Editing Widener Library (section)

===Swim{{hyp}}requirement, ice{{hyp}}cream, and other legends===

[[File:WidenerLibraryUnderConstruction 1913Dec4 cropped.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.5
|link=File:WidenerLibraryUnderConstruction_1913Dec4.jpg
|The stacks (seen here from the southeast while under con{{shy}}struc{{shy}}tion) double as struc{{shy}}tur{{shy}}al ele{{shy}}ments,{{r|snead_ad}} mak{{shy}}ing Wide{{shy}}ner the last major self-support{{shy}}ing mason{{shy}}ry build{{shy}}ing, with no outer steel frame, built in the US;{{r|AZ|p=362}} its exterior walls are three feet thick.{{r|metcalf1965|p=316}}
In the center-left distance are the twin towers of [[List of Harvard College freshman dormitories#Weld Hall|Weld Hall]], to the left of which is the belltower of [[Harvard Hall]].
]]

[[File:HarvardUniversity WidenerLibrary MassachusettsAvenueEntrance c1915 cropped.jpeg|right|thumb|upright=1.5
|link=File:HarvardUniversity WidenerLibrary MassachusettsAvenueEntrance c1915.jpeg
|View from southeast of Widener's rear ([[Massachusetts Avenue (metropolitan Boston)|Massa{{shy}}chu{{shy}}setts Ave.]]) facade {{nobr|c. 1915,}} before construction of [[Wigglesworth Hall|Wiggles{{shy}}worth Hall]] to the south and [[Houghton Library|Hough{{shy}}ton Library]] to the east]]

Legend holds that to spare future Harvard men her son's fate, Eleanor Widener insisted, as a condition of her gift, that learning to swim be made a requirement for graduation from Harvard.{{r|legends|mooney}}
(This requirement, the ''[[The Harvard Crimson|Harvard Crimson]]'' once elaborated erroneously, was "dropped in the late 1970s because it was deemed discriminatory against physically disabled students".){{r|bibliophobia}}
"Among the many myths relating to Harry Elkins Widener, this is the most prevalent", says Harvard's "Ask a Librarian" service. Though Harvard has had swimming requirements at various times (e.g. for [[crew (sport)|rowers]] on the [[Charles River]], or as a now-defunct test for entering freshmen){{r|ask_swim}}
Bentinck-Smith writes that "There is absolutely no evidence<!--in the President's papers, or the faculty's, to indicate-->{{nbsp}}... that [Eleanor Widener] was, as a result of the Titanic disaster, in any way responsi{{shy}}ble for [any] compulsory swimming test."{{hsp}}{{NoteTag
|{{r|bentinck1980}}
As pointed out by ''snopes.com'': "<!--As well, the putative reason for the unusual requirement is questionable in that -->Harry Elkins Widener didn't die because he couldn't swim: he, like many other ''Titanic'' passengers who couldn't be {{shy|accom|mo|dat|ed}} by one of the too-few lifeboats, died from immersion in freezing water. The ability to swim wouldn't have helped him, because there was nowhere for him to swim ''to''."{{hsp}}{{r|snopes}}
}}

Another story, holding that Eleanor Widener donated a further sum to underwrite perpetual availability of ice cream (purportedly Harry Widener's favorite dessert) in Harvard dining halls, is also without foundation.{{r|legends}}
A Widener curator's compilation of "fanciful oral history" recited by student tour guides includes "Flowers mysteriously appear every morning outside the Widener Room" and "Harry used to have [[carnation]]s dyed crimson to remind him of Harvard, and so his mother kept up the tradition" in the flowers displayed in the Memorial Rooms.{{r|lies}}