Harvard University

Harvard University is in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1636, which makes it the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. In 1639 it was named Harvard College after John Harvard, an early donor.

Today it has ten academic faculties, and the Harvard Library holds more than 20 million volumes, the largest academic library in the world. The globe model shows Memorial Hall, a red-brick building north of Harvard Yard that remembers alumni who fought for the Union in the American Civil War. Its main campus covers 209 acres around Harvard Yard, and it also has campuses in Allston and in Boston's medical area.

Memorial Hall

Memorial Hall is a High Victorian Gothic building. Between 1865 and 1868 a group of alumni raised $370,000 to build it in memory of Harvard men who fought for the Union, including 136 who died.

The writer Henry James said it had three parts: a theatre for ceremonies, a huge dining hall and a quiet, solemn room for the fallen. Today they are Sanders Theatre, Annenberg Hall and the Memorial Transept.

How it was planned

Money from another gift, $40,000 left by Charles Sanders, was meant for a hall or theatre for public occasions. Planners decided to join both ideas in one building.

It was built on a former playing field called the Delta. The name Memorial Hall was formally chosen in September 1870, and the cornerstone was laid on 6 October that year. The card dates the finished building to 1878.

On the globe

The model shows Memorial Hall with its red bricks and striped slate roof. Look for the red bricks and the striped roof.