Word: higginson
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Over the years, the Freshman Union has been the scene of goldfish swallowings, food fights and ghosts. But, the Union's original benefactor, Major Henry Lee Higginson (class of 1855), never intended it to host any of these somewhat lowly activities. Nor, as a matter of fact, did he intend the Union to be a dining area or for it to be exclusively for freshmen...
Instead, he hoped his $150,000 donation in 1899 would provide a place where "all Harvard men will stand equal." In a speech that year, Higginson chastised the final clubs, saying "Through the old clubs, with their small membership and high expenses, have crept in habits of exclusiveness and luxury which hurt our democratic university." Higginson's Union was to be a social center for all Harvard students, as opposed to the elitism which pervaded the social clubs...
Always a thrifty man, Higginson was determined to get the most for his money. The Union was to serve the dual purpose of a social center for students and a war memorial to the seven Harvard men who died in the Spanish Civil War of 1898. All seven are listed above the entrance to the main dining area, and seventh man on the list, Sherman Hoar (class of 1887), is thought to be the model for the bust of John Harvard that adorns the Union's mantlepiece...
Over the years, the dark and foreboding building has assumed various other uses, but Higginson's social center has rarely been one of them. Perhaps this is what the old Major had in mind when he exhorted Harvard students to "change it, develop it, do with it what you will, just so as you keep its character...
Indeed, Charles is admired throughout the United Kingdom for his ability as a statesman. "He's an ambassador of Britain in a very real sense. In effect, he's a salesman of Great Britain," says Wallace T. MacCaffrey, Higginson Professor of History. A recent British poll asked citizens whom they would most want to see become president of Great Britain if the country were to become a democracy. Prince Charles was one of the most popular choices, along with his father Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. "He's a very important political symbol," says Peter A. Hall, assistant professor...