Vision
Consulting closely with (now retired) President A. D. White, who had a deep and abiding interest in architecture, as well as with George Harris, the acting (and soon to become fully appointed) University Librarian, Miller designed a library building that was fully functional, modern, and the architectural centerpiece of Cornell's campus.
Throughout construction, Miller's work received intense scrutiny, beginning with a formal ceremony for the laying of the cornerstone in 1889. At that event, former president Andrew Dickson White declared,
What is this building to be? I indulge in no boasting, but state a simple fact when I say that, beyond a doubt, it is to be the finest University or College Library building yet erected in the United States; the largest, the most carefully planned, the most thorough in its equipment, the most beautiful in its adornment.
We have indeed a right to rejoice in this structure , but we also have a right to be proud of what it is to enclose.
Specifically, the Library Building Committee charged Miller with designing a structure that would include:
five seminary (study) rooms for use by students taking advanced studies
a separate room for the President White library of historical and political science--designed to hold White's 30,000 books
storage space for at least 400,000 volumes and, most important of all,
fireproof stacks
Main Reading Room with detail, University Library Building, ca. 1900. (Albumen print photograph)
Miller placed the main reading room and circulation desk at the midpoint of the stacks so that no book in any direction sat further away than 120 feet.
Woman's Entrance, Cornell University Library building, ca. 1891. (Cyanotype photograph)
Notably, Miller also included an ornate “women’s entrance,” which, although no longer in use, originally led to the women’s cloakroom.
On October 7, 1891, Cornell celebrated its much-heralded new building with a lavish ceremony, over which a New York Tribune reporter enthused:
Cornell has had few prouder days in its history. . . . The new building, whose architect is W. H. Miller, of this city, is . . . one of the most complete and perfect library buildings in the world.
President White Library, Cornell University Library building, ca. 1891. (Cyanotype photograph)
President White Library, ca. 1895. (Albumen print photograph)