Webster Hall Breakthrough

In a 1988 cover story this magazine reported on the official indecision over what to do with venerable Webster Hall, the College’s oldest (and most decrepit) auditorium. Suggestions poured in from alumni and ranged from a Plato-style academy to a monorail station. Now the College has come to a decision: the structure will become the home of Baker Library’s special collections, which include rare books and such treasures as Daniel Webster’s silk socks.

Centerpiece of the ren- ovated hall will be a “Jewel Box”—a glass-enclosed, high-security, climate- controlled building within a building that will house the most valuable items. Construction on the $lO million renovation will begin after the capital campaign raises the money.

A bookish “jewel box. ”