Widener Library - A Memorial in Books

Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel, CC BY 4.0 (cropped)

A stop on Harvard Yard and Cambridge, a free self-guided tour.

This colossal building with its wide stairs and columns is Harvard's main library, and its story begins with the Titanic. Harry Elkins Widener, a young book collector who graduated from Harvard in 1907, died when the ship sank in 1912. His mother, Eleanor Elkins Widener, survived and paid for this library in his memory. It was dedicated in 1915.

The gift required the firm of Horace Trumbauer, where Julian Abele, one of the first prominent African American architects, led the design. Inside, about 3.5 million volumes fill some 57 miles of shelves on ten levels.

Two Widener legends deserve a fact check. Mrs. Widener did not make every student pass a swimming test, and she did not pay for free ice cream in the dining halls. Both stories are popular, and both are untrue.

The library is open only to Harvard users, but the steps are a fine place to sit and take in the Yard.

Getting here: Walk around University Hall into the larger lawn beyond, Tercentenary Theatre, and head for the massive columned building on its south side.

Did you know?: John Harvard's one surviving book, saved from the 1764 fire, was kept in Widener until 1942, when it moved to Houghton Library next door.

Photo op: From the middle of the lawn, frame Widener's columns head-on, then turn around for the white steeple of Memorial Church.

More on Wikipedia: Widener Library · Harry Elkins Widener · Julian Abele · Houghton Library

Stops on this tour

1. Harvard Square - Crossroads of Cambridge
2. Johnston Gate - Harvard's Front Door
3. Massachusetts Hall - Harvard's Oldest Building
4. John Harvard Statue - The Statue of Three Lies
5. Widener Library - A Memorial in Books
6. Memorial Church - A Steeple for the Fallen
7. Sever Hall - Whispers in the Brick
8. Harvard Art Museums - Three Museums Under Glass
9. Memorial Hall - Gothic Tribute to the Union
10. Cambridge Common - Where Washington Took Command
11. Christ Church and Old Burying Ground - Colonial Corner