Harvard University - Red Book Yearbook (Cambridge, MA)

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HARVARD NINETEEN THIRTY-FIVE GLASS ALBUM 23 the sequence oflectures for at least a hundred years, and they lamented the end of a traditional sound. When it became known, however, that the 'goldn bell was unewa' in 1899, even the most sentimental forgot their regrets and were won over to the deep, rich tone ofthe newcomer. The new bell was cast in England and was selected by Professor A. T. Davison. In pitch it is an octave lower than its predecessor. The first official ringing occurred on the occasion of President Eliot's funeral in September, 1926. The old bell was transferred to the belfry of the Business School on the south bank of the river. Between 1890 and 1915 the Yard was gradually enclosed by a decorative iron fence interrupted here and there by dignified gates. The fence and the gates were given to the University by various classes and individuals. For a number of years this barrier gave adequate detachment to tl1e college grounds, but as the noise of the traffic pouring through Har- vard Square increased, a soundproof wall on that side be- came desirable. Part of this barrier appeared in 1924-25 when Lehman Hall was built in the southwest corner of the Yard, and Lionel and Mower to the westward of Hollis and Stoughton. In the following year the construction of Straus completed the plan. In 1931 the three units of Wigglesworth Hall, built along the Massachusetts Avenue side of the Yard, were opened, and for the first time Freshmen alone occupied all the Yard dormitories. The year 1933 saw the New Memorial Chapel completed on the site of Appleton Chapel, the latest-perhaps the last-addition to the most historic spot in the University. HARVARD IN I823

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22 HARVARD NINETEEN THIRTY-FIVE CLASS ALBUM vard its first chapel. This was Holden. It faced west and the pediment over the door displayed-and still displaysain all its glory the armorial device of Mrs. Holden. The building was opened in 1744, but it was used for a chapel for only a few years. For a century and a half after its founding, Harvard Col- lege looked westward, and it persisted in turning its back upon what we consider to be Uthe old parti' of the Yard until Hollis Hall, which was built in 1763, looked both ways. Hollis faced west, to be sure, but it had an east front as well,- or at any rate a side which might easily become a front. Thomas Hollis was a benevolent English Baptist with an un- accountable interest in Harvard College. Although he never saw Harvard, and though his religious beliefs differed from those adhered to by the College, he showered the institution with good things. He endowed two professorships and con- tributed many valuable books and instruments. These bene- factions occurred between 1719 and I 731. Hollis did not give the dormitory which preserves his memory in the Yard, but his interest and generosity were still fresh in menls minds in 1764. When a new building was completed in that year the governor of the province christened it Hollis Hall. The great catastrophe in the history of the College in the eighteenth century was the burning of Harvard Hall. About midnight on January 24, 1764, scarcely a fortnight after the dedication of Hollis, fire broke out in Harvard Hall. The night was intensely cold, a high wind was blowing, and the air was filled with snow. To make matters worse it happened to be the time of the mid-year recess. The students were away and there were only three persons in all the college buildings. Harvard Hall, which contained the library and the com- mons, was entirely destroyed. During the conflagration Massachusetts, old Stoughton, and brand new Hollis caught fire and blazed up several times, but only Harvard was con- sumed. Only Harvard, but that building housed the library bequeathed to the College by John Harvard. That night it was turned into ashes. As far as we know only one of his books survived, presumably because itl had been borrowed by a tutor or a student before the fire. This book-Downame's Chrislian Warfare-is now preserved in the Treasure Room of the Widener Library. The present Harvard Hall was built upon the old site. It was completed in June, 1766, and was a good-looking build- ing until additions were made to it. The first addition was a rectangular projection from the middle of the front. This was constructed about 1840. The result may have been useful but it was hardly pleasing to the eye. In the 187038 the building was enlarged to its present size, and its appearance was much improved. During the turbulent years immediately preceding the Revolution the Massachusetts General Court held more than one session in the College buildings. The liberty-loving legislators objected to meeting in Boston while the British troops were in the town. The royal governor, instead of re- moving the troops, adjourned the Court in Cambridge where it had met in 1764 during a smallpox epidemic. For three years, 1768-1771, the General Court was obliged to hold its sessions at Harvard College, an arrangement which seems to have been as distasteful to the legislators as to the College authorities. In 1775 the colonies broke into open rebellion and Boston was besieged by the American army. The siege lasted almost a year. During that time Harvard College removed itself to Concord, and its buildings were used as barracks for the rustic soldiery. Old Stoughton, Massachusetts, Hollis and even Holden sheltered an unbelievable number of men. Harvard Hall seems to have been used for storage and for commissary purposes while Wadsworth House achieved the unique dis- tinction of being the ,fmt headquarters of General Washing- ton. For many years it has been the fashion to point out the subtle differences between Hollis and its neighbor Stoughton, and to dwell upon the inferiority of Stoughton. The diHier- ences exist, there is no doubt. The inferiority also. But why not congratulate ourselves that it is as good-looking as it is, and agree that it has grown old gracefully? The original Stoughton, which with Massachusetts and Harvard formed three sides of an open quadrangle, was torn down about 1780. The present Stoughton was begun in 1804 and com- pleted in 1805. Thus it is at least forty years younger than Hollis. The necessary funds for building it came in part from the College and in part from a lottery held for that purpose. Stoughton faced both west and east, and there can be little doubt that in 1804 Harvard College began to visualize the present Yard. Eight years later the placing of Holworthy made it clear that a new quadrangle was in prospect. The euphonious name of the new dormitory was in honor of Sir Matthew Holworthy, a seventeenth-century benefactor. Sir Matthew was an English merchant, and like Thomas Hollis he had an extraordinary interest in Harvard College. He bequeathed to it 31000, but the money actually expended upon the construction of Holworthy Hall came from a lottery. When Holworthy was built, in 1812, it was expected that in the course of time it would form the northern wall of a ffnearly equilateralw quadrangle with Hollis and Stoughton for its western side. Nevertheless when the next building was added it was happily not constructed as another wall of the proposed quadrangle. Instead it was given an isolated and commanding position. This was University Hall, which was built primarily to house the kitchen, the commons, and the chapel. University was designed by Charles Bulfinch, the architect of the State House and other admired buildings in Boston. The material was white Chelmsford granite, and the construction was completed in 1815. Today few would think of criticizing the pleasing proportions and classic simplicity of University Hall, but not so the critics of one hundred years ago. One of them writing in the North American Review ended his description: We doubt whether the world con- tains any other architectural abortion to be compared to thisf' In extenuation of this remark it should be said that originally the building had a covered piazza or portico along the west front, connecting the two flights of steps. Probably the appearance of University was much improved when the piazza was abolished. From the War of 1812 until the Civil War the aspect of the Yard was not greatly changed. Southeastward of University Hall the library building known as Gore Hall arose about 1840. In 1857 appeared its neighbor, Boylston, originally an inoifensive two-storied building. Then towards the north east Appleton Chapel was constructed in 1858. But the striking effect of a large quadrangle was not developed until the sixties. In 1863 Grays Hall was built at the southern end of the Yard to balance Holworthy. Its name commemorated three members of the Gray family, all benefactors of the Col- lege. After the Civil War, Thayer, Matthews, and Weld were built in rapid succession and the present appearance of the quadrangle was established. When College opened in the fall of 1926 residents of the Yard and its vicinity discovered that a new bell on Harvard Hall had taken the place of the one which they were accus- tomed to hear and obey. To some the change was not wholly pleasing, for they assumed that the old bell had announced

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HARVARD NINETEEN THIRTY-FIVE CLASS ALBUM THE YARD IN 1908 UNIVERSITY HALL Built in 1815