Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
University Hall is best known as the backdrop
of the:
6
John Harvard Statue
This is one of the most photographed
objects in the Boston area. Daniel
Chester French designed it in 1884.
Walk around University Hall into the
adjoining quad. This is still the Yard, but
it's the
“New Yard,”
sometimes called
Tercentenary Theater
because the col-
lege's 300th-anniversary celebration was
held here in 1936. Commencement and
other university-wide ceremonies take
place here.
On your right is:
7
Widener Library
The centerpiece of the world's largest uni-
versity library system was built in 1913 as
a memorial to Harry Elkins Widener,
Harvard class of 1907. Legend has it that
he died when the
Titanic
sank in 1912
because he was unable to swim 50 yards
to a lifeboat, and his mother donated $2
million for the library on the condition
that every undergraduate prove his ability
to swim 50 yards. Today the library holds
more than 3 million volumes, including
3,500 rare volumes collected by Harry
Elkins Widener, on 50 miles of shelves.
Don't even think about swiping Harry's
Gutenberg Bible. The last person to try,
in 1969, gained access from above but
couldn't climb out. With the 70-pound
Bible in his knapsack, he fell six stories to
the courtyard below.
Horace Trumbauer of Philadelphia
designed the library. His primary design
assistant was Julian Francis Abele, a stu-
dent of architecture at the University of
Pennsylvania and the first black graduate
of L'Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. The
lobby—which sits within view of the
locked memorial room that holds
Widener's collection—is not open to the
public, but you may be able to talk your
way in if you're affiliated (student or
staff ) with another university; visit the
office to the left of the main entrance. If
you're not allowed to take a peek, pause at
the top of the outside staircase and enjoy
the view.
Facing the library is:
8
Memorial Church
Built in 1931, the church is topped with
a tower and weather vane 197-feet tall.
You're welcome to look around this Geor-
gian revival-style edifice unless services
are going on, or to attend them if they
are. Morning prayers run daily from 8:45
to 9am, and the Sunday service is at
11am. Weddings and funerals also take
place here. The entrance is on the left.
Inside, on the south wall (toward the
Yard), panels bear the names of Harvard
alumni who died in the world wars,
Korea, and Vietnam. One is Joseph P.
Kennedy, Jr., the president's brother, class
of 1938.
Facing Widener Library with Memorial Church
behind you, turn left toward:
9
Sever Hall
H. H. Richardson, architect of Boston's
Trinity Church, designed this classroom
Nothing But the Truth
The likeness of
John Harvard
outside University Hall is known as the “Statue of
Three Lies” because the inscription reads “John Harvard/Founder/1638.” In fact,
the college was founded in 1636; Harvard (one of many benefactors) didn't
establish it, but donated money and his library; and this isn't John Harvard any-
way. No portraits of him survive, so the model for this benevolent-looking
bronze gentleman was, according to various accounts, either his nephew or a
student.
Fun Fact
