Misplaced Pages

#367632

48-581: Holden Chapel is a small building in Harvard Yard on the campus of Harvard University . Completed in 1744, it is the third oldest building at Harvard and one of the oldest college buildings in America. In December 1741, Mrs. Samuel Holden , the widow of a former Governor of the Bank of England , offered Harvard a 400 pound sterling donation towards the construction of a chapel on campus, prompted by

96-435: A 'counterfeit presentment,' ‍—‌to use Shake­speare's phrase,‍—‌and in more senses of the word than one   ... [S]uch attempts to make portrait statues of those of whom there are not only no portraits, but no records or recollec­tions, are of very doubtful desirea­ble­ness   ... Such a course tends to the confusing and confounding of historic truth and leaves posterity unable to decide what

144-699: A Crimson headline read.) "Some years ago some students painted [the statue] crimson and our cops caught them red-handed", Deputy Chief of the Harvard University Police Jack W. Morse told The Harvard Crimson in 1984, adding "I've been waiting a long time to use that."  (Crimson is Harvard's school color .) As the statue's hundredth anniversary approached, Harvard Lampoon president Conan O'Brien predicted that "we'll probably stuff it with cottage cheese, maybe also with some chives."  "I think it’s creative but I wish students would direct their creative energies elsewhere,"

192-499: A "student tradition"‍—‌nonexistent‍—‌of rubbing the toe of John Harvard ' s left shoe for luck, so that while the statue as a whole is darkly weathered the toe now "gleams almost throbbingly bright, as though from an excruciating inflammation of the bronze."  It is, however, traditional for seniors, as they process to graduation exercises on Commencement Day ( see History and traditions of Harvard commencements ), to remove their caps as they pass. The statue

240-578: A Harvard maintenance official said in 2002. The challenge of creating an idealized representation of John Harvard was discussed by Ellis at the October 1883 meeting of the Massachu­;setts Historical Society: A very exacting demand is to be made upon the genius and skill of the artist   ... The work must be wholly ideal, guided by a few suggestive hints, all of which are in harmony with grace, delicacy, dignity, and reverential regard. There

288-617: A May 31, 1890 Harvard athletic victory, front-page headlines in the Boston Morning Globe declared: "Vandalism at Harvard; statue of John Harvard and college buildings daubed with red paint by drunken students; seniors and faculty indig­nant   ... Riotous Mob Ruled the Campus."  The next day the Globe further reported that a Harvard student observing graffiti-removal efforts "declared that no Harvard man ever daubed

336-406: A dog's paws, and as several students kept dogs the suspicion was magnified to the importance of a clue. A student, however, told the detectives that according to his view the impressions were made by barefoot boys walking on tip-toe."  Out-of-state newspapers reporting the outrage, and to a greater or lesser degree following the subsequent investigation, included (among many others): Despite

384-544: A failure would be inexcusable. As a general thing, my model looks pretty well to me, but there are dark days." French's final model was ready the following May and realized in bronze by the Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company over the next several months. The cost was reportedly more than $ 20,000 (equivalent to $ 700,000 in 2023). The statue was installed‍—‌"looking wistfully into the western sky", said Harvard president Charles W. Eliot ‍—‌at

432-498: A mass meeting of outraged Harvard men (who insisted the culprits must be outside­ers or, failing that, freshmen), the hiring of detec­tives, and an apparently facetious report that Harvard President Charles W. Eliot was unavaila­ble for comment because he had "gone out in the woods to cut switches " (all Globe, June   3), on June   22 an anonymous contribu­tor ( Globe , p.   20) intimated that while "the faculty claim that they have not found out any of

480-533: A portrait of Plymouth Colony Governor Edward Winslow . On June 27, 1883, at the Commencement Day dinner of Harvard alumni a letter was read from "a generous benefactor, General Samuel James Bridge , an adopted alumnus of the college": To the President and Fellows of Harvard College . Gentlemen, — I have the pleasure of offering you an ideal statue in bronze, representing your founder,

528-407: A purpose for the eye, the thought, and sentiment, through the ideal, in lack of the real   ... It is by no means without allowed and approved precedent, that, in the lack of authentic portraitures of such as are to be commemorated, an ideal representa­tion supplies the vacancy of a reality. It is one of the fair issues between poetry and prose. The wise, the honored, the fair, the noble, and

SECTION 10

#1732786650368

576-750: A regular basis for 19 years, and intermittently by him and others thereafter until 1825. In the 1930s, Holden Chapel (and Hollis Hall ) were chosen by the Historical American Buildings Survey Commission as two of the finest examples of early Colonial architecture in Massachusetts For much of the 20th century, Holden Chapel housed the student offices of the Harvard Glee Club and later the Radcliffe Choral Society and

624-647: A signer of the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution . ) The commission weighed heavily on French even as the figure neared completion. "I am sometimes scared by the importance of this work. It is a subject that one might not have in a lifetime," wrote the sculptor‍—‌who thirty years later would create the statue of Abraham Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial‍—;‌"and

672-545: A split second of time, then the founding of Harvard should perhaps be fixed by the fall of the president's gavel in announcing the passage of the vote of October 28, 1636 [see History of Harvard University ]. But if the founding is to be regarded as a process rather than as a single event [then John Harvard, by virtue of his bequest "at the very threshold of the College's existence and going further than any other contribution made up to that time to ensure its permanence"]

720-591: A suggestion from Thomas Hutchinson . After additional funds were raised, the chapel opened in March 1745. From 1744 to 1772 (except for 1767–68) the chapel housed morning and evening prayers for the Harvard student body, as well as providing space for some secular uses such as lectures. After the 1783 establishment of the Harvard Medical School , the building was used by its founder, John Warren , on

768-426: A type of the early comers to our shores ," he wrote, "I chose a lineal descendant of them for my model in the general structure of the face. He has more of what I want than anybody I know."  (Through his father Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar ‍—‌chairman of Harvard's Board of Overseers ‍—‌Sherman Hoar was descended from a brother of Harvard's fourth president Leonard Hoar , as well as from Roger Sherman ,

816-506: Is a grassy area of 22.4 acres (9.1 ha) bounded principally by Massachusetts Avenue , Cambridge Street, Broadway, and Quincy Street. Its perimeter fencing – principally iron, with some stretches of brick – has twenty-seven gates. The center of the Yard, known as Tercentenary Theatre , is a wide grassy area bounded by Widener Library , Memorial Church , University Hall , and Sever Hall . Tercentenary Theatre

864-504: Is authentic and what is mere inven­tion   ... It seems to me of very questionable expediency to get up a fictitious likeness of him and make up a figure according to our ideas of the man. A year later, in his oration before the unveiling of what he called "a simula­crum   ... a conception of what Harvard might have been in body and lineament, from what we know that he was in mind and in soul", Ellis answered Winthrop's criticism: This exquisite moulding in bronze serves

912-498: Is clearly entitled to be considered a founder. The General Court   ... acknowledged the fact by bestowing his name on the College. These are all familiar facts and it is well that they should be understood by the sons of Harvard. They are entirely compatible with the inscription on John Harvard's statue. There is no myth to be destroyed. The statue became the target of pranks soon after its unveiling. In 1884, The Harvard Crimson reported that, "Some ingenious persons covered

960-615: Is depicted on the United States Postal Service 's 1986 John Harvard stamp (part of its Great Americans series ). The facts as to John Harvard's relation to the found­ing of the Col­;lege   ... are entirely compati­ble with the inscription on John Harvard's statue. There is no myth to be destroyed. Jerome Davis Greene The monument's six-foot granite plinth is by Boston architect Charles Howard Walker . On its southern side (the side to

1008-401: Is necessarily much that is unsatisfactory in a wholly idealized represen­ta­tion by art of an historical person of whose form, features, and lineaments there are no certifications. But the few facts [known with certainty] concerning Harvard are certainly helpful to the artist. But Society president Robert Charles Winthrop harshly disapproved: It must be altogether a fancy sketch,

SECTION 20

#1732786650368

1056-478: Is the site of annual commencement exercises and other convocations . The western third of Harvard Yard, which opens onto Peabody Street (often mistaken for nearby Massachusetts Avenue) at Johnston Gate and abuts the center of Harvard Square to the south, is known as the Old Yard. Most of the freshman dormitories cluster around the Old Yard, including Massachusetts Hall (1720), Harvard's oldest building and

1104-633: The Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum , which collectively came to be known as the Holden Choirs . The chapel was remodeled in 1999 to serve as both a classroom and a musical rehearsal and performance space. Though no longer housing the Holden Choirs' offices, Holden Chapel now serves as their primary rehearsal space. Harvard Yard Harvard Yard is the oldest and among the most prominent parts of

1152-536: The Lampoon imagined the frustrations of the metallic, immobile John Harvard surrounded by Harvard under­graduates— Great men arise     /     Before my eyes     /     From yonder pile I founded While I must sit         /     Quite out of it             /     My jealousy unbounded —though twelve years later David McCord portrayed

1200-600: The John Harvard statue last night with a coat of tar. The same persons presum­ably, marked a large '87 on the wall at the entrance of the chapel,"  and in 1886 the Crimson mentions a further incident: "A graduate contribu­tor to the Advocate suggests that the editors of the college papers ferret out the authors of the small disturbances, such as the painting of the John Harvard statue."  Following

1248-569: The Old Yard from Johnston Gate is University Hall (1815), whose white-granite facade was the first to challenge the red-brick Georgian style until then ascendant; between its twin west staircases stands the John Harvard statue . University Hall contains major administrative offices, including those of the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the Dean of Harvard College . Libraries in

1296-525: The Rev. John Harvard, to be designed by Daniel C.   French of Concord   ... I am assured that the same can be in place by June   1, 1884. Bridge specified an "ideal" statue because there was then (as now) nothing to indicate what John Harvard had looked like; thus when French began work in September he used Harvard student Sherman Hoar as inspiration for the figure's face. "In looking about for

1344-411: The Yard are Widener Library , its connected Pusey Library annex, Houghton Library for rare books and manuscripts, and Lamont Library , the main undergraduate library. Classroom and departmental buildings include Emerson Hall, Sever Hall , Robinson Hall, and Boylston Hall. The Harvard Bixi , a Chinese stele with inscribed text, is located near Widener. The freshman dormitories of Harvard Yard include

1392-532: The campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts . The yard has a historic center and modern crossroads and contains most of the freshman dormitories , Harvard's most important libraries, Memorial Church , several classroom and departmental buildings, and the offices of senior university officials, including the President of Harvard University . The Yard grew over the centuries around Harvard College's first parcel of land, purchased in 1637. Today it

1440-770: The community . Administrative buildings in the Yard include the aforementioned University Hall and Massachusetts Hall; Loeb House, on the east side of the Yard; and Wadsworth House, on the south side. Loeb House is the home of Harvard's governing bodies: the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers . Wadsworth House houses the Harvard University Librarian and the Office of the University Marshal , among others. Lehman Hall , at

1488-452: The end, shall never fail our Alma Mater, notwithstanding her chronic poverty, will provide that this bronze shall be liquified again, and made to tell the whole known truth so as by fire. That John Harvard is wearing a skullcap is frequently overlooked. "Edward T. Wilcox, A.M.   '49   ... had a 38-year tenure at the College, during which he no doubt won many a highball with the following challenge [which he repeated during remarks at

Holden Chapel - Misplaced Pages Continue

1536-481: The founder as satisfied in his stationarity: "Is that you, John Harvard?"     /         I said to his statue. "Aye, that's me," said John,         /     "And after you're gone." A photograph of the statue appeared on the cover of the May 5, 1941 issue of Life magazine. Sometime in the 1990s tour guides began encouraging visitors to emulate

1584-413: The honorific founder . According to a Harvard official, the founding of the college was not the act of one but the work of many, and John Harvard is therefore considered not the founder, but rather a   founder, of the school, though the timeliness and generosity of his contribution have made him the most honored of these. Tourists often rub the toe of John Harvard ' s left shoe for luck in

1632-406: The impious phrase, 'To h—l with Yale.' He was of the opinion that a Harvard man would at least soften the profanity by varnishing it with Latin or Greek   ... Two detectives who were requested to ferret out the perpetrators paid little heed to the discussion on swear words, but kept their eyes on several impressions that had been made on the paint when it was fresh. One thought they were made by

1680-518: The men who did the 'fine art' work   ... I saw the ringleader on class day showing two very pretty girls around the 'yard'." In March 1934 Harvard athletes were suspected in the disappearance of Yale 's "ugly bulldog mascot", Handsome Dan . The dog was recovered a few days later, though not before the Harvard Lampoon had photographed him licking John Harvard ' s boots, which had been smeared with hamburger. ( "Dog licks man" ,

1728-467: The mistaken belief that doing so is a Harvard student tradition. The New York Times described the statue at its unveiling: The young clergyman is represented sitting, holding an open [book] on his knee. The costume is the simple clerical garb of the seventeenth century   ... low shoes, long, silk hose, loose knee breeches, and a tunic belted at the waist, while a long cloak, thrown back, falls in broad, picturesque folds. John Harvard's gift to

1776-399: The rear are the words GIVEN BY    •     SAMUEL JAMES BRIDGE    •   JUNE   17, 1883 . The face of the plinth is inscribed (in letters originally gilt ) JOHN HARVARD    •     FOUNDER    • 1638 ‍—‌words "hardly read before some smartass guide breezily informs

1824-451: The saintly, are never grudged some finer touches of the artist in tint or feature, which etherialize their beauty, or magnify their elevation, as expressed in the actual body,‍—‌the eye, the brow, the lip, the moulding of the mortal clay. To flatter is not always to falsify. Should there ever appear, however, some authentic portrai­ture of John Harvard, the pledge may here and now be ventured, that some generous friend, such as, to

1872-411: The school was £ 780 and‍—‌perhaps more importantly ‍—‌his 400-volume scholar's library: Partly under the chair, within easy reach, lie a pile of books. That he had died of tuberculosis , at about age thirty, was one of the few things known about John Harvard at the time of the statue's composition; as dedication orator George Edward Ellis put it: Gently touched by the weakness which

1920-400: The school's then-upcoming Tercenten­ary Celebration : The facts as to John Harvard's relation to the founding of the College are not at all in dispute nor can it be said that the statue in front of University Hall does any violence to them. No likeness of John Harvard having been preserved, the statue [is an "ideal" representa­tion]. If the founding of a university must be dated to

1968-530: The second-oldest academic building in the United States. Massachusetts Hall also houses the offices of the President of Harvard University. The original Harvard Hall in the Old Yard housed the College library, including the books donated by John Harvard —​all but one of which were destroyed when the building burned in 1764. Rebuilt in 1766, the current Harvard Hall now houses classrooms. Across

Holden Chapel - Misplaced Pages Continue

2016-514: The southwestern corner of the Yard, provides administrative services for students who live off-campus. 42°22′28″N 71°07′02″W  /  42.37447°N 71.11719°W  / 42.37447; -71.11719 John Harvard (statue) The statue's inscription‍—‌ JOHN HARVARD    •     FOUNDER    • 1638 ‍—‌is the subject of an arch polemic traditionally recited for visitors, questioning whether John Harvard justly merits

2064-545: The unsuspecting visitor that this is, after all, the 'Statue of the Three Lies ' " (as Douglas Shand-Tucci put it) because (as is ritually related to freshmen and visitors): However (Shand-Tucci continues) "the idea of the three lies is at best a fourth, and by far the greater falsehood,"  as detailed in a 1934 letter to the Harvard Crimson from the secretary of the Harvard Corporation and director of

2112-414: The upper levels of Massachusetts Hall , and Wigglesworth Hall , Weld Hall , Grays Hall , Matthews Hall , Straus Hall , Mower Hall , Hollis Hall , Stoughton Hall , Lionel Hall , Holworthy Hall , Canaday Hall , and Thayer Hall . Nestled among Mower, Hollis, Lionel, and Stoughton Halls is Holden Chapel , home of the Holden Choirs . Nearby is Phillips Brooks House, dedicated to student service to

2160-482: The viewer's right), in bronze, is the seal of John Harvard's alma mater, the University of Cambridge's Emmanuel College ; on the northern side is what Ellis called "that most felicitously chosen of all like devices , the three open books and the veritas of Harvard. The pupil of the one institution was the founder of the other, transferring learning from its foreign home to this once wilderness scene."  On

2208-487: The western end of Memorial Hall on the triangular city block then known as the Delta (see Memorial Hall ) . At its October 15, 1884 unveiling Ellis gave "a singularly felicitous address, telling the story of the life of John Harvard, who passes so mysteriously across the page of our early history."  In 1920 French wrote to Harvard president Abbott Lawrence Lowell desiring that the statue be relocated; in 1924 it

2256-466: Was moved from Memorial Hall (then the college dining hall‍—‌a Harvard Lampoon drawing showed John Harvard dismounting his plinth , chair in tow, and holding his nose because he "couldn't stand the smell of 'Mem' any longer") to its current location on the west side of Harvard Yard's University Hall , facing Harvard Hall , Massachusetts Hall , and the Johnston Gate . Later that year

2304-488: Was wasting his immature life, he rests for a moment from his converse with wisdom on the printed page, and raises his contemplative eye to the spaces of all wisdom. Historian Laurel Ulrich suggests that John Harvard ' s general composition may have been inspired by Hendrik Goltzius' engraving of Clio (the Greek muse of history), and that the figure's collar, buttons, tassel, and mustache may have been taken from

#367632