Memorial Church - A Steeple for the Fallen
Photo: Chris Rycroft, CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
A stop on Harvard Yard and Cambridge, a free self-guided tour.
Facing Widener across the lawn, this brick church with its tall white steeple was dedicated on Armistice Day, November 11, 1932. It honors the Harvard men and women who died in World War I. Inside, the names of 373 alumni are carved into the walls of a memorial room, which also holds a sculpture called The Sacrifice by Malvina Hoffman. Later memorials remember those lost in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.
The church replaced the older Appleton Chapel, and a smaller chapel inside still carries that name. It hosts a short Morning Prayers service, a daily ritual that was compulsory for students until 1886.
The open lawn between church and library is called Tercentenary Theatre, after Harvard's 300th anniversary in 1936. Each spring it fills with thousands of chairs for Commencement. If the doors are open, step inside quietly and look for the memorial room just inside the south entrance.
Getting here: Cross the lawn of Tercentenary Theatre to the white-steepled church directly facing Widener.
Did you know?: The church's 7,000-pound bell, cast in London in 1926, cracked in 2011 and is now displayed on the west portico.
Photo op: Stand at the foot of Widener's steps to fit the full steeple and columned portico across the lawn.
More on Wikipedia: Memorial Church of Harvard University · Malvina Hoffman
Stops on this tour
- Harvard Square - Crossroads of Cambridge
- Johnston Gate - Harvard's Front Door
- Massachusetts Hall - Harvard's Oldest Building
- John Harvard Statue - The Statue of Three Lies
- Widener Library - A Memorial in Books
- Memorial Church - A Steeple for the Fallen
- Sever Hall - Whispers in the Brick
- Harvard Art Museums - Three Museums Under Glass
- Memorial Hall - Gothic Tribute to the Union
- Cambridge Common - Where Washington Took Command
- Christ Church and Old Burying Ground - Colonial Corner