The red brick, Victorian Gothic-style administrative building at the center of Oxford College is one of Emory's oldest and most recognizable landmarks. Known as Seney Hall, it was built in 1881 and opened in 1884, named after benefactor George I. Seney, a New York City banker, Methodist layman, and philanthropist who gave money to Oxford without ever having set foot on campus.

Inside the building’s soaring clock tower that serves as a key campus landmark resides a bell that rings out the time on the hour and once every half hour. Cast in 1796, the bell was brought to Oxford in 1855 by Alexander Means, the fourth president of Emory College. It was hung in Oxford’s original administration building, Old Main, until that building was torn down in 1872. Afterward it was hung from a tree on the Quad while Seney Hall was being completed. Made of copper and tin — and weighing in at about 500 pounds — the bell features a cross on one side and a figure of the Virgin Mary with her hands folded in prayer on the other.

In addition to the graffiti that students have added to the bell over the decades, it features numerous etched inscriptions in Latin and Spanish on it, including a short poem: May my voice loud and clear/With sweet melody/Praise God and worship Him. The bell’s daily ringing remains today an unforgettable part of the Oxford experience for students and faculty alike.

The clock tower at Seney Hall, which was started in 1881 and opened in 1884, serves as a central landmark for Oxford College.

A wooden ladder leads up to the clock tower's bell and clock mechanism.

The bell, which was constructed of copper and tin in 1792, weighs 500 pounds and still rings the time on the hour and once every half hour. At Commencement, the bell is set to ring once for every Oxford graduate after the ceremony is complete. Adds Lyn Pace, Oxford chaplain: “The bell is again rung for every alum once more at the end of their life in our alumni memorial service each year.”

Student graffiti adorns the inside of the clock tower and on the bell itself, some of it dating all the way back to 1884.

The clock was electrified about 40 years ago; previously it was operated by a mechanism using weights that descended through the building. 

The clock mechanism keeps perfect time and never has to be adjusted unless Oxford College suffers a power outage, says James Gourley, the clock’s keeper. “All we do is oil the mechanism to keep things from sticking,” he says. “Sometimes we have to tighten up the bolts that connect the moving parts.”

Located deep in the Psychology and Interdisciplinary Sciences Building on Emory’s Atlanta campus resides the Lindo Ancient DNA Laboratory. Led by John Lindo, assistant professor of anthropology, the lab is one of only a handful of its kind in the United States that investigates the mysteries of human life dating back thousands of years.

Scientists from around the world send ancient remains to the facility where Emory faculty and graduate student researchers collect and prepare bone powder samples for DNA sequencing. This sequencing provides clues about the impact population dynamics and environmental factors have had on early human life.

While past research in the field has centered primarily on people with European ancestry, the Lindo lab also specializes in researching DNA from ancient Indigenous populations of the Americas. In addition, the lab studies ancient dog bones — that is, bones from (not for!) canines up to 10,000 years old — with Emory researchers tracing their evolution from wolves into domesticated animals and shining a light on their relationships with humans.

To handle such detailed, complex work, the large, 860-square-foot facility — which opened in January 2020 and whose work is supported by grants from National Geographic Explorer and the National Science Foundation — boasts state-of-the-art equipment and technology, including sealed metal walls, a high-tech ventilation system, and disinfecting ultraviolet lights to ensure an uncontaminated environment.

In an anteroom, separated from the lab space by an air lock, researchers must change out of their clothes, pull on scrubs and don full personal protective equipment (PPE) that includes two pairs of disposable gloves, full-body Tyvek suits (which are replaced every month), head covers, masks, arm sleeves, and goggles. Pictured here suiting up to go into the lab is Emory PhD student Yemko Pryor.

This is the mandible of a domesticated dog from the Copper Age, which lasted from approximately 7,000 to 5,000 years ago. Descended from gray wolves, these dogs and their lives are intertwined with human evolution, says Sophie Joseph, a third-year PhD student in anthropology.

The Lindo Ancient DNA Lab's graduate student researchers are trained in the complex steps of DNA extraction and analysis, starting with the collection of a small amount of bone powder—at least 0.1 grams and similar to a dash of salt—using a small dental drill. A hood is used because the fine powder can be quickly aerosolized, Joseph says. This powder is collected into a small plastic tube and mixed with a chemical solution to dissolve the bone powder to isolate the DNA. The DNA is retrieved and then must then be purified and prepared before it is sent off for whole genome sequencing.

There wasn’t supposed to be a sculpture at the roundabout that sits at the southwestern entrance to Emory University. But during the 2011 construction of a new streetscape in Emory Village, workers unearthed century-old trolley rails underneath North Oxford Road. The trolley used to run from downtown Atlanta all the way out to campus, and when the rails were removed they were buried in a deep hole.

Designers for the Emory Village Alliance were intrigued by the unexpected treasure they found and turned to Charles Calhoun, owner of Calhoun Design & Metalworks, to see if he could find artistic use for them. He was asked to turn the rusting hulks of steel — a dozen or so pitted tracks between twelve and twenty feet in length with most of them twisted and kinked — into a sculpture that rises up from a showcase fountain.

Calhoun caught sight of a single track that was gracefully curved on one end and soon came up with a stunning design. He had the rails blasted and painted to match the color of the stone used for the entry gate to the university just 100 yards away. Today, the 2,000-pound artwork fabricated by Calhoun soars over the fountain and roundabout, welcoming many visitors to Emory.

Artist Charles Calhoun oversees the installation of the Trolley Rails Sculpture at the Emory Village roundabout near the main entrance to Emory.

The unearthed rails were selected for their unique shape and then blasted and painted to match the university's distinct stone entry gate.

The sculpture is part of a small park, complete with a fountain, brick pathways, and a small seating area.