Harper Memorial Library: The First Century

As Harper Memorial Library approaches its centennial, the University of Chicago is celebrating another major milestone for the historic space: the creation of the Arley D. Cathey Learning Center. In honor of that occasion, we look back at the first century of Harper Library. "There was a widespread feeling that there should be erected on the main quadrangle of the University some permanent and worthy memorial of its first president, to whose courage, energy, broad vision, and farsightedness the University was so largely indebted for the progress it had made in the first fifteen years of its existence." — Harper Memorial Library dedication book, June 1912 The dedication of Harper Memorial Library on June 11, 1912 represented a major milestone for the University of Chicago. With its elegant Gothic architecture and advanced technology—the building featured telephones and a system of pneumatic tubes to transmit book orders—the new library was, according to the Chicago Tribune , "the largest and most important building yet erected on the campus of the University of Chicago." It also fulfilled a key ambition of the University's first president, William Rainey Harper. During his tenure, Harper had pushed for improvements to the University's library, which was housed in succession of temporary spaces in UChicago's early years. In 1902, on Harper's advice, the Board of Trustees appointed a commission to study library facilities and policies. Among other recommendations, the report called for a new, central library building that would be connected to smaller departmental libraries.