WIDENER GETS PHOTO OF JOHN HARVARD CHAPEL

A large photograph of the John Harvard Memorial Chapel in the Southwark Cathedral, London, has been presented to the Widener Library by Mr. William Hooper '80. The picture will be hung in the delivery room of the library sometime in the immediate future.

That part of the Southwark Cathedral which is now the Harvard Memorial Chapel, was formerly known as St. John's Chapel, and was used as a vestry room. The chapel as portrayed by the photo forms an alcove flanked on either side by two huge gothic pillars. Between the pillars, and occupying the center of the background, is a large altar, backed by a beautifully decorated stained window. The altar is the gift of Mr. R. W. Hickox '72, who presented it in 1907 when the chapel was repaired and dedicated anew to the memory of John Harvard. The altar marks the spot where Harvard was baptised, and where his father lies buried.

Much of the beauty of the chapel is due to the large stained window, the work of John LaFarge of New York, which occupies the center of the picture in Widener. The window is divided into six panels, three upper ones and three lower ones. The lower set of panes are decorated with a picture of St. John baptising a child, while the upper row is taken up with the coat of arms of Great Britain, flanked on one side with the shield of Harvard University, and on the other by the shield of Emmanuel College, the alma mater of John Harvard.

Twenty-five years ago, the present Harvard Memorial Chapel was falling in ruins, and it was only through the generous aid of several Harvard Alumni that the chapel was restored.