So the reason I found Mr. Cohn’s scrapbook the other day was that I was looking for something in one of the Treasurer’s Office scrapbooks from the 1940s. I can no longer recall what that thing was. However, I did find something else that’s quite surprising–a fire I’d never heard about before:
Note that we had students mowing the lawn. It might be a good idea to get them back to work again.
Here’s a great aerial image that gives us the best view I’ve found of the building that burned, the Engineering Annex:
This aerial is dated on the back–1950–and that date is clearly false. Ground was broken on Abercrombie Hall in August of 1947 and unless I’m badly mistaken there is no Abercrombie Hall in this picture. It must have been taken right around the time of the fire, either just before or just after.
Bonus: While wandering around Manhattan yesterday, I stopped in at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There I headed (as one does) straight up to the Etruscan gallery. They have this chariot up there that I’m just crazy about. Anyway, looking at it I noticed that I could see everything that was happening downstairs except upside down:
Too much excitement. I’ll be home tomorrow.