
3 minute read
QUARRY FARM FOUNDATION
Letter from Carl Hayden, Foundation President:
Dear Friend:
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My name is Carl Hayden. I have been in the thrall of Quarry Farm from the first day I set foot in this lovely little town.* I have two tangible links to Quarry Farm. The first is as arbiter of the so-called 4-Party Agreement, the instrument by which Jervis and Irene Langdon gifted Quarry Farm to Elmira College. The second is as president of the newly created Quarry Farm Foundation, a 501(3)(c) corporation created to raise funds for the historically authentic restoration of Quarry Farm, including the replacement and renewal of all its operating systems.
It may astound you to learn that Quarry Farm has no fire suppression system, thus placing at risk both the irreplaceable structure and its irreplaceable contents. What it does have is a first floor fire alarm that is hopelessly inadequate. It also has a drainage system, conceived in 1868, that feeds water directly into sumps in the basement, thereby ensuring a constant war with mold. All the major systems in the house are ancient and need to be replaced, but fire suppression and radically revised drainage represent urgent needs.
The Quarry Farm Foundation seeks to raise $6 million for the work at hand and for the creation of an endowment to guarantee the long-term selfsufficiency of both Quarry Farm and the Center for Mark Twain Studies (CMTS). $2 million is allocated to the work; $4 million is allocated for the endowment. Why is the foundation so invested in supporting the work of CMTS?

Carl Hayden and Cindy Hayden 71
The short answer is that CMTS is the operating arm of the foundation. We are a fundraising conduit, nothing more. Our interest lies in the longterm viability of Quarry Farm as a Cultural Humanities Site and its use as an inspiration for scholars-in-residence. A vital Quarry Farm is entirely dependent on a vital CMTS.
Under the sure hand of Joe Lemak, CMTS has become an influential national leader in the field of Twain scholarship. The quantity and quality of research and writing emerging from the pens (laptops) of sixteen to twenty scholars in residence each year is unprecedented. There is a fellowship program and annual symposia exploring the entire universe of Twain studies. It hosts the International Quadrennial Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies, the largest and oldest gathering of Twain scholars from around the world. And it has created a social media presence that makes Twain and Twain studies broadly available to students, teachers and the general public.
There is no question that CMTS is ascendant in the world of Twain scholarship, but we live in challenging times for small independent liberal arts colleges like Elmira College. The College has been a true and committed steward, but CMTS needs friends to help it through this difficult passage. That is why the Quarry Farm Foundation is launching an audacious campaign for the benefit of Quarry Farm, CMTS, and Elmira College and actively supporting this campaign for operating funds for CMTS.
We would be delighted if, somewhere down the road, you consider a gift to the Quarry Farm Foundation, but right now our focus is on ensuring a vital Center for Mark Twain Studies. It would be grand if you could lend a hand.
*Rudyard Kipling said Elmira is an ugly little town divided into fours by a river and a railroad. Rudyard was wrong.
Regards,
Carl T. Hayden, President Quarry Farm Foundation