Gore Hall

An 1840 engraving by George Girdler Smith
An 1879 woodcut from The American Cyclopædia
Stereoscopic image
Image by John P. Soule (1827–1904)
Gore Hall
Under demolition, 1913
Seal of the City of Cambridge designed 1846 by Harvard President Edward Everett showing Gore Hall
Plaque on north facade of Widener Library

Gore Hall was a historic building on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, designed by Richard Bond. Gore Hall was Harvard's first dedicated library building, a Gothic structure built in 1838 of Quincy granite and named in honor of Harvard graduate and Massachusetts Governor Christopher Gore.

In 1846, Harvard President Edward Everett was asked to design a seal for the newly incorporated City of Cambridge, and he identified Gore and Washington Elm as two icons encircled by the motto Literis Antiquis Novis Institutis Decora. "It can be translated as: 'Distinguished for Classical Learning and New Institutions.'"[1]

When the original Gore Hall was demolished in 1913 to make way for Widener Library,[2] its name was transferred to a new Gore Hall, a freshman dormitory then under construction and now part of Winthrop House.[3]

  1. ^ Cambridge Historical Commission. "About the CHC. Frequently Asked Questions". City of Cambridge. Archived from the original on May 16, 2014. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  2. ^ Spencer, Thaxter (November–December 2011). "Christopher Gore". Harvard Magazine.
  3. ^ Harvard University (1949). Education, bricks and mortar: Harvard buildings and their contribution to the advancement of learning. Harvard University. p. 29. ISBN 9780674238855.