CHARLES BABCOCK
CORNELL UNIVERSITY

Charles Babcock served as Cornell's first professor of architecture and dean and director of the School of Architecture from 1871 until 1896. He was born in 1829 in Ballston Spa, New York. After receiving A.B. and A.M. degrees in Classics from Union College, he served an apprenticeship with Richard Upjohn. He assisted Upjohn in the construction of Trinity Church in New York City, the work that established Upjohn's preeminence among American architects of the period. In 1857, Babcock became one of the founding members of the American Institute of Architects.

He was deeply influenced by Upjohn's interest in Gothic Revivalism, which seems to have led him to study for the ministry. In 1864 Babcock became an Episcopal priest and rector of St. John's Church in Greenwood Iron Works (now Arden), New York.

At Cornell Charles Babcock taught a variety of courses, including building technology, structures, mechanics, and architectural history. In the third year he taught design. Babcock was the only professor in the Architecture Department until 1880. He wrote two textbooks, Elementary Architecture (1876) and Vaults (1884), and developed an extensive set of illustrations for the history of architecture and construction. He also organized and served as the rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, which held services in Sage Chapel.

In 1898 Babcock doubled the seating capacity of Sage Chapel with the replacement of the south transept, the tower, and the east half of the original nave by two parallel north-south transepts covering a sixty six by sixty -four foot space. He lengthened the nave, added porches, and constructed the Sage Memorial Apse at the east end as a memorial to Mr. and Mrs. Henry W. Sage. Rose windows were placed in the four new gables.