This month in Harvard history

Nov. 14, 1899 — In Sanders Theatre, students, faculty, and administrators celebrate Maj. Henry Lee Higginson’s recent $150,000 gift for building the Harvard Union (now part of Barker Center for the Humanities).

Nov. 12, 1900 — The Harvard Corporation takes action leading to the closing of the Veterinary School (est. 1882), voting “that no new students in Veterinary Medicine will be received by the University until further orders of the President and Fellows; that the instruction to the students now in the School shall be completed so far as any of them may desire, until the entire course has been given: that is until June 30, 1903, although the free clinic as now carried on at 52 Piedmont street [Boston] is to be closed immediately.”

Although a widely respected pioneer, the Veterinary School never breaks even or gains an endowment. In 1901, it closes earlier than expected and transfers its remaining students to the University of Pennsylvania.