Cornell United Religious Work

ornell's War Memorial

From the Dedication of Anabel Taylor Hall as an Interfaith Center and World War II Memorial:

"I have referred to the slow advance of civilization, and have said that we are dedicating this memorial to our dead of the recent war. We recall with sorrow massacres and degradations visited upon civilian populations, mosty of a single race, at the behest of a fanatical leader who attained a brief but dreadful power over millions in Europe. These horrors, occurring in our time and as part of our boasted civilization, are not to be forgotten. Nor are these loyal sons of Cornell to be forgotten who gave their all to check and punish such wanton disregard of human life. Their sacrifice entitles them to a lasting memorial, that those who follow should see and recognize the danger to civilization and to mankind when too great power is entrusted to a single man or a single group of men."

-Myron C. Taylor
October 26, 1952

Cornell's War Memorial inside
Anabel Taylor Hall honors former
Cornellians who gave their lives
in the cause of human freedom
during World War II.

The memorial symbolize not merely sorrow for those who have gone but determination to carry forward their struggle for a durable peace. Therefore, the program in the Interfaith Center, as well as the memorial features, will exemplify the hope of bringing humanity together through the cooperative efforts of the educational and religious forces of the world.

The program will be based on these convictions: that it is of prime importance to maintain a positive faith in the values at the heart of our way of life; that the chief source of this faith has been the common ethical teachings of the great religions; and that this common core of beliefs has central importance in any effort to use all the resources of American life in the cause of international good will. If our democratic faith is held with courage based on religious conviction, efforts toward international understanding will follow.

In this building dedicated to help future Cornellians renew the spiritual sources of their democratic faith, students will increase their understanding of what their religious heritage has meant for human freedom. Here students will learn how to live and work for a common cause with all people from all faiths, races, and countries.

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