This French Chateau-inspired home designed by architect Conway Todd was the residence of Cornell professor of Romance Languages Morris Bishop (1893-1973) and artist Alison Mason Kingsbury Bishop (1898-1988).
A humorist, poet, historian, and “belle-lettrist,” Morris published prolifically, including poetry in the New Yorker and many scholarly and popular books, including a renowned 1962 history of Cornell University.
In 1925, Morris met Alison at Cornell University, when she had come to Ithaca from New York City to work on the Ezra Winter mural in the Willard Straight Hall lobby. They married in 1927 and collaborated on many books, with Alison’s precise line drawings illustrating Morris’s prose and verse.
Kingsbury was commissioned to paint murals in Cornell’s World War I Memorial Chapel and at the Gannett Health Center. Her many Regionalist school paintings captured the natural beauty of the Finger Lakes region, including the views from her home studio. A 2010 Cornell exhibit, “The Art and Life of Alison Mason Kingsbury,” and book by Jillian Piccirilli brought a much-needed reassessment of Kingsbury’s work.
Kingsbury was commissioned to paint murals in Cornell’s World War I Memorial Chapel and at the Gannett Health Center. Her many Regionalist school paintings captured the natural beauty of the Finger Lakes region, including the views from her home studio. A 2010 Cornell exhibit, “The Art and Life of Alison Mason Kingsbury,” and book by Jillian Piccirilli brought a much-needed reassessment of Kingsbury’s work.
After Morris’s death in 1973, Alison moved to East Court Street and sold their home in 1976.
Patricia Longoria
Deputy Historian
2017
SOURCES
“The Art & Life of Alison Mason Kingsbury” Exhibit, Carl A. Kroch Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/alisonmasonkingsbury/;
Gwen Glazer, “You’ve seen her murals around campus—now she’s rediscovered in a new book,” Cornell Chronicle, May 5, 2011;
Morris Bishop, “Prelude to Cornell: Being the first chapter of ‘A History of Cornell’,” Cornell Alumni News, Vol. 65, No. 3, September 1962, pp. 13-15;
C. Michael Curtis, “Faculty: 10: Morris Bishop, the versatile belle-lettrist,” Cornell Alumni News, Vol. 65, No. 3, pp. 16-19;
Tompkins County Deed Book 216, Page 587, Jared T. Newman and Jane E.W. Newman to Alison Mayson [sic] Kingsbury Jr., January 7, 1929; Tompkins County Deed Book 550, Page 70, February 18, 1976;
Alden Whitman, “Morris Bishop, Scholar and Poet, Dies,” New York Times, November 22, 1973.
“The Art & Life of Alison Mason Kingsbury” Exhibit, Carl A. Kroch Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/alisonmasonkingsbury/;
Gwen Glazer, “You’ve seen her murals around campus—now she’s rediscovered in a new book,” Cornell Chronicle, May 5, 2011;
Morris Bishop, “Prelude to Cornell: Being the first chapter of ‘A History of Cornell’,” Cornell Alumni News, Vol. 65, No. 3, September 1962, pp. 13-15;
C. Michael Curtis, “Faculty: 10: Morris Bishop, the versatile belle-lettrist,” Cornell Alumni News, Vol. 65, No. 3, pp. 16-19;
Tompkins County Deed Book 216, Page 587, Jared T. Newman and Jane E.W. Newman to Alison Mayson [sic] Kingsbury Jr., January 7, 1929; Tompkins County Deed Book 550, Page 70, February 18, 1976;
Alden Whitman, “Morris Bishop, Scholar and Poet, Dies,” New York Times, November 22, 1973.