This month in Harvard history

• Oct. 26, 1912 – The Boston Elevated Railway Co. opens Stadium Station on lower Boylston (now Kennedy) St. for the convenience of Saturday Harvard football crowds.

• Oct. 7, 1915 – Librarians finish moving books into the new Widener Library. In the 14 weeks since Widener’s formal opening on Commencement Day, staff have reshelved 645,000 volumes taken from temporary storage in Randall Hall (which stood on the site of today’s William James Hall) and 13 other depositories.

• Oct. 1942 – Figures from the President’s Office show that 400 faculty (about 20 percent of the teaching staff) have left the University or are on full or part-time leave for war service. The Medical School accounts for 180 such individuals, many of them serving in overseas base hospitals from Northern Ireland to Australia.

• Oct. 10, 1942 – Sir Ernest Simon, former Lord Mayor of Manchester, England, visits Harvard to bring greetings from Manchester University and discuss postwar urban reconstruction with regional-planning experts at the Design School. Sir Ernest also finds time for a Faculty Club luncheon, the Harvard-William and Mary football game, and postgame tea at Lowell House.

– From the Harvard Historical Calendar, a database compiled by

Marvin Hightower