Its original 10 bells (qualifying the instrument as a chime (the Harkness Memorial Chimes) rather than a carillon) were cast by the John Taylor Bellfoundry of Loughborough, England, in 1921, and installed in the Harkness Tower in 1922, and were first rung, by John Taylor, on June 9, 1922. They were rung regularly by the university organist, Samuel H. Smith, until 1946, when this duty was assumed by a student, Elliot H. Kone. On his graduation in 1949, he formed a student organization, the Guild of Yale Bellringers, to continue with four rings per day.
In 1964, the instrument was expanded by the installation of an additional 44 bells, also cast by the John Taylor Bellfoundry, becoming a 4.5 octave carillon, at which point the Guild renamed itself the Yale University Guild of Carillonneurs.