The House and Me
During my final year and a half at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York I lived in room 204 of Watermargin, and served as House Manager for about a year. I haven't been back in awhile, but I have spent some time maintain a mailing list for Watermargin
alumni. That list has since been replaced by a listserv: watermargin-l@cornell.edu
In The Beginning
The house was established in 1948 by a group of World War II veterans who had returned to Cornell to finish their studies. These veterans found it difficult to reconcile the widespread racial segregation of the time with the beliefs they had fought for abroad. So they founded Watermargin, a house where men of all races and religions could come together to share their ideas, living together and learning about one another. Watermargin was the first racially integrated living unit on the Cornell campus, and perhaps the first on any campus in the country.
The Original Watermargin
The house takes its name from a Chinese novel written centuries ago. It tells of a band of men and women from all backgrounds who come together to fight injustice in a corrupt world. "Watermargin" describes the place of their camp, at the base of a mountain by the water's edge. In time, the phrase "Watermargin" has become synonymous with the idea that "All men are brothers", which the house adopted as its motto. (Pearl Buck also used the phrase as the title for her translation of the original text.)
The Educational Program
In its early years, Watermargin hosted such notable figures as Eleanor Roosevelt, Marion Anderson, Langston Hughes, and Margaret Meade as part of its educational program. Today, the celebrity appearances are a little less frequent and a lot more expensive. More typical educational program events include cultural exchanges among campus groups, speakers from Cornell, speakers from Washington NGOs, and screenings of programs like PBS's "Eyes on the Prize."
Watermargin Goes Co-ed
As time went on, it became apparent that the house would greatly benefit
from the addition of women to the residential membership (some women were
already members of the organization, but did not live in the house
itself). So, in the late 1960's Watermargin opened its doors to women,
and
the motto was changed to "All people are family", or as John Saponara likes to put it, "All folks are family."
Watermargin Now
Today, the house flourishes under the able leadership of Mr. Suneth
Attagalle.
The
residents of Watermargin are responsible for all of its upkeep, from scrubbing the bathroom sinks to mowing the lawn to preparing dinner for the 30 or so members of its meal plan.
The house maintains its own website at
www.WatermarginCoop.org
You can never go home: Meal Plan continues for the West Coast Marginals
See the West Coast Watermargin gang at Jim Watkins' house for Thanksgiving 1994.
Here's the West Coast Watermargin gang at our place for Thanksgiving 1995.
The 1998 Thanksgiving dinner (pic 1 pic 2) was hosted by Stacey Rolland.
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