 In 1892 , the university library was opened . Known today as Uris Library , it was the result of a gift from Henry W. Sage in memory of Jennie McGraw . In her will , she left $ 300 @,@ 000 to her husband Willard Fiske , $ 550 @,@ 000 to her brother Joseph and his children , $ 200 @,@ 000 to Cornell for a library , $ 50 @,@ 000 for construction of McGraw Hall , $ 40 @,@ 000 for a student hospital , and the remainder to the University for whatever use it saw fit . However , the University 's charter limited its property holdings to $ 3 @,@ 000 @,@ 000 , and Cornell could not accept the full amount of McGraw 's gift . When Fiske realized that the university had failed to inform him of this restriction , he launched a legal assault to re @-@ acquire the money , known as The Great Will Case . The United States Supreme Court eventually affirmed the judgment of the New York Court of Appeals that Cornell could not receive the estate on May 19 , 1890 , with Justice Samuel Blatchford giving the majority opinion . However , Sage then donated $ 500 @,@ 000 to build the library instead . 
