George Lincoln Burr in the President White Library, Cornell University. Drawn by R. H. Bainton.

George Lincoln Burr, a member of the Cornell Class of 1871, was University President Andrew D. White's personal secretary and librarian.

Originally hired when he was a sophomore, Burr worked closely and collaboratively with President White in collecting the over 30,000 books that White donated to the Cornell University Library. When this collection was moved to the new University Library (now Uris Library), Burr became the first curator of the White Historical Library. He is credited with building and enriching the Library’s collections on the Reformation and witchcraft. He was also a popular professor in the Cornell History department .

The artist, Roland Herbert Bainton, a reknown Yale historian and Reformation scholar, wrote a biography of Mr. Burr: George Lincoln Burr: His Life (1943). (Uris Library E175.5 .B96)

The original pen and ink drawing is on display in the A. D. White Library in Uris Library.

For more information about the history of the Cornell University Library, see our Uris Library Historical Tour.

For more information about the building of the Cornell University Library book collections, see our online exhibition: In the Founders’ Footsteps: Builders of the Cornell University Library.