At Cornell University in Ithaca, letters from alumna Linda Jarschauer Johnson have provided a glimpse into student life dating back to September 1956. In her first letter home to her parents from Dickson Hall, Linda, then a new student in the College of Human Ecology, wrote at 12:05 a.m. about staying up until three a.m. talking with her roommates. In the three-page letter, she also mentioned details such as her roommate Carol’s height of about 5’10” and described other students in her corridor. She even gently chastised her mother for suggesting they talk about weeping in order to prevent homesickness.

During her undergraduate and later graduate years at Cornell, Linda sent letters to her family several times a week, illustrating her classes, social activities, and everyday campus life. Over three decades later, when her daughter Suzannah Johnson Creedon began her studies in the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning in fall 1988, Linda shared these archived letters with her daughter to help her navigate the Cornell experience.

The family’s connection to Cornell continued into a third generation when Suzannah’s daughter, Eleanor Creedon, enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences in fall 2020. The exchange of these letters highlights how personal correspondence has linked generations of Cornellians with the university’s longstanding traditions and campus culture.

Source: Cornell University

Source Type: College

Source Location: Ithaca

Ithaca, NY

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