Campus & Community

From Fraunces Tavern to Bowling Green, Lower Manhattan’s cobblestone streets are lined with Revolutionary War landmarks, but Northern Manhattan’s role in that definitive era of American history is often overlooked. Architect and A’Lelia Bundles Community Scholar Gail Addiss is on a mission to spread awareness about Uptown’s significance during the American Revolution. 

“We’re at a really critical time,” she told Columbia Neighbors. “We’re a culturally diverse neighborhood, and we’ve all chosen to live here. We’re all Americans, and our area played an important part in our country’s founding. This origin story is part of our fundamental shared narrative, and I think it will help to unite us as a community, and hopefully as a country.” 

Through her Bundles project, Addiss is organizing walking tours, communal exhibitions, and public forums to highlight Uptown parks and sites connected to the Revolution. Ahead of the United States’ 250th anniversary, she shared a few landmarks hiding in plain sight.

Christopher Brown spends a lot of time thinking about the past. A Professor of History at Columbia, Brown's work focuses on Britain and the British Empire, principally in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. As the nation celebrates its semiquincentennial, Professor Brown discusses the importance of inspiring a love of history in future scholars and leaders.

We also speak with University Archivist Jocelyn Wilk about a recent acquisition to Columbia's Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Also known as the RBML, the library preserves the documents, books, pamphlets, maps, and other items that tell the story of the people who built the school once known as King's College. 

This video offers a closer look at Professor Brown, the RBML, and how Columbia helps protect the memory and memorabilia of the early years of the university and the United States.