Word: higginson
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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...
...order to establish some of the character that Higginson wanted preserved, he wrote to Teddy Roosevelt (class of 1880) asking for a contribution. Roosevelt responded with two elk antler chandeliers, that still hang today, and more than 30 animal heads. Roosevelt wrote, "I hope that this small token will inspire the lads to the life of adventure to which I have become so attached...
...Higginson's student center lasted just over a year. The Harvard Union was dedicated on October 15, 1901, and by September of 1902 dining facilities were added to the living room. By 1910, dining had taken over the living room completely, transforming it into today's dining hall...