The Harvard Library: Historical Sources

Designed chiefly by prominent African-American architect Julian F. Abele and completed in 1915, the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library is Harvard’s main library. The building of Widener Library was funded by a gift of Eleanor Elkins Widener, made in memory of her son Harry, a 1907 graduate of Harvard College who died on the Titanic in 1912.

The Harvard University Archives has significant holdings related to the planning, construction, and maintenance of Widener Library, as well as materials documenting its central role in the life of the University.

To find archival materials pertaining to the Library’s history, please see the research guide: “Harvard Buildings: Widener Library.”

For historical photographs of the Library, please see the finding aid for the collection, "Photographic Views of Widener Library, 1913-1988."