Memorial Hall (Harvard University): Difference between revisions

	Memorial Hall, Harvard University
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	U.S. National Historic Landmark
	View from southwest showing Annenberg Hall (foreground) and Memorial Transept (right). Sanders Theatre is out of view beyond Memorial Transept.
Location	Cambridge, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°22′33.2″N 71°6′53.7″W / 42.375889°N 71.114917°W
Built	1870–1877
Architect	William Robert Ware,; Henry Van Brunt
Architectural style	Neo-Gothic
NRHP reference No.	70000685

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Memorial Hall, immediately north of Harvard Yard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is an imposing^[2]^[3]^[4] High Victorian Gothic building honoring Harvard men's sacrifices in defense of the Union during the American Civil War‍—‌"a symbol of Boston's commitment to the Unionist cause and the abolitionist movement in America."^[5]

Built on a former playing field known as the Delta, it was described by Henry James as consisting of

three main divisions: one of them a theater, for academic ceremonies; another a vast refectory, covered with a timbered roof, hung about with portraits and lighted by stained windows, like the halls of the colleges of Oxford; and the third, the most interesting, a chamber high, dim and severe, consecrated to the sons of the university who fell in the long Civil War.^[6]

James's "three divisions" are known today as (respectively) Sanders Theatre; Annenberg Hall (formerly Alumni Hall or the Great Hall); and Memorial Transept. Beneath Annenberg Hall, Loker Commons offers a number of student facilities.

Conception and construction

Memorial Hall is, in the opinion of the President and Fellows, the most valuable gift the University has ever received, with respect alike to cost, daily usefulness, and moral significance.

— President's Report for 1877–78 ^[7]

This happy commemorative creation of the Union ... the great bristling brick Valhalla of the early "seventies," that house of honor and of hospitality which [dispenses] laurels to the dead and dinners to the living.

— Henry James (1905) ^[8]

A huge Victorian Gothic barn.

— Life (1941) ^[9]

Between 1865 and 1868 an alumni "Committee of Fifty" raised $370,000 (equal to one-twelfth of Harvard's endowment at the time) toward a new building in memory of Harvard men who had fought for the Union in the American Civil War,^[10] particularly the 136 dead^[11]‍—‌a "Hall of Alumni in which students and graduates might be inspired by the pictured and sculpted presence of her founders, benefactors, faculty, presidents, and most distinguished sons." When, about the same time,^[10] a $40,000 bequest was received from Charles Sanders (class of 1802) for "a hall or theatre to be used on [any] public occasion connected with the College, whether literary or festive", a vision was formed of a single building containing a large theater as well as a large open hall, thus meeting both goals.^[10]

A site was found on the "Delta", the triangle bounded by Cambridge, Kirkland, and Quincy Streets.^[A] The project was formally named Memorial Hall in September 1870, and on October 6 the cornerstone was laid.^[12] Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. composed a hymn for the occasion.^[B]

In May 1878 the Committee of Fifty notified the President and Fellows that the project was complete and the premises ready for formal transfer to the university. On July 8 the President and Fellows unanimously voted to "accept with profound gratitude this splendid and precious gift."^[7]

Architecture and facilities

The building's High Victorian Gothic design, by alumni William Robert Ware and Henry Van Brunt, was selected in a blind competition. A 1907 publication gives dimensions of 305 by 113 feet, with a height of 190 feet at the tower;^[12] a 2012 source gave a height of 195 feet, making it Cambridge's ninth-tallest building at that time.^[15] Its 1970 National Historic Landmark designation recognized it one of the nation's most dramatic examples of High Victorian Gothic architecture.^[16]

A general restoration was carried out between 1987 and 1996.^[17]^[18]

Annenberg Hall

What was originally known as Alumni Hall^{[citation needed]}‍—‌nine thousand square feet shaped by massive wooden trusses, walnut paneling, and a blue, stenciled ceiling‍—‌was dedicated in 1874.

Originally intended for formal occasions such as alumni dinners, it was almost immediately converted to a dining commons, and was for 50 years the college's main dining hall (charging, in 1884, $3.97 for a month's meals).^[19] In 1893 the Harvard Graduates Magazine described "the throngs of men who, at one o'clock, are to be seen racing across the yard from Harvard, Boylston, and Sever [Halls], striving to reach [Memorial] Hall ahead of slower competitors for vacant seats at the overtaxed tables".^[20] But "as the center of University life moved south toward the Charles, [the dining commons] became less popular and closed in 1925", ^[21] after which Alumni Hall saw mostly light use, typically as a venue for dances, banquets, examinations, and the like. In 1934 The New York Times reported that Harvard officials had "at last found a use for Memorial Hall" by siting a rifle range in the basement.^[22]

During World War II, the Crimson reported^[21] that "the Great Hall" was being used "in winter-time for the 6 o'clock in the morning calisthenics of the [military] Chaplain's School" (though without explaining why Harvard Divinity students had been singled out for this treatment) and intimated that Stevens Laboratory, in the basement, "is doing secret work in acoustics."

After extensive renovations, in 1996 the space was renamed Annenberg Hall and supplanted, as the freshmen dining hall, the Harvard Union, which had performed that function during most of the intervening time.^[18]

Memorial Transept

One of twenty-eight marble tablets honoring Harvard's Union dead. This one lists Robert Gould Shaw, Class of 1860.

The Memorial Transept [2,600 square feet (240 m²)] consists of a 60-foot-high (18 m) gothic vault above a marble floor, with black walnut paneling and stenciled walls, a large stained glass window over each of two exterior doors, and‍—‌commemorating the 136 Harvard men who died fighting for the Union‍—‌28 white tablets,

tablets to one after another of the many who thus died‍—‌a thrilling list. One sees such old New England names as Peabody, Wadsworth, and Bowditch; one sees the name of Fletcher Webster; one sees that an Edward Revere died at Antietam and a Paul Revere at Gettysburg.^[23]

Confederate deaths are not represented.

Memorial Transept serves as a vestibule for Sanders Theatre.

Sanders Theatre

Sanders Theatre (substantially completed in 1875, but first used for Harvard's 1876 commencement)^[10] was inspired by Christopher Wren's Sheldonian Theatre. Renowned for its acoustics, and one of Harvard's largest classrooms,^{[clarification needed]} Sanders Theatre (capacity 1,000) is in great demand for lectures, concerts, ceremonies and conferences. Winston Churchill, Theodore Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mikhail Gorbachev have spoken there.

Sanders features John La Farge's stained-glass window Athena Tying a Mourning Fillet; statues of James Otis (by Thomas Crawford) and Josiah Quincy III (by William Wetmore Story) flank the stage. The exterior gables display busts of great orators: Demosthenes, Cicero, John Chrysostom, Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, Edmund Burke, and Daniel Webster.^[26]

Sanders Theatre contributed in an unusual way to the early work of Wallace Sabine, considered the founder of architectural acoustics. In 1895, tasked with improving the dismal acoustical performance of the Fogg Museum's lecture hall, Sabine carried out a series of nocturnal experiments there, using hundreds of seat cushions borrowed from nearby Sanders as sound-absorbent material; his work each night was limited by the requirement that the cushions be returned to Sanders in time for morning lectures there. The scientific unit of sound absorption, the sabin, is very close to the absorption provided by one Sanders Theatre cushion.^[27]

Loker Commons

Beneath Annenberg Hall, Loker Commons offers a student pub, music practice spaces, and other facilities.

Fenestration

Twenty-two stained-glass windows, installed between 1879 and 1902, include several by John La Farge, Louis Comfort Tiffany Studios, Donald MacDonald, Sarah Wyman Whitman,^[28] and Charles Mills.^[29]

Tower and clock

The central tower was nearly completeby 1876, but criticism convinced Van Brunt and Ware to revise it in 1877. In 1897^[30] was added what a 1905 guidebook described as "an enormous [four-faced clock which] detonates the hours in a manner which is by no means conducive to the sleep of the just and the rest of the weary",^[31] and which Kenneth John Conant termed "railroad Gothic".^[32]

In 1932 the clock's driving works and the associated 155-pound (70 kg) bell-clapper, were somehow lowered 115 feet (35 m) to the ground without attracting attention; visiting Yale students were suspected^[33]^[34] but the clapper was never found. Three years later the disappearance of the replacement clapper, under similar circumstances, was rumored to be Yale's revenge for the theft of its mascot, Handsome Dan.^[35]^[36]^[37]

The 1897 tower was destroyed by fire in 1956 and rebuilt, to its 1877–1897 appearance, in 1996.^[30]

Original backdrop to John Harvard statue

The John Harvard statue was originally (1884) installed before Memorial Hall's west façade, but in 1924 it was moved to its current location on the west side of University Hall.

Notes

^ "During the nineteenth century, Kirkland street went by the name of 'Professors' Row' ... On the south side of the street was the college playground, the 'Delta,' so called from its shape being that of the Greek letter, bounded by Kirkland, Cambridge and Quincy streets. Here the football games took place."^[12] To take over the Delta's prior role, Jarvis Field was purchased‍—‌about five acres, or 2 ha, bounded by Massachusetts Avenue, Oxford Street, Everett Street, and now-defunct Jarvis Street;^[13] it is now the site of Harvard Law School.^[10] In 1874, Harvard played McGill there in the first rugby-style football game played in the United States.^[14]

In the 1960s Kirkland Street was truncated in conjunction with construction of the Science Center, so that the Delta no longer exists as an isolated city block.^{[citation needed]}
^ Holmes' hymn:

Not with the anguish of hearts that are breaking / Come we as mourners to weep for our dead;
Grief in our breasts has grown weary with aching, / Green is the turf where our tears we have shed.
While o'er their marbles the mosses are creeping / Stealing each name and its record away.
Give their proud story to memory's keeping, / Shrined in the temple we hallow today.

Hushed are their battlefields, ended their marches. / Deaf are their ears to the drumbeat of mourn--
Rise from the sod ye far columns and arches! / Tell their bright deeds to the ages unborn.

Emblem and legend may fade from the portal, / Keystone may crumble and portal may fall;
They were the builders whose work is immortal, / Crowned with the dome that is over us all.^[10]

References

^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
^ King, M. (1884). Harvard and Its Surroundings. Moses King. p. 41. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
^ American Architect and Architecture. Vol. 25. American Architect. 1889. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
^ The Dublin University Magazine: A Literary and Political Journal. Vol. 92. W. Curry, jun., and Company. 1878. p. 503. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
^ Shand-Tucci, D.; Cheek, R. (2001). Harvard University: An Architectural Tour. Princeton Architectural Press. p. 158. ISBN 9781568982809. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
^ Henry James (August 3, 1984). The Bostonians.
^ ^a ^b "Appendix II: Transfer of Memorial Hall", President's Report for 1877–78, Harvard University, pp. 145–147
^ Henry James; "New England: An Autumn Impression. – III", North American Review, vol. 180, no. 6; June, 1905; p. 808
^ "Harvard: America's Great University Now Leads the World", Life, vol. 10, no. 18; May 5, 1941; cover, and pp. 22, 95
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "History of Memorial Hall". Fas.harvard.edu. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
^ Harvard University (1949). "Memorial Hall". Education, bricks and mortar: Harvard buildings and their contribution to the advancement of learning. The University. p. 81. ISBN 9780674238855.
^ ^a ^b ^c Hannah Winthrop Chapter, D.A.R. (1907). Historic Guide to Cambridge (Second ed.). p. 163.
^ Thomas Coffin Amory (1871). Old Cambridge and New. James R. Osgood & Company. p. 16.
^ "No Christian End!" (PDF). The Journey to Camp: The Origins of American Football to 1889. Professional Football Researchers Association. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
^ "Cambridge's tallest buildings - Top 20". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on February 21, 2014. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
^ "NHL nomination for Memorial Hall, Harvard University". National Park Service. Retrieved February 27, 2015.
^ "December 2011 meeting notes | Boston Society of Architects". Architects.org. March 9, 2011. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
^ ^a ^b Office for the Arts at Harvard: Annenberg Hall; Aug. 15, 2011 http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~memhall/annenberg.html
^ "Fact and Rumor", Harvard Crimson, November 15, 1884.
^ "The University. The Progress of the Year", Harvard Graduates Magazine, vol. I, no. 3, p. 419, April 1893
^ ^a ^b Services Use Mem Hall for Cal, Drill, Classes, Movies: 70 Year Old Building Was College Center Harvard Crimson. August 24, 1943. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
^ "Harvard Memorial Hall Will House a Rifle Range". New York Times. February 19, 1934. p. 34.
^ ^a ^b Shackleton, Robert. The Book of Boston (1916), p. 235.
^ Fleming, Donald Harnish (1986). "Harvard's Golden Age?". Glimpses of the Harvard Past. Harvard University Press. p. 80. ISBN 978-0-674-35443-2. There is a gallery looking down into the dining space, and everybody agrees that if you are stuck with a friend or relative who wants to see the sights of Cambridge – that eternal and probably intractable problem, given the limited amount of time that can be devoted to glass flowers – the only thing to do is to treat him to a view of the animals feeding in Mem. Hall.
^ Seward, Josiah Lafayette (March 1884). "Early Harvard". The Bay State Monthly. Vol. 1, no. 3. J. W. Boott.
^ "Description of Exterior of Sanders Theatre from the Office for the Arts at Harvard". fas.harvard.edu. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
^ Smith, D.L. (2011). Environmental Issues for Architecture. Wiley. ISBN 9780470644355. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
^ Christopher Reed, War and Peace: A stained-glass window in Harvard's Memorial Hall Harvard Magazine, January–February 2010.
^ "Dedham Historical Society Hosts an Exhibition of Paintings by Charles Mills". The Dedham Times. Vol. 25, no. 28. July 14, 2017. p. 17.
^ ^a ^b "John Harvard's Journal. Restored". Harvard Magazine. March–April 1999.
^ Stearns, Frank Preston (1905). Cambridge Sketches. J. B. Lippincott. p. 39.
^ "The College Pump". Harvard Magazine. Vol. 98, no. 5. May–June 1996.
^ "Apted's Work in Codfish Tangle Brings Promotion". The Harvard Crimson. May 1, 1933.
^ "Harvard Bell Tongue Stolen From Tower; Some Blame Yale Men for 'Mem Hall' Theft". The New York Times. April 13, 1932. p. 40.
^ "Harvard Bell Silenced: Clapper Disappears While Yale Men Are at Cambridge". The New York Times. March 14, 1935. p. 21.
^ "Presenting the Wide World in Pictures. A Mystery in the Harvard Yard" (PDF). Rome Daily Sentinel. Rome, New York.
^ Teslik, Lee Hudson (March–April 2004). "The Undergraduate. The Prankster's Secret". The Harvard Magazine.

External links

Memorial Hall (Harvard University)
High Victorian Gothic photographs
Harvard: America's Great University Now Leads the World Life, vol. 10, no. 18 (May 5, 1941), cover, pp. 22, 89–99. Photo caption, p. 95: "In Memorial Hall, a huge Victorian Gothic barn dedicated to Harvard's Civil War dead, the college's Naval R.O.T.C. unit drills."
Names of Civil War Union dead listed on tablets in Memorial Transept

[15] "During the nineteenth century, Kirkland street went by the name of 'Professors' Row' ... On the south side of the street was the college playground, the 'Delta,' so called from its shape being that of the Greek letter, bounded by Kirkland, Cambridge and Quincy streets. Here the football games took place."^[12] To take over the Delta's prior role, Jarvis Field was purchased‍—‌about five acres, or 2 ha, bounded by Massachusetts Avenue, Oxford Street, Everett Street, and now-defunct Jarvis Street;^[13] it is now the site of Harvard Law School.^[10] In 1874, Harvard played McGill there in the first rugby-style football game played in the United States.^[14]

In the 1960s Kirkland Street was truncated in conjunction with construction of the Science Center, so that the Delta no longer exists as an isolated city block.^{[citation needed]}

[16] Holmes' hymn:

Not with the anguish of hearts that are breaking / Come we as mourners to weep for our dead;
Grief in our breasts has grown weary with aching, / Green is the turf where our tears we have shed.
While o'er their marbles the mosses are creeping / Stealing each name and its record away.
Give their proud story to memory's keeping, / Shrined in the temple we hallow today.

Hushed are their battlefields, ended their marches. / Deaf are their ears to the drumbeat of mourn--
Rise from the sod ye far columns and arches! / Tell their bright deeds to the ages unborn.

Emblem and legend may fade from the portal, / Keystone may crumble and portal may fall;
They were the builders whose work is immortal, / Crowned with the dome that is over us all.^[10]

[nris-1] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.

[google-2] King, M. (1884). Harvard and Its Surroundings. Moses King. p. 41. Retrieved January 29, 2017.

[google2-3] American Architect and Architecture. Vol. 25. American Architect. 1889. Retrieved January 29, 2017.

[google3-4] The Dublin University Magazine: A Literary and Political Journal. Vol. 92. W. Curry, jun., and Company. 1878. p. 503. Retrieved January 29, 2017.

[google4-5] Shand-Tucci, D.; Cheek, R. (2001). Harvard University: An Architectural Tour. Princeton Architectural Press. p. 158. ISBN 9781568982809. Retrieved January 29, 2017.

[6] Henry James (August 3, 1984). The Bostonians.

[PresReport-7] "Appendix II: Transfer of Memorial Hall", President's Report for 1877–78, Harvard University, pp. 145–147

[8] Henry James; "New England: An Autumn Impression. – III", North American Review, vol. 180, no. 6; June, 1905; p. 808

[9] "Harvard: America's Great University Now Leads the World", Life, vol. 10, no. 18; May 5, 1941; cover, and pp. 22, 95

[fas_concept-10] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "History of Memorial Hall". Fas.harvard.edu. Retrieved March 30, 2015.

[bricks-11] Harvard University (1949). "Memorial Hall". Education, bricks and mortar: Harvard buildings and their contribution to the advancement of learning. The University. p. 81. ISBN 9780674238855.

[DAR-12] Hannah Winthrop Chapter, D.A.R. (1907). Historic Guide to Cambridge (Second ed.). p. 163.

[Amory1871-13] Thomas Coffin Amory (1871). Old Cambridge and New. James R. Osgood & Company. p. 16.

[PFRA1-14] "No Christian End!" (PDF). The Journey to Camp: The Origins of American Football to 1889. Professional Football Researchers Association. Retrieved January 26, 2010.

[emporis-17] "Cambridge's tallest buildings - Top 20". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on February 21, 2014. Retrieved November 14, 2012.

[nhl-18] "NHL nomination for Memorial Hall, Harvard University". National Park Service. Retrieved February 27, 2015.

[19] "December 2011 meeting notes | Boston Society of Architects". Architects.org. March 9, 2011. Retrieved November 5, 2012.

[harvard1-20] Office for the Arts at Harvard: Annenberg Hall; Aug. 15, 2011 http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~memhall/annenberg.html

[21] "Fact and Rumor", Harvard Crimson, November 15, 1884.

[22] "The University. The Progress of the Year", Harvard Graduates Magazine, vol. I, no. 3, p. 419, April 1893

[Crimson1943-23] Services Use Mem Hall for Cal, Drill, Classes, Movies: 70 Year Old Building Was College Center Harvard Crimson. August 24, 1943. Retrieved 2012-11-10.

[24] "Harvard Memorial Hall Will House a Rifle Range". New York Times. February 19, 1934. p. 34.

[shackleton-25] Shackleton, Robert. The Book of Boston (1916), p. 235.

[26] Fleming, Donald Harnish (1986). "Harvard's Golden Age?". Glimpses of the Harvard Past. Harvard University Press. p. 80. ISBN 978-0-674-35443-2. There is a gallery looking down into the dining space, and everybody agrees that if you are stuck with a friend or relative who wants to see the sights of Cambridge – that eternal and probably intractable problem, given the limited amount of time that can be devoted to glass flowers – the only thing to do is to treat him to a view of the animals feeding in Mem. Hall.

[27] Seward, Josiah Lafayette (March 1884). "Early Harvard". The Bay State Monthly. Vol. 1, no. 3. J. W. Boott.

[harvard-28] "Description of Exterior of Sanders Theatre from the Office for the Arts at Harvard". fas.harvard.edu. Retrieved January 29, 2017.

[google5-29] Smith, D.L. (2011). Environmental Issues for Architecture. Wiley. ISBN 9780470644355. Retrieved January 29, 2017.

[30] Christopher Reed, War and Peace: A stained-glass window in Harvard's Memorial Hall Harvard Magazine, January–February 2010.

[Dedham-31] "Dedham Historical Society Hosts an Exhibition of Paintings by Charles Mills". The Dedham Times. Vol. 25, no. 28. July 14, 2017. p. 17.

[jhj-32] "John Harvard's Journal. Restored". Harvard Magazine. March–April 1999.

[33] Stearns, Frank Preston (1905). Cambridge Sketches. J. B. Lippincott. p. 39.

[34] "The College Pump". Harvard Magazine. Vol. 98, no. 5. May–June 1996.

[35] "Apted's Work in Codfish Tangle Brings Promotion". The Harvard Crimson. May 1, 1933.

[36] "Harvard Bell Tongue Stolen From Tower; Some Blame Yale Men for 'Mem Hall' Theft". The New York Times. April 13, 1932. p. 40.

[37] "Harvard Bell Silenced: Clapper Disappears While Yale Men Are at Cambridge". The New York Times. March 14, 1935. p. 21.

[38] "Presenting the Wide World in Pictures. A Mystery in the Harvard Yard" (PDF). Rome Daily Sentinel. Rome, New York.

[39] Teslik, Lee Hudson (March–April 2004). "The Undergraduate. The Prankster's Secret". The Harvard Magazine.

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@@ Line 50: / Line 50: @@
 }}
-Between 1865 and 1868 an alumni "Committee of Fifty" raised $370,000 (equal to one-twelfth of Harvard's entire endowment at the time) toward a new building in memory of Harvard men<!-- "men" not "graduates" since matriculated-but-not-graduated men were included e.g. Gould--> who had fought for the Union in the [[American Civil War]],<ref name="fas_concept">{{cite web|url=https://www.fas.harvard.edu/~memhall/history.html |title=History of Memorial Hall |work=Fas.harvard.edu |access-date=2015-03-30}}</ref> particularly the 136 dead{{refn|name=bricks|{{cite book|author=Harvard University|title=Education, bricks and mortar: Harvard buildings and their contribution to the advancement of learning|chapter=Memorial Hall|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aRI8AAAAIAAJ|year=1949|page=81|publisher=The University |isbn=9780674238855 }} }}{{mdashb}}a "Hall of Alumni in which students and graduates might be inspired by the pictured and sculpted presence of her founders, benefactors, faculty, presidents, and most distinguished sons."
+Between 1865 and 1868 an alumni "Committee of Fifty" raised $370,000 (equal to one-twelfth of Harvard's endowment at the time) toward a new building in memory of Harvard men<!-- "men" not "graduates" since matriculated-but-not-graduated men were included e.g. Gould--> who had fought for the Union in the [[American Civil War]],<ref name="fas_concept">{{cite web|url=https://www.fas.harvard.edu/~memhall/history.html |title=History of Memorial Hall |work=Fas.harvard.edu |access-date=2015-03-30}}</ref> particularly the 136 dead{{refn|name=bricks|{{cite book|author=Harvard University|title=Education, bricks and mortar: Harvard buildings and their contribution to the advancement of learning|chapter=Memorial Hall|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aRI8AAAAIAAJ|year=1949|page=81|publisher=The University |isbn=9780674238855 }} }}{{mdashb}}a "Hall of Alumni in which students and graduates might be inspired by the pictured and sculpted presence of her founders, benefactors, faculty, presidents, and most distinguished sons." When, about the same time,{{r|fas_concept}} a $40,000 bequest was received from Charles Sanders (class of 1802) for "a hall or theatre to be used on <!--Commencement days, Class days, Exhibition days, days of the meetings of the society of Alumni, or any other-->[any] public occasion connected with the College, whether literary or festive", a vision was formed of a single building containing a large theater as well as a large open hall, thus meeting both goals.{{r|fas_concept}}
-When, about the same time,{{r|fas_concept}} a $40,000 bequest was received from Charles Sanders (class of 1802) for
-"a hall or theatre to be used on <!--Commencement days, Class days, Exhibition days, days of the meetings of the society of Alumni, or any other-->[any] public occasion connected with the College, whether literary or festive", a vision was formed of a single building containing a large theater as well as a large open hall, and thus meeting both goals.{{r|fas_concept}}
 A site was found on the "Delta", the triangle bounded by Cambridge, Kirkland, and Quincy Streets.{{efn-ua|1=
@@ Line 61: / Line 59: @@
 {{pb}}
 In the 1960s Kirkland Street was truncated in conjunction with construction of the [[Harvard Science Center|Science Center]], so that the Delta no longer exists as an isolated city block.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}
+}} The project was formally named Memorial Hall in September 1870, and on October 6 the cornerstone was laid.{{r|DAR}} [[Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.]] composed a hymn for the occasion.{{efn-ua|1=
-}}
-The project was formally named Memorial Hall in September 1870, and
-on October 6 the cornerstone was laid,{{r|DAR}} [[Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.]] composing a hymn for the occasion.{{efn-ua|1=
 Holmes' hymn:
 <blockquote><poem>
@@ Line 84: / Line 80: @@
 [[File:HarvardUniversity MemorialHall ArchitecturalSketch Plan 2874.jpeg|thumb|right|upright=1.85|Plan (1874, north at top) showing Alumni Hall ''(left and center)'', Memorial Transept ''(center-right)'', and Sanders Theatre ''(right)'']]
-The building's High Victorian Gothic design, by alumni [[William Robert Ware]] and [[Henry Van Brunt]], was selected in a blind competition. A 1907 publication gives dimensions of 305 by 113 feet, with a height of 190 feet at the tower;<ref name="DAR"/>
+The building's High Victorian Gothic design, by alumni [[William Robert Ware]] and [[Henry Van Brunt]], was selected in a blind competition. A 1907 publication gives dimensions of 305 by 113 feet, with a height of 190 feet at the tower;<ref name="DAR"/> a 2012 source gave a height of 195 feet, making it Cambridge's ninth-tallest building at that time.<ref name="emporis">
-a 2012 source gave a height of 195 feet, making it the ninth-tallest building in Cambridge at that time.<ref name="emporis">
 {{cite web|url=http://www.emporis.com/statistics/tallest-buildings-cambridge-ma-usa|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221184722/http://www.emporis.com/statistics/tallest-buildings-cambridge-ma-usa|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 21, 2014|title=Cambridge's tallest buildings - Top 20|publisher=Emporis.com|access-date=2012-11-14}}
+</ref> Its 1970 [[National Historic Landmark]] designation recognized it one of the nation's most dramatic examples of High Victorian Gothic architecture.<ref name=nhl>{{cite web|url={{NHLS url|id=70000685}}|title=NHL nomination for Memorial Hall, Harvard University|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=2015-02-27}}</ref>
-</ref>
-Its 1970 [[National Historic Landmark]] designation recognized it one of the nation's most dramatic examples of High Victorian Gothic architecture.<ref name=nhl>{{cite web|url={{NHLS url|id=70000685}}|title=NHL nomination for Memorial Hall, Harvard University|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=2015-02-27}}</ref>
 A general restoration was carried out between 1987 and 1996.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.architects.org/committees/news/december-2011-meeting-notes |title=December 2011 meeting notes {{pipe}} Boston Society of Architects |work=Architects.org |date=2011-03-09 |access-date=2012-11-05}}</ref><ref name="harvard1">Office for the Arts at Harvard: Annenberg Hall; Aug. 15, 2011 http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~memhall/annenberg.html</ref>
@@ Line 95: / Line 89: @@
 What was originally known as Alumni Hall{{citation needed|date=November 2012}}{{mdashb}}nine thousand square feet shaped by massive wooden trusses, walnut paneling, and a blue, stenciled ceiling{{mdashb}}was dedicated in 1874.
-Originally intended for formal occasions such as alumni dinners, it was almost immediately converted to a dining commons, and was for fifty years the college's main dining hall (charging, in 1884, $3.97 for a month's meals).<ref>
+Originally intended for formal occasions such as alumni dinners, it was almost immediately converted to a dining commons, and was for 50 years the college's main dining hall (charging, in 1884, $3.97 for a month's meals).<ref>
-[http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1884/11/15/fact-and-rumor-the-price-of/ "Fact and Rumor"], ''Harvard Crimson'', November 15, 1884.</ref>
+[http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1884/11/15/fact-and-rumor-the-price-of/ "Fact and Rumor"], ''Harvard Crimson'', November 15, 1884.</ref> In 1893 the ''Harvard Graduates Magazine'' described "the throngs of men who, at one o'clock, are to be seen racing across the yard from [[Harvard Hall (Harvard University)|Harvard]], [[Boylston Hall (Harvard University)|Boylston]], and [[Sever Hall|Sever]] [Halls], striving to reach [Memorial] Hall ahead of slower competitors for vacant seats at the overtaxed tables".{{refn|{{citation
-In 1893 the ''Harvard Graduates Magazine'' described
-"the throngs of men who, at one o'clock, are to be seen racing across the yard from [[Harvard Hall (Harvard University)|Harvard]], [[Boylston Hall (Harvard University)|Boylston]], and [[Sever Hall|Sever]] [Halls], striving to reach [Memorial] Hall ahead of slower competitors for vacant seats at the overtaxed tables".{{refn|{{citation
 |work=Harvard Graduates Magazine|date=April 1893|volume=I|number=3|page=419
 |title=The University. The Progress of the Year
+}} }} But "as the center of University life moved south toward the [[Charles River|Charles]], [the dining commons] became less popular and closed in 1925",{{hsp}}<ref name="Crimson1943"/> after which Alumni Hall saw mostly light use, typically as a venue for dances, banquets, examinations, and the like. In 1934 ''The New York Times'' reported that Harvard officials had "at last found a use for Memorial Hall" by siting a rifle range in the basement.{{refn|{{cite news|work=New York Times|date=February 19, 1934|author=<!--none-->|title=Harvard Memorial Hall Will House a Rifle Range|page=34}} }}
-}} }}
-But "as the center of University life moved south toward the [[Charles River|Charles]], [the dining commons] became less popular and closed in 1925"{{hsp}}<ref name="Crimson1943"/>
-(''see [[Harvard College#house system|Harvard College § House system]]'') after which Alumni Hall saw mostly light use, typically as a venue for dances, banquets, examinations, and the like. In 1934 ''The New York Times'' reported that Harvard officials had "at last found a use for Memorial Hall" by siting a rifle range in the basement.{{refn|{{cite news|work=New York Times|date=February 19, 1934|author=<!--none-->|title=Harvard Memorial Hall Will House a Rifle Range|page=34}} }}
 During [[World War II]], the ''Crimson'' reported<ref
@@ Line 125: / Line 115: @@
 [[File:Sanders theater .jpg|thumb|upright=1|Memorial Transept seen from the north door]]
-The Memorial Transept [{{convert|2600|sqft}}] consists of a {{convert|60|ft|m|adj=mid|-high}} gothic vault above a marble floor, with black walnut paneling and stenciled walls, a large stained glass window over each of two exterior doors, and{{mdashb}}commemorating the 136 Harvard men who died fighting for the Union{{mdashb}}twenty-eight white tablets,
+The Memorial Transept [{{convert|2600|sqft}}] consists of a {{convert|60|ft|m|adj=mid|-high}} gothic vault above a marble floor, with black walnut paneling and stenciled walls, a large stained glass window over each of two exterior doors, and{{mdashb}}commemorating the 136 Harvard men who died fighting for the Union{{mdashb}}28 white tablets,
 {{Quote|<!--But although this building itself is unbeautiful, the idea that caused it to be build was nobly beautiful, for it was erected as a memorial to the men of Harvard who gave their lives for their country in the Civil War. And much of the interior is of striking effect.  Down the lofty and impressive main corridor there are -->tablets to one after another of the many who thus died{{mdashb}}a thrilling list. One sees such old New England names as [[Peabody (surname)|Peabody]], [[Wadsworth (surname)|Wadsworth]], and [[Bowditch (disambiguation)|Bowditch<!--this links intentionally to dab page-->]]; one sees the name of [[Fletcher Webster]]; one sees that an Edward Revere died at [[Battle of Antietam|Antietam]] and a Paul Revere at [[Battle of Gettysburg|Gettysburg]].<ref name=shackleton/><!--p.234-->
@@ Line 136: / Line 126: @@
 [[Image:Sanders Theater 1876.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Sanders Theatre, c. 1876]]
-Sanders Theatre (substantially completed in 1875, but first used for Harvard's 1876 commencement){{r|fas_concept}} was inspired by Christopher Wren's [[Sheldonian Theatre]].
+Sanders Theatre (substantially completed in 1875, but first used for Harvard's 1876 commencement){{r|fas_concept}} was inspired by Christopher Wren's [[Sheldonian Theatre]]. Renowned for its acoustics, and one of Harvard's largest classrooms,{{clarify|reason=I thought it was the largest in /Cambridge/, and at the time of its building the largest in, um... some big area|date=November 2012}} Sanders Theatre (capacity 1,000) is in great demand for lectures, concerts, ceremonies and conferences. [[Winston Churchill]], [[Theodore Roosevelt]], [[Martin Luther King Jr.]], and [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] have spoken there.<!-- though not all once, of course. That would be confusing for listeners.  They drew lots to determine the order in which they would speak -->
-Renowned for its acoustics, and one of Harvard's largest classrooms,{{clarify|reason=I thought it was the largest in /Cambridge/, and at the time of its building the largest in, um... some big area|date=November 2012}}
-Sanders Theatre (capacity 1000) is in great demand for lectures, concerts, ceremonies and conferences.
-[[Winston Churchill]], [[Theodore Roosevelt]], [[Martin Luther King Jr.]], and [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] have spoken there.<!-- though not all once, of course. That would be confusing for listeners.  They drew lots to determine the order in which they would speak -->
 <!-- let's have a //select//, eclectic list of performers, speakers, events over the years.  ideas: Tom Lehrer, Robt McNamara, Yo-Yo Ma, Wynton Marsalis, Judy Collins, Pete Seeger, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Beaux Arts Trio; also dramatic events like McNamara (or was it Kissinger?) escaping via steam tunnels -->
-Sanders features [[John La Farge]]'s stained-glass window ''Athena Tying a Mourning Fillet''; statues of [[James Otis Jr.|James Otis]] (by [[Thomas Crawford (sculptor)|Thomas Crawford]]) and [[Josiah Quincy III]] (by [[William Wetmore Story]]) flank the stage.
+Sanders features [[John La Farge]]'s stained-glass window ''Athena Tying a Mourning Fillet''; statues of [[James Otis Jr.|James Otis]] (by [[Thomas Crawford (sculptor)|Thomas Crawford]]) and [[Josiah Quincy III]] (by [[William Wetmore Story]]) flank the stage. The exterior gables display busts of great orators: [[Demosthenes]], [[Cicero]], [[John Chrysostom]], [[Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet]], [[William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham]], [[Edmund Burke]], and [[Daniel Webster]].<ref name="harvard">{{cite web|url=http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~memhall/exterior.html|publisher=fas.harvard.edu|title= Description of Exterior of Sanders Theatre from the Office for the Arts at Harvard |access-date=2017-01-29}}</ref>
-The exterior gables display busts of great orators: [[Demosthenes]], [[Cicero]], [[John Chrysostom]], [[Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet]], [[William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham]], [[Edmund Burke]], and [[Daniel Webster]].<ref name="harvard">{{cite web|url=http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~memhall/exterior.html|publisher=fas.harvard.edu|title= Description of Exterior of Sanders Theatre from the Office for the Arts at Harvard |access-date=2017-01-29}}</ref>
-Sanders Theatre contributed in an unusual way to the early work of [[Wallace Clement Sabine|Wallace Sabine]], considered the founder of architectural acoustics. In 1895, tasked with improving the dismal acoustical performance of the [[Fogg Museum|Fogg Museum's]] lecture hall, Sabine carried out a series of nocturnal experiments there, using hundreds of seat cushions borrowed from nearby Sanders as sound-absorbent material; his work each night was limited by the requirement that the cushions be returned to Sanders in time for morning lectures there.
+Sanders Theatre contributed in an unusual way to the early work of [[Wallace Clement Sabine|Wallace Sabine]], considered the founder of architectural acoustics. In 1895, tasked with improving the dismal acoustical performance of the [[Fogg Museum|Fogg Museum's]] lecture hall, Sabine carried out a series of nocturnal experiments there, using hundreds of seat cushions borrowed from nearby Sanders as sound-absorbent material; his work each night was limited by the requirement that the cushions be returned to Sanders in time for morning lectures there. The scientific unit of sound absorption, the ''[[sabin (unit)|sabin]]'', is very close to the absorption provided by one Sanders Theatre cushion.<ref name="google5">{{cite book|title=Environmental Issues for Architecture|author=Smith, D.L.|date=2011|publisher=Wiley|isbn=9780470644355|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=deH-4fRljnAC&pg=PT277|access-date=2017-01-29}}</ref><!-- ebook     -->
-The scientific unit of sound absorption, the ''[[sabin (unit)|sabin]]'', is very close to the absorption provided by one Sanders Theatre cushion.<ref name="google5">{{cite book|title=Environmental Issues for Architecture|author=Smith, D.L.|date=2011|publisher=Wiley|isbn=9780470644355|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=deH-4fRljnAC&pg=PT277|access-date=2017-01-29}}</ref><!-- ebook     -->
 ===Loker Commons===
@@ Line 164: / Line 149: @@
 [[File:Tower with Clocks, Memorial Hall, Harvard University.jpg|upright=1.9|thumb|right|View from northeast showing Sanders Theatre at left, doors and windows of Memorial Transept at center. Four-faced clock was added 1897, and destroyed by fire 1956.]]
+{{nobr|The central tower was nearly complete}}<!--{nobr} forces text below images when space between images is too narrow-->by 1876, but criticism convinced Van Brunt and Ware to revise it in 1877. In 1897{{r|jhj}} was added what a 1905 guidebook described as "an enormous [four-faced clock which] detonates the hours in a manner which is by no means conducive to the sleep of the just and the rest of the weary",{{refn|{{cite book|last=Stearns|first=Frank Preston|author-link=Frank Preston Stearns|title=Cambridge Sketches|url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgesketch01steagoog|year=1905|publisher=J. B. Lippincott|page=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgesketch01steagoog/page/n49 39]}} }} and which [[Kenneth John Conant]] termed "railroad Gothic".{{refn|{{cite magazine|magazine=Harvard Magazine|title=The College Pump|date=May{{ndash}}June 1996|volume=98|number=5|url=https://harvardmagazine.com/1996/05/pump.html}} }}
-{{nobr|The central tower was nearly complete}}<!--{nobr} forces text below images when space between images is too narrow-->
-by 1876, but criticism convinced Van Brunt and Ware to revise it in 1877. In 1897{{r|jhj}} was added what a 1905 guidebook described as "an enormous [four-faced clock which] detonates the hours in a manner which is by no means conducive to the sleep of the just and the rest of the weary",{{refn|{{cite book|last=Stearns|first=Frank Preston|author-link=Frank Preston Stearns|title=Cambridge Sketches|url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgesketch01steagoog|year=1905|publisher=J. B. Lippincott|page=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgesketch01steagoog/page/n49 39]}} }}
-and which [[Kenneth John Conant]] termed "railroad Gothic".{{refn|{{cite magazine|magazine=Harvard Magazine|title=The College Pump|date=May{{ndash}}June 1996|volume=98|number=5|url=https://harvardmagazine.com/1996/05/pump.html}} }}
+{{anchor|Clapper Case}}In 1932 the clock's driving works and the associated 155-pound (70{{nbsp}}kg) bell-clapper, were somehow lowered 115 feet (35{{nbsp}}m) to the ground without attracting attention; visiting [[Yale]] students were suspected{{refn|{{cite news
-{{anchor|Clapper Case}}
-In 1932 the clock's driving works, and the associated 155-pound (70{{nbsp}}kg) bell-clapper, were somehow lowered 115 feet (35{{nbsp}}m) to the ground without attracting attention; visiting [[Yale]] students were suspected{{refn|{{cite news
 |title=Apted's Work in Codfish Tangle Brings Promotion|date=May 1, 1933<!--no writer-->
 |url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1933/5/1/apteds-work-in-codfish-tangle-brings/|work=The Harvard Crimson
@@ Line 175: / Line 157: @@
 |title=Harvard Bell Tongue Stolen From Tower; Some Blame Yale Men for 'Mem Hall' Theft
 |work=The New York Times|date=April 13, 1932|page=40
+}} }} but the clapper was never found. Three years later the disappearance of the replacement clapper, under similar circumstances, was rumored to be Yale's revenge for the theft of its mascot, [[Handsome Dan]].{{refn|{{cite news
-}} }}
-but the clapper was never found. Three years later the disappearance of the replacement clapper, under similar circumstances, was rumored to be Yale's revenge for the theft of its mascot, [[Handsome Dan]].{{refn|{{cite news
 |title=Harvard Bell Silenced: Clapper Disappears While Yale Men Are at Cambridge
 |work=The New York Times|date= March 14, 1935|page=21

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