Strategic Plan 2024-2026

Elmira College Center for Mark Twain Studies Strategic Plan 2024-2026

Introduction

Mark Twain on the Quarry Farm Porch (1903)

Strategic planning is a useful tool for the Elmira College Center for Mark Twain Studies (CMTS) to assess its past and design its future.  Strategic management helps CMTS cultivate a continuing commitment to its mission and vision, promotes a culture that includes meaningful input from all stakeholders and encourages a focus on the annual agenda by means of a transparent decision-making process.  The annual strategic plan allows the staff of CMTS to identify and respond to its most fundamental and immediate issues, and develop strategies for fostering fiscally sustainable growth in moving CMTS toward being a leading internationally recognized academic center.  Finally, the CMTS strategic planning process fosters proactive discussion and formulation of action plans by all staff members, both within their spheres of influence and within the organization as a whole.  This strategic plan also incorporates systemic assessment requirements as necessitated by Elmira College and the Middle States Commission of Higher Education.

The 2023 annual cycle was a successful one, in no small part the result of the strategic planning decision-making process. Key highlights include:

Programming and Outreach

  • Successfully continued the Quarry Farm Fellowship program.  CMTS hosted and aided the research of eleven senior and developing scholars, writers, and artists from a variety of academic disciplines.  All of these fellows-in-residence had the opportunity to live and work at Quarry Farm for two weeks to a month and take advantage of one of the best libraries dedicated to Mark Twain Studies located on the premises.
  • Facilitated The Tenth Quarry Farm Symposium “Mark Twain: Invention, Technology, and Science Fiction.” This event worked to place Twain and his contemporaries within the cultural transformations of science and technology, and within the broad literary boundaries of science fiction.  The keynote address was presented by Sheila Williams, the multiple Hugo award-winning editor of Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine.          
  • Facilitated eleven online lectures as part of the fall and spring “Trouble Begins” Lecture Series and the Park Church Summer Lecture Series.  
  • Published 17 episodes of The American Vandal Podcast, mostly as part of the show’s eighth season, “Criticism LTD,” during which the subscriber base increased by 144% according to Spotify. The podcast is now in the top 5% of podcasts globally.
  • Published 24 lectures to CMTS’s YouTube Channel from 2023 events, including the 10th Quarry Farm Symposium “Mark Twain: Invention, Technology, and Science Fiction;” The Spring and Fall Trouble Begins Lectures; and the Park Church Summer Lectures.  In October, one of the videos was included in The Syllabus’s “Best of Videos” curation. All of these have also been added to The Trouble Begins Archives.
  • Incorporated a fellowship exclusively for visual artists into the Quarry Farm Fellowship Program with its own criteria and selection committee.
  • Created the “Michael J. Kiskis Quarry Farm Fellowship.”  This award honoring the memory and legacy of Mark Twain Studies scholar, Michael J. Kiskis, is intended to support emerging scholars and writers in the Quarry Farm Fellowship program.
  • Published five “Mark Twain Resource Pages.”  These resource pages have been written by Mark Twain scholars, often times experts in the particular field. These are meant to be reliable, efficient resources for teachers, students, enthusiasts, and the general public. They include a short overview of the subject with photographs and suggestions for further research. 
  • Facilitated an online Mark Twain Summer Teachers Institute focusing on Twain’s “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg,” first published in 1899.  The workshop was video recorded and archived on MTS.org and YouTube.  Furthermore, a number of resources were included and created to supplement the text.

Administrative, Financial, and Physical Resources

  • Assisted the Quarry Farm Foundation in raising over $650,000 since 2022.
  • Assisted the Quarry Farm Foundation in creating a fundraising video, narrated by nationally-respected author and Mark Twain Studies scholar, Ron Powers.
  • Restored all windows in the Mark Twain Study.  Steve Jordan, historic window restoration expert, was employed to complete this project.
  • Installed new gutters and downspouts for Quarry Farm. This action is part of the Quarry Farm drainage project.  This was funded by the Quarry Farm Foundation.
  • Regraded and reinstalled the groundwater drainage system surrounding the main house at Quarry Farm. This action is part of the Quarry Farm drainage project.  This was funded by the Quarry Farm Foundation.
  • Obtained a cultural landscape report for Quarry Farm from Martha Lyon, Landscape Architecture, LLC.  Sections of the report can be found on the CMTS website.
  • Removed old wallpaper in the Mark Twain Bedroom and install a historically similar wallpaper in relation to the time when Mark Twain occupied the room.
  • Created and filled the CMTS position “Collections Manager” for Quarry Farm and the Mark Twain Archive.

The staff of CMTS wishes to follow up and continue last year’s success.

The CMTS Strategic Planning Committee includes:

  • Kathleen Galvin, Center for Mark Twain Studies Collections Manager;
  • Larry Howe, Professor Emeritus of English and Film Studies at Roosevelt University;
  • Elise Johnson-Schmidt, Principal Architect and Owner of Johnson-Schmidt & Associates, Architects;
  • Dr. Joseph Lemak, Director of the Center for Mark Twain Studies;
  • Dr. Matt Seybold, Associate Professor of American Literature and Mark Twain Studies at Elmira College and Editor-in-Chief of MarkTwainStudies.org;
  • Steve Webb, Quarry Farm Caretaker;
  • Alexander Whydell, Quarry Farm Preservation Associate and Historic Preservationist at Johnson-Schmidt & Associates.

The Strategic Planning Committee produced a draft of the strategic plan for adoption by:

  • Dr. Charles Lindsay, President at Elmira College;
  • Dr. Patricia Ireland, Provost at Elmira College.

Any questions about the CMTS 2023-2025 Strategic Plan should be directed to Dr. Joseph Lemak ([email protected])

Vision Statement

The Center for Mark Twain Studies strives to renew and deepen its identity as a scholarly, creative, and cultural center for Mark Twain Studies and to include all related academic and creative disciplines with the goal of becoming one of the best academic centers in the country.

To achieve this vision, CMTS must harness its great energy and talents, inspire its supporters, and most importantly, exercise the collective imaginations of the greater Mark Twain Studies community to build and maintain an even better center of excellence for its current constituents and future generations.

Local school group visiting the Mark Twain Study on the Elmira College Campus

Mission Statement

The Elmira College Center for Mark Twain Studies is dedicated to fostering and supporting scholarship and pedagogy related to all aspects of Mark Twain.  The primary purpose of CMTS is to serve an international community of scholars, writers, educators, and artists working in the field of Mark Twain Studies.  CMTS seeks to enrich the broader community by promoting and preserving the legacy of Twain and his deep connection to Elmira.

Fulfillment of the Mission Statement and CMTS Responsibilities

CMTS fulfills its mission through the sponsorship of academic and creative research fellowships-in-residence; the creation of content for MarkTwainStudies.org, the website of CMTS; the oversight of the Mark Twain Archive on the Elmira College campus, and the facilitation of a number of scholarly events, including annual symposia, academic lectures, teaching institutes, and the quadrennial International Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies, the world’s largest scholarly conference focusing on Mark Twain.

The responsibilities of CMTS include oversight and preservation of two historic landmarks: Quarry Farm, which has been designated a cultural humanities site dedicated to scholars and writers working in Mark Twain Studies, and the Mark Twain Study, now located on the Elmira College campus.  Starting in 1871 and for over twenty consecutive summers, Twain lived at Quarry Farm and worked in his octagonal Study.  It was here that the author wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, and many other important works, signifying his most productive and successfully creative time of his life.

Organizational History

The Elmira College Center for Mark Twain Studies is known and respected world-wide as one of the premier sites for the research and study of Mark Twain.  Following a long tradition of associations between Mark Twain, the Langdon family, and Elmira College, CMTS was established in 1983 with the gift of Quarry Farm to Elmira College from Samuel Clemens’s great-grandnephew, Jervis Langdon, Jr.

Clemens’s connection to the Langdon family began in 1867.  In that year he secured funding from the Alta California newspaper to travel to the Europe and the Middle East and write about his journey. On June 8th, Clemens, who was by then already known by his “Mark Twain” pen name, left New York City aboard a steamship named Quaker City. The series of letters he wrote between then and his return on November 19th, were later immortalized in 1869 as Mark Twain’s first book The Innocents Abroad. This hugely successful work brought Twain fame and fortune, and was the best-selling of his books during his lifetime.

Charles J. Langdon with his children. Image Courtesy of the Mark Twain House and Museum (Hartford, CT.)

The professional significance of this voyage was matched by a personal one.  On board the Quaker City, Clemens met Charles Langdon, the brother of Clemens’ future wife. The Langdons were a wealthy Elmira, New York family, and the eighteen-year-old “Charley” Langdon had been sent by his father Jervis to the Mediterranean in order to gain worldly perspective. Despite the age difference between Charley and the thirty-one-year-old Sam Clemens, the two became friends. One day aboard the Quaker City, Charley Langdon felt compelled by homesickness to show Clemens a miniature portrait of his sister Olivia.

After the Quaker City returned to New York, Charles Langdon introduced Clemens to his father and sister in person. As the story goes, Clemens fell in love with Olivia at that first meeting. Clemens travelled to the West Coast for business soon after, but in August of 1868 followed up on an invitation to visit the Langdon family, arriving in Elmira by train. He was smitten with “Livy,” and, after two rebuffed marriage proposals and hundreds of letters between the couple, Samuel Clemens and Olivia Langdon were married in Elmira in 1870.

Susan Langdon Crane

Starting in 1870, at the prime of his creative life, Clemens summered at Quarry Farm, the home of Olivia’s sister and brother-in-law, Susan and Theodore Crane in Elmira.  Nearly every year until 1891, the Clemens family members divided their time between their own home in Hartford, Connecticut, and Quarry Farm.  While life in Hartford was happy, hectic, and very social, in Elmira, life was slower.  At Quarry Farm the family was more isolated and away from distractions, creating an environment that was conducive to relaxation and where Twain could concentrate on his writings.  Additionally, Livy could be close to her family.  All three of Twain’s daughters were born in Elmira, two at Quarry Farm.

In 1874, after Mark Twain had already successfully published his best sellers, The Innocents Abroad (1869) and Roughing It (1872), Susan and Theodore Crane surprised him with a small octagonal study.  The Study was built on a secluded high knoll, one hundred yards from the Quarry Farm main house.  In this small structure Mark Twain wrote many of his best works, such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), A Tramp Abroad (1880), The Prince and The Pauper (1881), Life on the Mississippi (1883), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889).  A number of important short stories and essays were also inspired and composed at Quarry Farm, including “A True Story, Repeated Word for Word as I Heard It,” a short story recounting the life of ex-slave Mary Ann Cord, who was the housekeeper at Quarry Farm.

Ida Langdon

 The Clemens family spent its last summer at Quarry Farm in 1903.  Clemens spent the rest of his life abroad and in various places in the United States until his death on April 21, 1910.  He was buried in the Langdon plot in Elmira’s Woodlawn Cemetery, alongside his wife and four children.  After Twain’s death, the Langdon family took two important steps to help preserve the legacy of Mark Twain.  First, in 1952, Twain’s niece, Dr. Ida Langdon, a professor of English at Elmira College, presented Twain’s Study to Elmira College locating it at the heart of the Elmira College campus where it remains on display for the general public.  It is one of the most well-known literary landmarks in the United States.  Second, in 1983, Jervis Langdon, Jr., the great-grandnephew of Twain, donated Quarry Farm to Elmira College.  In a document entitled “The Four Party Agreement,” Jervis Langdon, Jr. bequeathed Quarry Farm to Elmira College with two basic purposes: first, “to assure that Quarry Farm, as a residence, will be properly maintained and preserved, and the grounds included in the donation will be cared for and protected, including the trees, lawns, shrubbery, flowers, and wild life;” and second, “to have the residence at Quarry Farm available as a center for the study of Mark Twain and as a temporary home for such members of the faculty of the College, visiting scholars, and graduate students as may be designated, from time to time, by the President of the College, because of their interest in Mark Twain, his works, his philosophy, and the environment in which he lived.”  These words created the Center for Mark Twain Studies.  While Jervis Langdon, Jr. and Elmira College constituted the two primary members of “The Four Party Agreement,” the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Chemung County Historical Society rounded out the other two.  It became the responsibility of these two secondary organizations to assure that Elmira College carry out Jervis Langdon, Jr.’s intentions.  As a result, Elmira College must submit an annual preservation report to the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Chemung County Historical Society.

Jervis Langdon Jr.

Jervis Langdon Jr.’s gift of Quarry Farm included the contents of the main house with many nineteenth-century association pieces of furniture and other treasures, such as the books in the Quarry Farm library that often reflect the reading habits of an erudite family.  Of particular interest are the books from the Langdon and Crane collections that were read by Mark Twain.  Numerous annotations, often dated and written in pencil by Mark Twain, have been discovered in the margins of many of these books. 

Honoring Jervis Langdon, Jr’s vision, Quarry Farm offers fellowships-in-residence to scholars pursuing research or writing in the field of Mark Twain Studies.  As one of the most important literary landmarks in American history, Quarry Farm is cultural humanities site, a building whose sole purpose is to provide inspiration and resources to scholars, writers, and artists working in the field of Mark Twain Studies.  Quarry Farm Fellows have access to twenty-first century workspaces, a nearly complete Mark Twain Studies reference collection on the premises, including the complete Oxford Mark Twain facsimile edition and Mark Twain Project publications as well as up-to-date secondary and reference works dedicated to Mark Twain Studies, while at the same time being surrounded by nineteenth century books, furniture, textiles, and painting, almost all of which were present during Twain’s time at Quarry Farm.  Furthermore, Quarry Farm Fellows have access to one of the best collections of secondary scholarly material dedicated to Mark Twain Studies shelved on the premises.

In addition to the Quarry Farm fellowships, the Barn and the grounds at Quarry Farm are used for several academic programs, including annual symposia on a wide variety of specific Mark Twain Studies topics, workshops for teachers who wish to incorporate Mark Twain into their curricula, “The Trouble Begins” spring and fall lecture series, and dozens of school field trips every year.  The lectures and field trips are offered free of charge to the schools and general public. While the main house at Quarry Farm is reserved solely for Mark Twain Studies scholars and artists, the nineteenth century barn and nearby housekeeper’s cottage have been adapted for program use and serve as classrooms and lecture space.

Finally, CMTS houses some of its Twain material in the Mark Twain Archive on the Elmira College campus.  The Mark Twain Archive affords scholars the uniquely rewarding experience of ready access to a collection of primary and secondary sources on Twain.  In addition to various editions of Twain’s works, the Mark Twain Archive collection includes photographs; books from Twain’s personal library and the library at Quarry Farm; secondary source books, articles, and collections related to Mark Twain, his literature, and his circle; and microfilm letters and manuscripts from the Mark Twain collections at the Bancroft library in Berkeley, the Mark Twain Memorial in Hartford, Vassar College, and the Huntington Library.  Through the generosity of donors over the years, the collection has also a fine collection of Mark Twain titles in over a dozen languages other than English, the Love Collection of framed photographs and autographs, correspondence between Twain and members of his Elmira circle, such as E.M. Van Aken, Dr. Frank Darby, and Julia Jones Beecher, letters written by Twain at the end of his life, and other photographs and memorabilia that add greatly to the scope and interest of the collection.  The Mark Twain Archive itself also includes a collection of decorative art such as period furnishings, rich woodwork, and marble accents from Klapproth’s Tavern, an establishment which Twain was known to frequent during his summers in Elmira.  The Mark Twain Archive is available to anyone with a research project that can be served by the collection.

The Center for Mark Twain Studies represents one of four Mark Twain “centers” in the United States that include Mark Twain’s boyhood home in Hannibal, MO; Twain’s home in Hartford, CT; and the Mark Twain Project in Berkeley, CA.  However, CMTS is unique in its mission to foster and support scholarship and pedagogy related to all aspects of Mark Twain.

[1] “The Four Party Agreement Regarding Quarry Farm, Elmira, N.Y.,” December 31, 1982. Legal Contract involving Jervis Langdon, Jr., Elmira College, The National Historic Trust, and Chemung County Historical Society, (1983): 2-3

Significance of the Quarry Farm Collection

Quarry Farm, on the U.S. Register of Historic Places, remains today much as it did when Mark Twain resided at Quarry Farm, containing original 19th century furnishings, artwork, textiles, books, wall finishes, and architectural features and objects that have historic and cultural significance that continue to be unraveled by scholarship.  At the time of the Langdon gift in 1983, Quarry Farm had been owned by four generations of the Langdon family, starting in 1868. The books on the shelves in the library contain marginal notes and markings from Mark Twain with bookplates and inscriptions of the Langdon family, the Crane family, and Ida Langdon, Sam Clemens’s niece.  While the collection was established with the original gift, it is not static.  The CMTS continues, on occasion, to receive books bearing the Langdon bookplate or books inscribed by Langdon family members.  Interest in the marginalia and books to which Mark Twain had access has long interested scholars.  A nineteenth century furniture expert, Walter Ritchie, Jr., has recently published his research about the furnishings of the Langdon Mansion in downtown Elmira, and established that a number of the Langdon furnishings were moved to Quarry Farm before the home was demolished in 1939.

The collection also contains a number of reference works, first editions, and other rare books which are hard to find outside university libraries and special collections. For many fellows-in-residence, this may be the first time they have had access to such resources. Few scholars at any career stage have the opportunity to peruse such materials at their leisure over the course of several weeks, all without leaving the quiet, private, and picturesque domestic space in which many, starting with Twain himself, have found the ideal conditions for writing.  Current residents share the same spectacular view of the Chemung River Valley as the famous author, his family, and his in-laws.  Many scholars believe that contemplating this view and watching his young daughters play and grow up at Quarry Farm inspired Twain to write about parts of his childhood on the Mississippi River that resulted in the creation Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, America’s most iconic characters of childhood.  Not surprisingly, Twain scholars continue to be struck by the Quarry Farm setting, still peaceful and conducive to relaxation and to work, with a view of the surrounding hills, the Chemung River, and the city of Elmira below, much like it must have been almost one hundred and fifty years ago.

The collections at Quarry Farm provide fellows-in-residence full access to a world-selection of primary and secondary sources related to nineteenth century United States literature and history while offering them a unique, and at times inspirational, experiences of living in the same space, and perhaps partaking the same daily routine, as Twain himself.  Between sixteen and twenty scholars are in residence every year, either as Quarry Farm Fellows or contributors to the various CMTS lecture series.  More than half of the residents stay for a period of two weeks or more.  These residents represent a wide range of demographic and disciplinary backgrounds and come from across the country and the globe.

Due to Quarry Farm’s unique ambiance and ideal writing environment, scholars have made a practice of acknowledging their residencies in their publications, often stating that Quarry Farm was as inspirational for them as it was for Twain.  Judith Yaross Lee, author of Twain’s Brand: Humor in Contemporary American Culture (2012, University Press of Mississippi), admits to being at times overwhelmed by “what I found on the shelves in the library at Quarry Farm.” Joseph B. Fulton extends his gratitude when he states “I would like to thank Jervis Langdon, Jr. and his family, whose generosity has done so much for our understanding of Mark Twain” in Mark Twain in the Margins: The Quarry Farm Marginalia and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (2000, University of Alabama Press. Shelley Fisher Fishkin in Lighting Out for The Territory: Reflections on Mark Twain & American Culture (1997, Oxford University Press) calls Quarry Farm a “haven for scholars.”   Paula Harrington and Ronald Jenn point out that “as all scholars know, no better place exists than Clemens’s own family summer home, Quarry Farm in Elmira, New York.  We cannot imagine how we would have completed our book without repeated stays there as fellows-in-residence” in Mark Twain and France (2017, University of Missouri Press). In The Courtship of Mark Twain Olivia Langdon (1996, Cambridge University Press) Susan K. Harris writes that “most important is my debt to Quarry Farm itself.  One of the scholars’ few perks is the occasional chance to actually live in a historical house, and I know that I speak for the Twain community when I say that staying at Quarry Farm has been among the most moving experiences of my life.”

Without a hint of exaggeration, CMTS and Quarry Farm have been acknowledged in scores of book-length publications, most from university presses, along with dozens of peer-reviewed academic articles.  CMTS continues this proud tradition in the present-day with fellows and lecturers already scheduled for 2023.  All biographies and projects from past classes of Fellows, can be found at MarkTwainStudies.org.

Testimonials from recent Quarry Farm residents, detailing their time at Quarry Farm and its importance to the scholarly and creative writing community can be found HERE.

Staff Biographies

Kathleen Galvin, an Elmira native, began her career in the Elmira College Library in January of 1987.  Working in Technical Services providing Interlibrary Loan and Cataloging services, Kathleen assists students, faculty, staff, and community members in their research. Over the years Kathleen has assisted on many Archival projects.  In the Summer of 2020, she began to oversee the Elmira College and Mark Twain Archives as well as the Book Collections at Quarry Farm.  In her work for CMTS Kathleen also assists scholars and fellows in their research, hosting some at the Mark Twain Archive at Elmira College.   Further, the Mark Twain Archive regularly responds to inquiries from a variety of institutions and persons, nationally and internationally.

Joseph Lemak, an Elmira native, became the Director of CMTS in January 2016. He also holds the title of Assistant Professor of History at Elmira College.  He served Elmira College in various roles for over twenty years, most recently as Director of the Academic Writing Program and the Writing Center.  Joe holds a Ph.D. in Classics from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He organizes the Quarry Farm Fellowships, all CMTS lecture series, the annual symposia, the quadrennial International Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies, and the Summer Teachers’ Institute.  Joe oversees all financial and budgetary matters, fund raising, grant writing, strategic planning, and the preservation and maintenance efforts of the Mark Twain Study and Quarry Farm.

Charles Mitchell started his career at Elmira College in August 1993.  Over the years he has taught a wide variety of courses in American history and culture, including courses in environmental history, landscape art, and photography, and the social and cultural history of American art and visual culture.  He has published a book on the legacy of Ralph Waldo Emerson and essays on a variety of topics, including Shakespeare’s responsibility for the most numerous invasive species in the United States.  He lectures regularly on topics relating to public parks, landscape tourism, and the paradoxes and ironies of American attitudes toward nature.  In 2019 he joined the staff of the Center for Mark Twain Studies.

Matt Seybold joined the Elmira College in July 2015.  He earned his Ph.D. from University of California, Irvine in 2012 after which he worked at The University of Alabama. He teaches courses on all periods of American Literature, as well as interdisciplinary courses on mass media and economics.  Upon hiring, Matt made the creation of a digital presence for the Center for Mark Twain Studies his highest priority and, with support from Director Lemak and Dr. Mitchell, oversaw the design and launch of MarkTwainStudies.org in October 2016.  He sees the website as a repository for an evolving range of Twain-related resources, as well as a broader, more democratic means of serving CMTS’ unique mission.

Steve Webb, an Elmira native, has been the resident caretaker at Quarry Farm since the winter of 2013.  Steve is an experienced landscaper and repairman with an Associate degree in Environmental Science from Finger Lakes Community College, as well as a talented composer and musician.  Steve is the direct supervisor of the groundskeepers and cleaning staff at Quarry Farm, as well as the CMTS on-site project manager for all Quarry Farm preservation projects.  He serves as the direct liaison of CMTS to all Quarry Farm residents.








Mark Twain and John T. Lewis, friend and neighbor, on the Quarry Farm Porch (1903)

Foundation and Corporate Sponsors 

(in alphabetical order)

Elmira College – Elmira College supports CMTS in a myriad of ways, including, but not limited to, office space, marketing, branding, library services, and internet access.  All of these services are at no cost to CMTS.

Friends of the Center for Mark Twain Studies – The donation membership list for CMTS. Many members donate annually.  The majority of donations come from an annual appeal in December or January.

Lilly Broadcasting WENY TV – A local, upstate New York television media group.  This media outlet purchases books written by Mark Twain to support CMTS’s “Mark Twain Literacy Project.

Mark Twain Foundation – Annual support from the Mark Twain Foundation provides the major funding to support the activities of CMTS. This is largest and most consistent source of funding for CMTS.

Quarry Farm Foundation – An officially registered 501(3)(c) charitable organization approved by the Internal Revenue Service and New York State Charities Bureau.  The primary purpose of the Quarry Farm Foundation is to raise funds for the preservation and maintenance of Quarry Farm.

U.S. Mint Mark Twain Commemorative Coin Fund – A restricted fund for CMTS.  CMTS draws interest annually from the 2016 U.S. Mint Commemorative Mark Twain Coin program. The majority of this fund is used to support Quarry Farm preservation and scholarly production at Quarry Farm.

Additional Miscellaneous Funds – Small funds in memory of deceased individuals draw annual interest to support the Center for Mark Twain Studies, including the Darryl Baskin Fund, the Claude Brinegar Fund, the Class of ’34 Fund, The Pietrie Fund, and the Michael J. Kiskis Fund.

Strategic Goals

Reflecting its vision and mission statement, the Center for Mark Twain Studies has established the following strategic goals:

  1. Enhance and sustain service to all constituents of CMTS
    1. Scholarly community
    2. Internet community
    3. Local and regional community
    4. Elmira College community
  2. Preserve the historical infrastructure of Quarry Farm, the Study, the Exhibit, and the Archives
  3. Improve the Quarry Farm experience for all residents
  4. Enhance and sustain the services and materials offered by the Mark Twain Archive to the academic community
  5. Increase financial sustainability to help and support CMTS’ mission and strategic goals

A1. Enhance and sustain services for the scholarly community

Reflecting its mission, service to the scholarly community is CMTS’ highest priority.  CMTS has a long and successful history of hosting successful academic symposia and conferences. In fact, the quadrennial International Conference on the State of Mark Twain Studies is the largest Mark Twain conference in the world.  CMTS endeavors to continue this legacy of success. 

At the heart of CMTS’ service to scholars is the Quarry Farm Fellowship program.  CMTS funds national and international scholars to engage in scholarly pursuits at Quarry Farm.  CMTS makes a concerted effort to include graduate students and scholars with new doctoral degrees to ensure the robust future of Mark Twain Studies, ensuring the continuation and rejuvenation of Mark Twain as a central figure in American literature and the field of the Humanities.

Notable Successes of 2023

  • Successfully continued the Quarry Farm Fellowship program.  CMTS hosted and aided the research of eleven senior and developing scholars, writers, and artists from a variety of academic disciplines.  All of these fellows-in-residence had the opportunity to live and work at Quarry Farm for two weeks to a month and take advantage of one of the best libraries dedicated to Mark Twain Studies located on the premises.
  • Facilitated The Tenth Quarry Farm Symposium “Mark Twain: Invention, Technology, and Science Fiction.” This event worked to place Twain and his contemporaries within the cultural transformations of science and technology, and within the broad literary boundaries of science fiction.  The keynote address was presented by Sheila Williams, the multiple Hugo award-winning editor of Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine.  All talks were video recorded and made accessible on the CMTS YouTube Channel and MarkTwainStudies.org.          
  • Facilitated eleven online lectures as part of the fall and spring “Trouble Begins” Lecture Series and the Park Church Summer Lecture Series.  All of these lectures were video recorded and made accessible on the CMTS YouTube Channel and MarkTwainStudies.org.
  • Incorporated a fellowship exclusively for visual artists into the Quarry Farm Fellowship Program with its own criteria and selection committee.
  • Created the “Michael J. Kiskis Quarry Farm Fellowship.”  This award honoring the memory and legacy of Mark Twain Studies scholar, Michael J. Kiskis, is intended to support emerging scholars and writers in the Quarry Farm Fellowship program.

Notable Goals for 2024

  • Continue the Quarry Farm Fellowship Program.
  • Facilitate The Eleventh Quarry Farm Symposium “Gilded Ages: Humor, Literature, and Society.” The symposium looks to explore a wide range of subjects related to humor in or about the Gilded Age, including literary humor; political cartoons; social satire; periodical humor; visual arts; contemporary representations of the Gilded Age; gender, race, and class and Gilded Age humor; nationalism and transnationalism.
  • Attend the First Annual New York History Conference in Albany, NY for the purpose of hosting and moderating the panel “Taking Back Twain.”  The panel will be made up of leading Mark Twain Studies scholars with the purpose of tracking how New York – downstate and upstate – had a profound impact on Mark Twain’s development as a writer and thinker, and by extension, on the development of American literature.
  • Attend the 2024 C19 Biennial Conference in Pasadena, CA for the purpose of moderating the panel “Mark Twain’s Illiberal Imagination.”  The roundtable will reassess Twain’s relation to liberalism. Each participant will consider the critique of liberal thought in a different Twain text (some canonical, some not) in relation to several American Studies keywords (like caste and post-secularism), to show the texts and keywords to be mutually illuminating.

View of the Chemung River Valley and the hills of Northern Pennsylvania from the Quarry Farm Porch

A2. Enhance and sustain services for the web community

The foundational purpose of MarkTwainStudies.org is to directly serve CMTS’ core constituency, the Mark Twain scholarly community, broadly conceived, by creating and circulating research and resources which facilitate further scholarship on Twain’s life, work, legacy, and world. Some highlights include digital editions of rare works in Twain Studies, substantive encyclopedia-style entries about major figures and events in Twain’s life written by established scholars, and an ever-growing archive of hundreds of audio and video recordings of the Trouble Begins lectures dating back to 1985. The website is also, in a complementary fashion, a resource for students, teachers, journalists, and enthusiasts, and it is frequently updated and reorganized with the needs of these auxiliary constituencies in mind.

In addition to its vast and diverse collection of Twain-related content, MTS.org is increasingly one of the most comprehensive digital collections on historical Elmira, containing virtual tours of Quarry Farm and the Langdon-Clemens Gravesite, interactive maps of 1901 Elmira and Woodlawn Cemetery, a narrative podcast tour, short film, and several essays about Twain’s Elmira and associated figures like John W. Jones, Frederick Douglass, and Thomas K. Beecher.

It also the foremost vehicle for promoting CMTS programming of all kinds, including Quarry Farm Fellowships, annual symposia, the Trouble Begins lectures, and the relevant events of academic member organizations, sister Twain sites, and community partners. Its modest ambitions, when launched in 2016, have long ago been exceeded and it is now one of the most-trafficked non-profit Twain-related sites on the internet, as well as one of the most-trafficked Academic Humanities Centers in the world.

For the first time ever, CMTS traffic metrics declined slightly in 2023, due largely to ongoing disruptions to the social networks and search engines which have for a long time been the primary mechanisms for publicizing internet sites. Due to both policy changes and declining user bases, the big social platforms are no longer reliable drivers of web traffic. MTS.org links from Facebook have fallen more than 80% from our peak in 2020, while links from Twitter (now X) dropped more than 50% in the past calendar year alone. Fortunately, CMTS foresaw the disruption to social media and began diversifying methods of production, distribution, and promotion in 2020. As a result, while CMTS web traffic has regressed, podcast downloads have quadrupled and viewing time on the CMTS YouTube Channel has tripled over the same period of time.

More surprising to CMTS, and web developers more generally, has been the recent unreliability of Google. The long-time search giant has been compromised, at least to some extent, by recent technological innovation, perhaps especially in the field of Generative AI. Across the internet, a wide variety of sites, including for-profit enterprises devoted to news and commerce, have reported steep declines in traffic from Google during the second half of 2023. CMTS is having a similar experience. In recent years Google has dependably delivered 11,000-13,000 monthly visitors to MTS.org. In September of 2023 that number began declining steadily. In December 2023, less than 6,000 visitors came to MTS.org via Google. Many tech prognosticators have predicted that Google is merely going through a temporary adjustment phase. It will either regain reliability in 2024 or its period of dominance over search will end as a competitor figures out how to deliver results for browsers, websites, and, vicariously, advertisers. However, this lapse, however temporary, reminds us of the need to sustain and further cultivate subscribers to our newsletter, podcast, YouTube channel, and other venues for direct messaging.

 This Fall, Matt Seybold, the CMTS scholar-in-residence, produced and released the 8th season of The American Vandal, a 16-episode exploration of the past, present, and potential futures of literary criticism titled “Criticism LTD.” The season features more than 50 voices from across the discipline of literary studies (and beyond) commenting on everything from New Criticism and High Theory to BookTubes and ChatGPT. It takes direct inspiration from Mark Twain’s critiques of Matthew Arnold and William Shakespeare. “Criticism LTD” catapulted The American Vandal onto the Apple Podcasts charts in 36 national markets across six continents, including briefly into the top 200 overall in the United States. According to ListenNotes and Spotify, The American Vandal is now among the top 5% most-shared and most-downloaded podcasts in the world. Moreover, the vast majority of podcast listeners bypass social media and internet search. According to Spotify, 82% of new listeners on that platform came to the podcast via links shared through email, text, or private-messaging service.

More important than any metric, however, is the podcast’s role in engaging a wide range of scholars who may not otherwise be aware of CMTS, nor self-identify as Twain scholars, but whose academic work is nonetheless stimulative for our core audience, and who may become contributors to Twain Studies, applicants for Quarry Farm Fellowships, and otherwise further fulfill CMTS’s core mission.

As of Fall 2023, CMTS and Elmira College agreed that The American Vandal will be independently owned and operated by Matt Seybold.  Going forward, The American Vandal will not be a part of CMTS in an official or legal capacity; however, CMTS will continue to promote and fund the podcast since it is a significant contributor to Mark Twain Studies and the Academic Humanities in general.

Notable Successes of 2023

  • Published 17 episodes of The American Vandal Podcast, mostly as part of the show’s eighth
  • season, “Criticism LTD,” during which the subscriber base increased by 144% according to Spotify. The podcast is now in the top 5% of podcasts globally.
  • Published of 24 lectures to CMTS’s YouTube Channel from 2023 events, including the 10th Quarry Farm Symposium “Mark Twain: Invention, Technology, and Science   Fiction;” The Spring and Fall Trouble Begins Lectures; and the Park Church Summer Lectures.  In October, one of our videos was included in The Syllabus’s “Best of Videos” curation. All of these have also been added to The Trouble Begins Archives.
  • Published five “Mark Twain Resource Pages.”  These resource pages have been written by Mark Twain scholars, often times experts in the particular field. These are meant to be reliable, efficient resources for teachers, students, enthusiasts, and the general public. They include a short overview of the subject with photographs and suggestions for further research.  Resource Pages included the following:
    • “Mark Twain’s Time in Hawai’i” by James E. Caron;
    • “The Innocents Abroad“: Mark Twain’s Seminal Narrative” by Jeffrey Melton
    • “The J.Langdon Coal Company” by Thomas Reigstad;
    • “Mark Twain’s Time in Buffalo” by Thomas Reigstad
    • “Olivia Langdon Clemens: A Life Summary” by Barbara E. Snedecor
  • Published an essay by Robert Lamb about Samuel Clemens’s friendship with John T. Lewis, supplemented by high-quality scans of Lewis’s letter, provided by the Houghton Library at Harvard University and the Bancroft Library at UC-Berkeley.
  • Reproduced Twain’s 1867 newspaper dispatches from Palestine in response to the 2023 Isreali-Palestinian conflict.
  • Created an archive of teaching materials related to Twain’s “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg.”

Notable Goals for 2024

  • Sponsor another season of The American Vandal, this one associated with the sesquicentennial anniversary of Twain’s The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today. This series will take that subtitle literally. It will address topics the novel shares with the contemporary culture and society – wealth inequality, political corruption, historically Black colleges and universities, legal procedurals, co-authorship, etc. – and also ask historians and historicists to defend the practice of comparing historical events and epochs.
  • Publish a digital edition of Samuel Langhorne Clemens: Some Reminiscences & Some Excerpts (1910), a self-published pamphlet by Clemens’s nephew, Jervis Langdon (the 2nd). This work is ideal for CMTS since it is rare, has potentially underappreciated utility for scholars, and also highlights Twain’s relationship to Elmira.
  • Mark the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the publication of Mark Twain’s “A True Story, Repeated Word For Word As I Heard It” in Atlantic Monthly. The story was written during the Summer of 1874 and published in the Fall. While we have not finalized plans for how we will memorialize this event, a centerpiece of Twain’s relationship to Elmira, it will definitely involve both in-person and digital programming.
  • Perform a minor, but substantive revision to the layout of MTS.org. The function and form of the website has changed markedly since our last redesign in 2019. While we aren’t quite ready to dedicate resources to a full redesign, we would like to better foreground some of the materials which have become central to our digital programming in recent years, especially digital editions, resource pages, the podcast, and the YouTube channel.

A3. Enhance and sustain services for the local and regional community

Steve Webb (left) leading a Quarry Farm field trip

At the center of CMTS’ service to the local and regional community is the Mark Twain Study Ambassador Program.  From Memorial Day to Labor Day, docents lead tours of the Mark Twain Study and Exhibit, both located in the heart of the Elmira College campus.  These guided tours focus on the history and legacy of Mark Twain in Elmira and the importance of the Langdon family.  The tours are open to the general public at no cost.  Thousands of visitors come to the Mark Twain Study and Exhibit every year, creating an important focus of tourism for city of Elmira and the entire Southern Tier of New York.

Additionally, CMTS facilitates the spring and fall “Trouble Begins” lecture series, the “Park Church Summer Lectures” series, resulting in ten to twelve high-quality talks from both emerging and established Mark Twain Studies scholars to the general public for free.  CMTS also helps organize and fund the Chemung County Historical Society’s Mark Twain lecture series, often times filled with Quarry Farm residents. Furthermore, CMTS hosts local field trips for students as they delve into the work of one of America’s greatest literary figures at no cost to the schools.  Other highlights of local regional service include the Mark Twain Summer Teachers Institute, a two-day workshop for local teachers interested in bringing Mark Twain Studies more effectively into their classroom, and the Mark Twain Literary Project, a partnership with WENY-TV, a local television station, which provides students and teachers free books written by Mark Twain for use in the classroom. 

Notable Successes of 2023

  • Held 11 lectures as part of the 2023 Spring and Fall Trouble Begins and Summer Park Church lecture series.  All lectures are open to the public at no charge.
  • Facilitated an online Mark Twain Summer Teachers Institute focusing on Twain’s “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg,” first published in 1899.  The workshop was video recorded and archived on MTS.org and YouTube.  Furthermore, a number of resources were included and created to supplement the text.
  • Collaborated with the Community Arts of Elmira in the “Clemens and the Pen” Program.
  • Collaborated with ARTS of the Southern Finger Lakes in the “Progressive Prose and Poetry Tour” Event.
  • Resumed field trips for local schools to the Mark Twain Study and Quarry Farm.

Notable Goals for 2024

  • Update the interior of the Mark Twain Study and the Exhibit in preparation for the 2024 sesquicentennial anniversary of the Mark Twain Study.
  • Assist the Chemung County Historical Society with the creation of a temporary exhibit focusing on the Langdon Mansion.  The exhibit will feature furniture and paintings     currently residing at Quarry Farm.
  • Supply original paintings by George Waters, currently located at Quarry Farm, for an exhibition at the Arnot Art Museum (Elmira, NY)

A4. Enhance and sustain services for the Elmira College community

CMTS is dedicated to teaching Elmira College students about the legacy of Mark Twain and the Langdon family and their relationship to the city of Elmira and Elmira College.  As a result, CMTS has created a number of successful programs that interact with the Elmira College community in a number of meaningful, educational ways by sponsoring annual writing and creative art contests, hosting visiting scholars to speak to students in the EC Honors program, and creating opportunities to engage with the student body as the occasions arise. 

Notable Successes of 2023

  • Continuation of the annual “Portraying Mark Twain Art Contest.” Each student was awarded a monetary prize ranging from $75-$250.
  • Hosted a very well-attended Elmira College Mountain Day hike to Quarry Farm.
  • Elmira College students participating in painting art classes created plein air works of the Quarry Farm landscape.
  • Elmira College Students in the Honors Program and History Program were given a guided tour of Quarry Farm.
  • CMTS created and facilitated an event for Elmira College Alumni Weekend.  David Bianculli, a nationally-respected television critic and Mark Twain scholar, was featured in a conversation with Joseph Lemak and Matt Seybold.  Elmira College alumni were invited to attend.

Notable Goals for 2024

  • Assist students in the “Museum Studies” class in updating images in the Mark Twain Study and display cases in the Quarry Farm Barn.
  • Employ an Elmira College art major to create all public-facing publications, including brochures, postcards, and programs.
  • Explore the possibility of incorporating the Elmira College Education Department into Quarry Farm field trips and the Mark Twain Summer Teachers Institute.
  • Continue service to Elmira College, namely its employment of student workers, creative arts and writing contests, and support of the EC Honors program.

B. Preserve the historical infrastructure of Quarry Farm, the Study, the Exhibit, and the Mark Twain Archive

Due to the historic importance of Quarry Farm and the Mark Twain Study as National Historic Landmarks, it is essential that CMTS take a proactive approach to their preservation and maintenance.  The strategic planning decision making process is ideal for helping CMTS allocate funds, calculate the costs of upcoming projects, and proactively anticipate needs.

In addition to typical annual preservation, maintenance, repairs, nationally respected preservation architects and engineers, Elise Johnson-Schmidt (Johnson-Schmidt & Associates, Corning, NY), Michael C. Henry (Watson & Henry Associates, Bridgeton, NJ and University of Pennsylvania), and Wendy Jessup (Wendy Jessup & Associates, Arlington, VA), have established that fire suppression and drainage/humidity control are vital to the long-term preservation of the main house at Quarry Farm and the building’s collections, with fire suppression as the most urgent priority.

CMTS’s other important historic structure, the Mark Twain Study, is approaching its sesquicentennial anniversary in 2024.  The landmark anniversary of one of the most important and iconic structures in American literature will be an important event for CMTS, Elmira College, the city of Elmira, and the surrounding region. It is imperative that the structure be in top form as it is recognized and celebrated.

Notable Successes of 2023

Quarry Farm
  • Obtained a cultural landscape report for Quarry Farm from Martha Lyon, Landscape Architecture, LLC.  Sections of the report can be found on the CMTS website.
  • Purchased an electrical generator.  This action is part of the Quarry Farm fire suppression project.  This was funded by the Quarry Farm Foundation.
  • Installed new gutters and downspouts for Quarry Farm. This action is part of the Quarry Farm drainage project.  This was funded by the Quarry Farm Foundation.
  • Regraded and reinstalled the groundwater drainage system surrounding the main house at Quarry Farm. This action is part of the Quarry Farm drainage project.  This was funded by the Quarry Farm Foundation.
  • Removed old wallpaper in the Mark Twain Bedroom and install a historically similar wallpaper in relation to the time when Mark Twain occupied the room.
  • Restored all windows in the Mark Twain Study.  Steve Jordan, historic window restoration expert, was employed to complete this project.

Notable Goals for 2024

  • Install a fire suppression system, early fire/smoke warning system, and alarm system in the main house of Quarry Farm.  This action is part of the of the Quarry Farm fire suppression project.  This will be funded by the Quarry Farm Foundation.
  • Restore floors in Caretaker’s Apartment
  • Obtain a microscopy paint analysis of the Mark Twain Study.

C. Improve the Quarry Farm experience for all residents

At the heart of CMTS’ mission is the Quarry Farm Fellowship Program.  When the Langdon family bequeathed Quarry Farm to Elmira College, the Langdons insisted on restrictions dependent on the gift that Quarry Farm would only be used as a retreat for scholars and writers working in Mark Twain Studies and other related fields.  Because of their far-seeing vision, Quarry Farm is not a historic home open to the general public, but a cultural humanities site singularly dedicated to the promotion and support of Mark Twain Studies scholars.  In order to better fulfill its mission and stay true to its long-term vision of becoming one of the best academic centers in the county, Quarry Farm must be a productive and comfortable workspace for scholars and writers, without compromising its historic integrity.  It is essential that CMTS constantly strive to improve the scholarly work amenities, both direct (primary and secondary source materials, lights, desks, chairs, computers) and indirect (kitchen and sleeping amenities). 

In 2023, CMTS created a satisfaction survey for Quarry Farm residents.  This assessment tool will be administered every year, offering a longitudinal perspective.  Data and suggestions from the scholars will be implemented into the CMTS strategic plan going forward.  Overall, the response from residents at Quarry Farm was overwhelmingly positive.  Feedback from the survey will be implemented into the strategic plan.  Results from the 2023 Quarry Farm Residency Satisfaction Survey can be found in the appendices.

Notable Successes of 2023

  • Created a satisfaction survey for Quarry Farm residents.  This assessment tool will be administered every year, offering a longitudinal perspective in time.
  • Acquired a queen-sized bed and associated bedding for the Mark Twain bedroom.
  • Acquired a new stove for the Quarry Farm kitchen.
  • Acquired an Apple MacBook Pro laptop for the use of scholars.

Notable Goals for 2023

  • Create a better workspace in the second-floor south porch.
  • Stage the Susan Crane bedroom and Mark Twain bedroom in an effort to make the rooms more visually appealing.
  • Modify the “Quarry Farm Arrival” email based on suggestions from the 2023 “Quarry Farm Satisfaction Survey.”
  • Investigate the installation of a washer and dryer for resident’s use.
  • Acquire a new printer for resident’s use.

D. Enhance and sustain the services and materials offered by the Mark Twain Archive to the academic community

The Mark Twain Archive, located in the Gannett-Tripp Library on the Elmira College campus, is dedicated to supporting scholarship and pedagogy related to Mark Twain.  The Mark Twain Archive serves as a repository of primary and secondary source materials related to Mark Twain and Mark Twain scholarship with particular focus on Mark Twain’s association with Elmira and his Elmira circle of family and friends.  The Mark Twain Archive collects, appraises, organizes, describes, preserves its holdings, makes its records available to advance scholarship in the field of Mark Twain Studies, and provides research support and instructional services to the Mark Twain Studies community.

Notable Successes of 2023

  • Created and filled the CMTS position “Collections Manager” for Quarry Farm and the Mark Twain Archive.
  • Inventoried the book collection in the Mark Twain Archive.
  • Inventoried the book collection at Quarry Farm.

Notable Goals of 2024

  • Explore possible grants to digitize the Mark Twain Archive collection.
19th century chair in the Library at Quarry Farm, originally located in the Langdon Mansion and rumored to be one of Twain’s favorite smoking places

 E. Increase financial sustainability to support CMTS’ mission and strategic goals

Due to generous support from the Mark Twain Foundation and individual donations from private supporters, CTMS is able to offer high quality services to all of its constituencies.  CMTS is honored to state that the Mark Twain Foundation has been the largest and most consistent source of income for CMTS. However, with major projects looming, such as large-scale Quarry Farm preservation projects and continued improvements to MarkTwainStudies.org, while still preserving the Quarry Farm Fellowships and all the other customary annual programming (lectures, field trips, symposia, workshop for teachers, et cetera), CMTS will have to inspire its donation base and aggressively seek out and apply for historic preservation and digital humanities grants.  CMTS will need to continue its most helpful relationship with the Mark Twain Foundation and individual donors, while at the same time it aggressively seeks grants associated with historic building preservation and digital humanities.

In 2022 a collection of individuals saw the need to organize and institute a major fundraising campaign for Quarry Farm and CMTS.  As a result, last year witnessed the formation of The Quarry Farm Foundation, Inc., a duly registered and approved 501(c)(3) charitable organization recognized by the Internal Revenue Service and the New York State Charities Bureau.  Board members include representatives of the Langdon family, prominent Elmira businesspeople, delegates from the Chemung County Historical Society, and senior administrators of Elmira College.  CMTS has been designated the operating arm of the Quarry Farm Foundation. The stated purpose of the Quarry Farm Foundation is to restore and renew all the operating systems at Quarry Farm and to create an endowment that will make Quarry Farm largely self-sufficient and provide a significant additional funding source for CMTS.

Since its creation in 2022 the Quarry Farm Foundation has raised more than $650,000, most of it from the Elmira-Corning regional community.  More than half of these funds have been spent and/or allocated for preservation projects in 2023 and Winter 2024, namely the modernization and reconfiguration of the drainage system and the installation of a mist fire suppression system and modern fire detection/alarm system.

Notable Successes of 2023

  • Assisted the Quarry Farm Foundation in raising over $650,000 since 2022.
  • Assisted the Quarry Farm Foundation in creating its own website for promoting the national/local campaign and for accepting online donations.
  • Assisted the Quarry Farm Foundation in creating a fundraising video, narrated by nationally-respected author and Mark Twain Studies scholar, Ron Powers.
  • Acquired funds from a tourism grant sponsored by the city of Elmira.  These funds were used for the restoration of the Mark Twain Study windows.
  • Began formally tracking the number of donors and the average donation gift on an annual basis.

Notable Goals of 2024

  • Support the Quarry Farm Foundation’s local campaign.
  • Support the Quarry Farm Foundation’s national campaign.
  • Create a “donor appreciation” plaque for Quarry Farm.
  • Entreat the National Register of Historic Places to change its designation from “local significance” to “national significance,” allowing CMTS to pursue larger grants. 

A hardcopy of the “Elmira College Center for Mark Twain Studies Strategic Plan” can be obtained by sending a request to Dr. Joseph Lemak ([email protected])

Mark Twain’s grave at Woodlawn Cemetery, Elmira, New York