On April 14, 1921, Albert Einstein gave a lecture in the Great Hall following a series of lectures in Baskerville Hall during his first visit to the United States. Einstein is seen here under the umbrella held by City College President Sidney E. Mezes, Rheinhard A. Wetzel is to their left, and on the far left is Morris Cohen. Cohen wrote a summary of Einstein’s comments for The Campus (“A Review of the Einstein Lectures at City College,” 29 April 1921). A lifetime friendship between Cohen and Einstein developed from this first meeting. CCNY Archives    (larger image)

"Small groups or communities may be far more oppressive to the individual than larger ones. Men are in many ways freer in large cities than in small villages."

Morris Raphael Cohen