A generous donation of $3.5 million by an anonymous donor led to the inception of the Robert Frost Library, 39 years ago this week. The gift was of unsurpassed magnitude, the largest single gift ever received from a living donor to date.

The money was allocated for a library that was to be "a major center of learning and culture ... for scholars and students from the surrounding area," The Student reported. The library had plans for more than 550,000 volumes and 700 study areas.

The committee in charge chose to dedicate the auspicious library to a person "inspirational to the students of the future, and of a person with close connections to Amherst," reported The Student. President Plimpton agreed with the committee that there could not have been a more apt name than that of the world-renowned poet and long-time friend of Amherst, Robert Frost.

President John F. Kennedy opened the library with one of his final speeches prior to his assassination.