"Arise and Build!": A Centennial Commemoration of the 1895 Rotunda Fire

The fire of October 27, 1895, was a disaster: only the shell of the Rotunda remained standing; the Annex was a smoldering ruin; and two-thirds of the University Library's collection was destroyed. But the University did more than simply reconstruct the Rotunda. In the wake of the destruction emerged a rebuilt Rotunda, designed by Stanford White; three new buildings at the south end of the Lawn; a revitalized University Library; and a University with a growing national reputation.