WILL HONOR DONORS OF SOLDIERS FIELD

A bronze tablet, which commemorates the three men who gave Soldiers Field to the University, will gave be uncovered at 11 o'clock this morning of Soldiers Field near the Newell gate.

The tablet, which is the gift of members of the Longfellow family, is of a design similar to that placed in front of design similar to that placed in front of University Hall in 1895 by the Harvard Memorial Society. It is a bronze relief, about two and one-half by three feet mounted on a low concrete base. On the tablet are shown the present boundaries and buildings of Soldiers Field, and the extent and relative position of the three original tracts which now compose Soldiers Field.

The first of these tracts was given to the President and Fellows of Harvard College in 1870 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow '59 and by members of his family. The first tract contained about 70 acres and was located in the meadow land on the Brighton side of the Charles River.

Much of the original 70 acres was taken in 1897 by the Metropolitan Park Commission for the Speedway section of the Charles River Reservation. About 25 acres, however, were left to the University, over two-fifths of the 61 acres which now form Soldiers Field.

It was the money received from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the taking of these 45 acres for the Metropolitan reservation which made possible the erection of the iron fence which now the surrounds the entire Soldiers Field tract.

A second bequest came in 1882 when John Owen, a graduate of Bowdoin and of the Harvard Divinity School deeded to the College a small parcel of land, owned by him since 1856 on the Charles River adjoining the Longfellow land.

The University athletic fields on the Brighton side of the Charles River finally assumed their present proportions nearly 35 years ago when Major Henry Lee Higginson '82 gave the College 31 acres on North Harvard Street adjoining the land previously donated to the College. He named his gift "The Soldiers Field," the name by which the entire athletic tract is now known.

The formal presentation took place on June 10, 1890, in Sever Hall, before a large number of students of the University. At this service, President Eliot presided and read Major Higginson's letter of presentation.

President Eliot will also be present at the service on Soldiers Field this morning. The ceremony of uncovering the tablet will be informal. W. S. Scudder '70, H. P. Walcott '58, and members of the Longfellow family will also be present.