| Carnegie
Library
Pomona College, 1908-1952 |
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| The Carnegie Library was a precursor to the Honnold Library, and the social sciences and humanities collections located there were moved to Honnold in 1952. Pomona College’s first library was one room in Pearson Hall. By 1906, 8,000 books had taken over the entire south half of the first floor. A library building was needed. Mr Andrew Carnegie, the noted philanthropist, was approached for funding, since he was involved in a program of library construction that resulted in over 2000 libraries being built in the United States. He agreed to fund half the cost a library building for Pomona College, and the college raised the remainder. The cornerstone was laid February 22, 1907. The building was built to house 80,000 volumes. There were some problems during the construction, including the bankruptcy of the building contractor, but it was completed in 1908. Since 1952 the Carnegie Building has been remodeled and used as offices and classrooms for Pomona College, and is still in use in 1999. | |||
Dedication Day, 1908 |
Carnegie Library, circa 1910-1920 |
Students studying in 1920s |
Carnegie Library with ivy-covered walls |
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Westergaard Art Room, 1950 |
Carnegie Library Circulation Desk, 1940s |
Carnegie Library main lobby and circulation |
| Harper Hall
Claremont Colleges, 1931- 1952 |
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| Harper Hall, designed
by architect Gordon Kaufmann, was the first building built for Claremont
Colleges. (Claremont Colleges was the name under which this entity was
incorporated in 1925. It has since progressed through the names Claremont
College (1944), Claremont University College (1961), Claremont Graduate
School and University Center (1962), and the present names Claremont University
Center and Claremont Graduate University.) Half of Harper Hall was originally
used as a library, and half for the Graduate School facilities, and Claremont
Colleges administration. Miss Ellen Browning Scripps was the major donor,
putting up half the cost of the building. The land was donated by George
W. Marston. The building was named for Jacob Chandler Harper, Miss Scripps' attorney and business advisor
and an original member of the Board of Trustees for Claremont Colleges.
In 1932, the library consisted of 10,000 volumes, and was "at the service of all faculty and students of all the Colleges." By 1952, just before collections and staff were moved to Honnold Library, the books numbered 75,000, and the library staff provided purchasing, cataloging, binding, and inter-library loan for all the College's libraries. When the library moved out of Harper, the vacated space provided much-needed seminar rooms and faculty offices. |
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Harper Hall, circa 1940s |
The Card Catalog |
Hard at work |
Studying in the stacks |