What Is Memorial Hall?
This churchlike building is actually a theater and commencement space honoring Harvard alumni who served in the Civil War!
What Makes It Historical?
In 1865, a group of Harvard alumni petitioned the school to let them raise money and build a grand memorial for their classmates who served in the US Army and Navy. With that approval, and $370,000 in funds raised between 1865 and 1868, the final design came from William Robert Ware (Class of ’52) and Henry Van Brunt (Class of ’54). The cornerstone went down on October 6, 1870, and after eight years of construction, Memorial Hall officially opened as Harvard’s grandest gathering, dining, and graduating space!
The building itself was built on top of a triangular playing field called the Delta, crafted in the High Victorian Gothic style with three main chambers inside! Annenberg Hall was meant for formal dinners but ended up being the college’s main dining hall for 50 years! The Memorial Transept is a vaulted Gothic vestibule where 28 white tablets list the names of the 136 Harvard men who died fighting for the Union. Finally, the Sanders Theatre, which debuted for Harvard’s 1876 commencement, also serves as a classroom and lecture hall, seating a thousand under statues and stained glass!
How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?
- Donate to Harvard University!
- Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!
How Do I Get There?
45 Quincy St
Cambridge, MA 02138
(Take Me There!)
When Should I Visit?
View the outside whenever you like, but there are no official tour hours!