1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Harvard University

HARVARD UNIVERSITY (see 13.38). &mdash; The history of Harvard University, after 1909, when Abbott Lawrence Lowell succeeded Charles William Eliot as president, continued to be one of change and growth to meet new needs and opportunities.

Buildings. &mdash; Three residence halls for freshmen &mdash; Gore, Standish and Smith &mdash; accommodating about 450 men, built near the Charles river at a cost of approximately $2,500,000, were opened in 1914; and in 1919-20 a number of other dormitories, originally

erected by private enterprise, were purchased by the university, thus largely increasing the residence halls under its control. Two new chemical laboratories, the Walcott Gibbs and the Thomas Jefferson Coolidge, Jun., Memorial, were opened in 1913-4, and proved a welcome addition to the university's equipment for teaching and research; and in the following year an addition to the Peabody Museum was first occupied, thus completing the university's museum buildings as originally planned by Louis Agassiz in 1859. A building for the music department and the Cruft high-tension laboratory were also opened in 1914-5. In 1915 the Widener Library was first available. This building was erected by his mother, in memory of Harry Elkins Widener, of the class of 1907, who lost his life in the &ldquo;Titanic&rdquo;; it is probably the most successful as it is the largest of college library buildings. The Germanic Museum, intended to exhibit the evidences of Germanic civilization in the widest sense, was completed and opened in 1921. Improvements have been made in athletic fields, gymnasia, etc.

Endowments. &mdash; The period under consideration was the most remarkable in the history of the university for the rapid increase of funds. In spite of the World War, graduates and friends gave approximately $17,000,000 in the decade from 1909 to 1919. Approximately $5,000,000 of this was for buildings and immediate use; $12,000,000 for permanent endowment. With the close of the war the alumni revived a project, started before the war but suspended, to secure additional endowment, and organized in the summer of 1919 a committee of graduates for the purpose. Up to June 30 something over $13,780,000 had been subscribed, of which over $8,500,000 had at that time been paid into the treasury. The total productive endowment of Harvard University then approximated $48,000,000.

World War Services. &mdash; Ten thousand Harvard graduates and students entered the army or navy of the United States during the conflict; of these 70% received commissions. No complete records exist of those who engaged in non-military service, but it may safely be said that over half the Harvard men of every age took an active part during the war. The Roll of Honour contains 372 names of men who gave their lives.

(C. H. M.)