Soon.” Received by Sara Vala, 05 Feb. 2025.
Jarvis, William E. “Modern Time Capsules: Symbolic Repositories of Civilization.” Libraries & Culture, vol. 27, no. 3, 1992, pp. 279–295, www.jstor.org/stable/25542451. Accessed 17 Sept. 2025.
Lang, Elizabeth, and Robert Peregrine Lang. In a Valley Fair : A History of the State University College of Education at New Paltz / by Elizabeth Lang and Robert Lang. State University College of Education, 1960.
“Materials Deposited in Cornerstone Box Laid for a New Dormitory at New Paltz State Teachers College on Monday, May 22, 1950 at 2:30 p.m.” 1950. William J. Haggerty Papers, Box 105, University Archives & Rare Books, Sojourner Truth Library, State University of New York at New Paltz.
State University of New York at New Paltz. 1952 Paltzonian. New Paltz, State University of New York at New Paltz, 1952, pp. 1–108, nyheritage.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/sunynp/id/811/rec/83. Accessed 17 Sept. 2025.
State University of New York State Teachers College New Paltz, New York Press Release, 10 May, 1950. William J. Haggerty Papers, Box 105, University Archives & Rare Books, Sojourner Truth Library, State University of New York at New Paltz.
State University of New York State Teachers College New Paltz, New York Press Release, 16 August, 1949. C.U.B. and Dorm Groundbreaking folder. William J. Haggerty Papers, Box 105, University Archives & Rare Books, Sojourner Truth Library, State University of New York at New Paltz.
SUNY. “History - SUNY.” Suny.edu, 2019, www.suny.edu/about/history/. Accessed 17 Sept. 2025.
Whittaker, Bill. “The Little-Known Purpose of the Cornerstone | Blog | Bill Whittaker.” Www.billwarch.com, 24 July 2019, www.billwarch.com/blog/the-little-known-purpose-of-the-cornerstone/. Accessed 17 Sept. 2025.