CORNELIA M. RAYMOND
1861 - 1952
Miss Cornelia M. Raymond passed away in the Vassar
College Infirmary the night of October 30th at the
age of 91. Her last illness was brief, and she
carried on her usual activities until the day before
her death.
Miss Raymond became a member of the Vassar community
at the age of four, when her father, Dr. John H.Raymond,
assumed the presidency of Vassar at its opening in 1865.
Her association with the college as a child, student,
alumna, officer and historian emeritus covered 87 years -
the entire life of the college.
She has spent much of her time in recent years recording
and compiling material about Vassar's history. Her
Memories of a Child of Vassar, published at the time of
the 75th Anniversary, is a lively account of the early
days of the college.
The last lines of Miss Raymond's Memories of a Child of
Vassar were these: "Here I work when and as I wish, my
one ambition being to leave to the college a record to
answer the many questions which I have so enjoyed
answering these many years. One of my hopes is that
when the end comes, I need not go from here to a place
of tiresome tranquility, but that my father's last words
may be mine, 'How easy to go from the work here to the
work (not the rest) beyond.'"
Miss Raymond realized both her ambition and her hope.
She left Vassar an invaluable record of its history; and
she died in peace on the college campus, with her funeral
service being conducted in the Vassar College Chapel by
President Emeritus Henry Noble MacCracken. It was
attended by hundreds of her Vassar friends of all ages.
Vassar Alumnae Magazine
December 1952, Page 23