Baldwin Memorial Stairway

The Baldwin Memorial Stairway is a memorial to Morgan Smiley Baldwin ’15 who died from wounds received in WWI.

Corporal Morgan Smiley Baldwin (‘15), Company G, 197th Infantry, U.S. Army, died October 9, 1918 of wounds inflicted ten days prior in serious fighting along the Hindenburg Line. Morgan Smiley Baldwin of East Orange, New Jersey was a member of Delta Phi, and graduated from Cornell in 1915. On April 6, 1917 the United States declared war on Germany. Upon hearing the news of America’s entry into the war, that same day Corporal Baldwin, who at the time was practicing law in his family’s firm in New York City, enlisted in the National Guard. He was sent to France in May 1918. Towards the end of September, his unit took up position with the British Fourth Army in preparation for the attack on the German Hindenburg line. After several days of fighting, he was severely wounded on September 29. He died of his wounds on October 9 and was buried in Somme American Cemetery and Memorial in Boni, Aisne, France.

Originally dedicated on November 11, 1925, the Stairway, which runs from Llenroc to University Avenue, was a gift to Delta Phi, to Cornell University, and to the citizens of Ithaca, from Arthur J. Baldwin (Class of 1892) in memory of his son. On September 26, 2006, a sealed copper box was discovered during repairs, nested in the base of a pier on the parapet of the Baldwin Memorial Stairway on the University Avenue side. On November 11, 2006, a number of items were added to the box and the cornerstone of the Baldwin Memorial Stairway was reinstalled. A complete list of the cornerstone box’s original contents and the items added is available on the Cornell Library Rare and Manuscript Collections website. [6]

The time capsule it contained was opened, documented, and augmented during 2006 construction on the stair.

The Plaque (shown here)

is on the left side of the first landing from the top of the stairs as seen in the below picture.