Cornell’s first class, Ezra’s vision, and the gardens of Ithaca

Ezra Cornell, the co-founder of Cornell University.

The Lake Cayuga Campus On this day in 1868, Cornell University welcomed the very first class of students to the rural campus overlooking Lake Cayuga in Ithaca, New York. An agricultural land grant university, Cornell was endowed by Ezra Cornell, one of the founders of Western Union Telegraph Co. There’s a funny little story that…

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October 7, 2019 Little Prince Nursery, John Clayton, Joseph Knight, Robert Brown, Ezra Cornell, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Foliage First by Karen Chapman and Christina Salwitz, Potting up Bulbs, Plant Explorers and the Story of the Little Helper

The Daily Gardener Podcast Album Cover with a pot of rosemary - the herb for remembrance - beckoning gardeners to remember to listen to the show. Updated September 2025.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee  Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community Botanical History On This Day 1773 John Clayton, colonial botanist of Virginia, was born. He was the creator of one of America’s earliest botanical gardens at Windsor…

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