The bridge, which had become disused in recent years but had served as a rich source of anecdotes for tour groups, runs between the second stories of the Widener and Houghton Libraries. It was built in 1942 through a preexisting window in the Widener library due to a condition of the agreement between the university and Eleanor Elkins Widener—who donated the $4 million to build the library in 1912—that prohibited “additions or alterations” to the building’s façade.
Larsen Librarian of Harvard College Nancy M. Cline said in the November 18 Harvard Crimson that the bridge remains structurally sound, but “there was not a logical way to plan for egress, and at the same time to take care of the security of the two buildings.”
Before the bridge’s March 2002 closure, patrons and staff could move between Houghton’s rare book and manuscript collection and Widener’s general offerings without going outside.
Posted November 24, 2003.