Twain's Moment: Mark Twain’s enduring connection to Elmira continues

This story was first featured in the 2025 edition of Campus Magazine. Click here to see more!

From lectures to landmarks, Elmira College continues to bring Twain’s world to life.

As one of America’s most famous authors, Mark Twain, the popular pen name used by Samuel Clemens, remains a fixture in our American story. Part of this story took place in Elmira,
where Twain met his wife, Olivia “Livy” Langdon Clemens, who was an EC alumna. Twain, Livy, and their children visited with Livy’s family at her sister’s home, Quarry Farm. It was
during those visits, as Twain overlooked the Chemung Valley, that he wrote many of his most famous works.

“Some of the Langdons’ descendants had close connections with Elmira College, and it is because of them that Quarry Farm and the Mark Twain Study came into EC’s care,” explained Dr. Joseph Lemak, Director of the Elmira College Center for Mark Twain Studies (CMTS). “Their foresight endowed Quarry Farm as a place for scholarly work to continue. A place to investigate Twain’s works and uncover new ways of thinking about his impact and legacy.”

Recently, Twain’s Elmira connections drew increased national attention, thanks to two well known Twain aficionados. Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Ron Chernow recently launched his latest book, “Mark Twain.” Chernow wrapped up his Mark Twain book tour in the College’s Gibson Theatre.

Attendees, including students, faculty, alumni, and community members, packed Gibson Theatre to hear Chernow describe how the Langdons influenced Twain, particularly Livy. According to Chernow, Twain relied on Livy to improve his manners and make him fit for “polite society.”

A week after Chernow’s visit, Emmy-winning actor Richard Thomas, known for his role as “John-Boy” on “The Waltons,” performed “Mark Twain Tonight!” at the Clemens Center.

While here, Thomas made certain to tour Quarry Farm and Twain’s famous octagonal study, excited to stand in Twain’s footsteps and absorb the history and character of the historical landmarks.

Chernow and Thomas are among the better-known names attracted to the area because of its significance to Twain, but CMTS continually hosts academics to study and speak on all things Twain-related.

Among the biggest of those events is the upcoming 2026 quadrennial conference, which draws more than a hundred Twain scholars from around the world to the region.

“This event signifies a level of prestige for CMTS among Twain scholars,” remarked Lemak. “While here, attendees get to live where Twain lived, be in the spaces he frequented, and really get a sense of the effect the summers he spent here had on him as a writer.”

But while CMTS fosters academic pursuits, it isn’t the only focus. CMTS is also helping to spotlight the many Twain landmarks in Elmira, facilitating a new way to tour the region.

CMTS, with support from a Chemung County Room Tax grant, will use EC’s recently launched interactive map as a platform for a new virtual tour of Twain sites located throughout the City of Elmira. Whether a “Twainiac” is visiting in person or viewing from afar, they’ll easily navigate among the local Twain attractions. The virtual map will include photos, video, and historical information.

Part of the grant money went to new signage to guide foot traffic for those making an in-person trek, particularly The Mark Twain Exhibit. It was recently moved from Cowles Hall to the second floor of the Gannett-Tripp Library. Other tour stops on EC’s campus include The Mark Twain Study and statues of Twain and Livy, while off-campus sites will include the Langdon and Clemens burial sites at Woodlawn Cemetery and the Chemung Valley History Museum.

“Mark Twain never went away. And just like poets and authors such as Homer and William Shakespeare, Mark Twain will be read 200, 300, 500 years from now,” said Lemak. “He’s a great author who will simply stand the test of time.”