98-553: The Harvard University Herbaria and Botanical Museum are institutions located on the grounds of Harvard University at 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts . The Botanical Museum is one of three which comprise the Harvard Museum of Natural History . The Herbaria , founded in 1842 by Asa Gray , are one of the 10 largest in the world with over 5 million specimens, and including the Botany Libraries, form
196-464: A 2009 listed American Water Landmark located roughly one mile west of Fresh Pond and surrounded by the town of Belmont. The second area is the larger Hobbs Brook and Stony Brook watersheds, which share borders with neighboring towns and cities including Lexington, Lincoln , Waltham and Weston . Cambridge has been called the "City of Squares", as most of its commercial districts are major street intersections known as squares . Each square acts as
294-475: A Fitchburg Line commuter rail stop. Lesley University's University Hall and Porter campus are in Porter Square. Inman Square is at the junction of Cambridge and Hampshire streets in mid-Cambridge. It is home to restaurants, bars, music venues, and boutiques. Victorian streetlights, benches, and bus stops were added to the streets in the 2000s, and a new city park was installed. Lechmere Square
392-704: A 21-acre (8.5 ha) campus in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area in Boston , about 3.3 miles (5.3 km) south of the Cambridge campus. Several Harvard-affiliated hospitals and research institutes are also in Longwood, including Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center , Boston Children's Hospital , Brigham and Women's Hospital , Dana–Farber Cancer Institute , Joslin Diabetes Center , and
490-763: A 358-acre (145 ha) campus in the Allston section of Boston across the John W. Weeks Bridge , which crosses the Charles River and connects the Allston and Cambridge campuses. The university is actively expanding into Allston, where it now owns more land than in Cambridge. Plans include new construction and renovation for the Business School, a hotel and conference center, graduate student housing, Harvard Stadium, and other athletics facilities. In 2021,
588-554: A Free Society , was published by Harvard faculty, which remains one of the most important works in curriculum studies , and women were first admitted to the medical school . Between 1945 and 1960, admissions were standardized to open the university to a more diverse group of students. Following the end of World War II , for example, special exams were developed so veterans could be considered for admission. No longer drawing mostly from prestigious prep schools in New England ,
686-644: A founding member of the Biodiversity Heritage Library . The Ware Collection of Glass Models of Plants, popularly known as the " Glass Flowers ," are considered one of the University's great treasures. Commissioned by Goodale, sponsored by Elizabeth C. Ware and her daughter Mary (Goodale's former student), and created by Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka from 1887 through 1936, the collection comprises approximately 4,400 models including life-size and enlarged parts for over 840 species . This
784-545: A lab in 1982, in contrast to the hostility that caused the Genetic Institute, a Harvard spinoff, to abandon Somerville and Boston for Cambridge. The biotech and pharmaceutical industries have since thrived in Cambridge, which now includes headquarters for Biogen and Genzyme ; laboratories for Novartis , Teva , Takeda , Alnylam , Ironwood , Catabasis, Moderna Therapeutics , Editas Medicine ; support companies such as Cytel ; and many smaller companies. During
882-504: A large co-working space, is in Kendall Square at 1 Broadway. The Cambridge Center office complex is in Kendall Square, and not at the actual center of Cambridge. The "One Kendall Square" complex is nearby, but not actually in Kendall Square. Central Square is formed by the junction of Massachusetts Avenue, Prospect Street, and Western Avenue. Containing a variety of ethnic restaurants, it was economically depressed as recently as
980-646: A major transfer point to streetcars that also operated in a short tunnel —which is still a major bus terminal, although the area under the Square was reconfigured dramatically in the 1980s when the Red Line was extended. A short distance away from the square lies the Cambridge Common, while the neighborhood north of Harvard and east of Massachusetts Avenue is known as Baldwin, in honor of the first Black principal of Cambridge public schools, Maria L. Baldwin. It
1078-478: A neighborhood center. Kendall Square , formed by the junction of Broadway, Main Street, and Third Street, has been called "the most innovative square mile on the planet", owing to its high concentration of entrepreneurial start-ups and quality of innovation which have emerged in the vicinity of the square since 2010. Technology Square is an office and laboratory building cluster in this neighborhood. Just over
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#17327722016551176-587: A union. Bacow retired in June 2023, and on July 1 Claudine Gay , a Harvard professor in the Government and African American Studies departments and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences , became Harvard's 30th president. In January 2024, just six months into her presidency, Gay resigned following allegations of antisemitism and plagiarism . Gay was succeeded by Alan Garber , the university's provost, who
1274-459: A women's liberal arts college, was based in Cambridge from its 1879 founding until its assimilation into Harvard in 1999. Kendall Square , near MIT in the eastern part of Cambridge, has been called "the most innovative square mile on the planet" due to the high concentration of startup companies that have emerged there since 2010. Founded in December 1630 during the colonial era , Cambridge
1372-585: Is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts , United States. Founded October 28, 1636, and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard , it is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Its influence, wealth, and rankings have made it one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Harvard was founded and authorized by
1470-624: Is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts , United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston . The city's population as of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the most populous city in the county, the fourth-largest in Massachusetts behind Boston , Worcester , and Springfield , and ninth-most populous in New England . The city
1568-610: Is at the junction of Cambridge and First streets, adjacent to the CambridgeSide Galleria shopping mall. It is served by Lechmere station on the MBTA Green Line . The City of Cambridge officially recognizes 13 neighborhoods, which are as follows: In the Köppen-Geiger classification, Cambridge has a hot-summer humid continental climate (Dfa) with hot summers and cold winters, that can appear in
1666-467: Is now within Harvard Square . The marketplace where farmers sold crops from surrounding towns at the edge of a salt marsh (since filled) remains within a small park at the corner of John F. Kennedy and Winthrop Streets. In 1636, Newe College, later renamed Harvard College after benefactor John Harvard , was founded as North America's first institution of higher learning . Its initial purpose
1764-483: Is south of Central Square, and bordered by MIT, the Charles River, Massachusetts Avenue, and River Street. Harvard Square is formed by the junction of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street, Dunster Street, and JFK Street. This is the primary site of Harvard University and a major Cambridge shopping area. It is served by a Red Line station . Harvard Square was originally the Red Line's northwestern terminus and
1862-728: Is the only collection of its type in the world. The Botanical Museum of Harvard University and the other museums that comprise the Harvard Museum of Natural History are physically connected to the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and one admission grants visitors access to all museums. The Herbaria publishes the journal Harvard Papers in Botany . 42°22′43.75″N 71°06′52.52″W / 42.3788194°N 71.1145889°W / 42.3788194; -71.1145889 Harvard University Harvard University
1960-803: The Allston neighborhood of Boston ; and the medical campus in Boston's Longwood Medical Area . Harvard's endowment , valued at $ 50.7 billion , makes it the wealthiest academic institution in the world. Harvard Library , with more than 20 million volumes, is the world's largest academic library . Harvard alumni, faculty, and researchers include 188 living billionaires , eight U.S. presidents , 24 heads of state and 31 heads of government , founders of notable companies, Nobel laureates , Fields Medalists , members of Congress , MacArthur Fellows , Rhodes Scholars , Marshall Scholars , Turing Award Recipients , Pulitzer Prize recipients, and Fulbright Scholars ; by most metrics, Harvard University ranks among
2058-602: The American Civil War , under Harvard president Charles William Eliot 's long tenure from 1869 to 1909, Harvard developed multiple professional schools, which transformed it into a modern research university . In 1900, Harvard co-founded the Association of American Universities . James B. Conant led the university through the Great Depression and World War II , and liberalized admissions after
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#17327722016552156-525: The American Revolution . In the 19th century, Harvard was influenced by Enlightenment Age ideas, including reason and free will, which were widespread among Congregational ministers and which placed these ministers and their congregations at odds with more traditionalist, Calvinist pastors and clergies. Following the death of Hollis Professor of Divinity David Tappan in 1803 and that of Joseph Willard , Harvard's eleventh president,
2254-478: The Cambridge and Concord Turnpike (today's Broadway and Concord Ave.), the Middlesex Turnpike (Hampshire St. and Massachusetts Ave. northwest of Porter Square ), and what are today's Cambridge, Main, and Harvard Streets connected various areas of Cambridge to the bridges. In addition, the town was connected to the Boston & Maine Railroad , leading to the development of Porter Square as well as
2352-533: The Carnegie Classification . The medical school consistently ranks first among medical schools for research, and biomedical research is an area of particular strength for the university. More than 11,000 faculty and 1,600 graduate students conduct research at the medical school and its 15 affiliated hospitals and research institutes. In 2019, the medical school and its affiliates attracted $ 1.65 billion in competitive research grants from
2450-586: The Continental Army and appointed George Washington commander of it, Washington arrived at Cambridge Common to take command of the Patriot soldiers camped there. Many of these soldiers played a role in supporting Washington's successful Siege of Boston , which trapped garrisoned British troops from moving by land, forcing the British to ultimately abandon Boston. Cambridge Common is thus celebrated as
2548-494: The Darfur genocide , and tobacco , fossil fuel , and private prison industries. In the late 1980s, during the disinvestment from South Africa movement, student activists erected a symbolic shanty town on Harvard Yard and blockaded a speech by South African Vice Consul Duke Kent-Brown. The university eventually reduced its South African holdings by $ 230 million , out of a total of $ 400 million , in response to
2646-452: The Faculty of Arts and Sciences , including Sever Hall , Harvard Hall , and freshman dormitories . Upperclassmen live in the twelve residential houses , located south of Harvard Yard near the Charles River and on Radcliffe Quadrangle , which formerly housed Radcliffe College students. Each house is a community of undergraduates, faculty deans, and resident tutors, with its own dining hall, library, and recreational facilities. Also on
2744-589: The Fig Newton , Necco , Squirrel Brands , George Close Company (1861–1930s), Page & Shaw , Daggett Chocolate (1892–1960s, recipes bought by Necco), Fox Cross Company (1920–1980, originator of the Charleston Chew , and now part of Tootsie Roll Industries ), Kendall Confectionery Company, and James O. Welch (1927–1963, originator of Junior Mints , Sugar Daddies , Sugar Mamas , and Sugar Babies , now part of Tootsie Roll Industries). Main Street
2842-614: The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences , the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) , and the Division of Continuing Education , which includes Harvard Summer School and Harvard Extension School . There are nine other graduate and professional faculties and a faculty attacked to the Harvard Radcliffe Institute . There are four Harvard joint programs with MIT , which include
2940-413: The Great Depression and after World War II , Cambridge lost much of its industrial base. It also began to become an intellectual, rather than an industrial, center. Harvard University , which had always been important as both a landowner and an institution, began to play a more dominant role in the city's life and culture. When Radcliffe College was established in 1879, the town became a mecca for some of
3038-648: The Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences expanded into the new Allston-based Science and Engineering Complex (SEC), which is more than 500,000 square feet in size. SEC is adjacent to the Enterprise Research Campus, the Business School, and Harvard Innovation Labs, and designed to encourage technology- and life science-focused startups and collaborations with mature companies. The university's schools of Medicine , Dental Medicine , and Public Health are located on
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3136-638: The Harvard–MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology , the Broad Institute , The Observatory of Economic Complexity , and edX . The university maintains 12 schools, which include: Harvard is a founding member of the Association of American Universities and a preeminent research university with "very high" research activity (R1) and comprehensive doctoral programs across the arts, sciences, engineering, and medicine, according to
3234-681: The Longfellow Bridge from Boston, at the eastern end of the MIT campus, it is served by the Kendall/MIT station on the MBTA Red Line subway. Most of Cambridge's large office towers are located in the Square. Kendall Square houses some of the biggest technological companies of the world, including Google , Microsoft , Amazon , Meta , and Apple . A biotech industry has developed in this area. The Cambridge Innovation Center ,
3332-647: The Massachusetts General Court purchased the land that became present-day Cambridge from the Naumkeag Squaw Sachem of Mistick . The town comprised a much larger area than the present city, with various outlying parts becoming independent towns over the years: Cambridge Village (later Newtown and now Newton ) in 1688, Cambridge Farms (now Lexington ) in 1712 or 1713, and Little or South Cambridge (now Brighton ) and Menotomy or West Cambridge (now Arlington ) in 1807. In
3430-423: The Massachusetts General Court , the governing legislature of colonial -era Massachusetts Bay Colony . While never formally affiliated with any denomination , Harvard trained Congregational clergy until its curriculum and student body were gradually secularized in the 18th century. By the 19th century, Harvard emerged as the most prominent academic and cultural institution among the Boston elite . Following
3528-672: The National Institutes of Health , more than twice that of any other university. Harvard Library , the largest academic library in the world with 20.4 million holdings, is centered in Widener Library in Harvard Yard . It includes 25 individual Harvard libraries around the world with a combined staff of more than 800 librarians and personnel. Houghton Library , the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on
3626-826: The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering . Additional affiliates, including Massachusetts General Hospital , are located throughout Greater Boston . Harvard owns Dumbarton Oaks , a research library in Washington, D.C., Harvard Forest in Petersham, Massachusetts , Concord Field Station in Estabrook Woods in Concord, Massachusetts , the Villa I Tatti research center in Florence , Italy, and
3724-413: The 20th century, as its endowment burgeoned and prominent intellectuals and professors affiliated with it, Harvard University's reputation as one of the world's most prestigious universities grew notably. The university's enrollment also underwent substantial growth, a product of both the founding of new graduate academic programs and an expansion of the undergraduate college . Radcliffe College emerged as
3822-629: The Cambridge Housing Authority and the Public Works Administration demolished an integrated low-income tenement neighborhood with African Americans and European immigrants. In its place, it built the whites-only " Newtowne Court " public housing development and the adjoining, blacks-only " Washington Elms " project in 1940; the city required segregation in its other public housing projects as well. As industry in New England began to decline during
3920-974: The Center for Hellenic Studies in Greece. https://greece.chs.harvard.edu the Harvard Shanghai Center in Shanghai , China, and Arnold Arboretum in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston. Harvard is governed by a combination of its Board of Overseers and the President and Fellows of Harvard College , which is also known as the Harvard Corporation. These two bodies, in turn, appoint the President of Harvard University . There are 16,000 staff and faculty, including 2,400 professors, lecturers, and instructors. Harvard has
4018-793: The Harvard Library system include Baker Library/Bloomberg Center at Harvard Business School , Cabot Science Library at Harvard Science Center , Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C. , Gutman Library at the Harvard Graduate School of Education , Harvard Film Archive at the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts , Houghton Library , and Lamont Library . Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( / ˈ k eɪ m b r ɪ dʒ / KAYM -brij )
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4116-732: The History of Women in America, and the Harvard University Archives consist principally of rare and unique materials. The nation's oldest collection of maps, gazetteers, and atlases is stored in Pusey Library on Harvard Yard , which is open to the public. The largest collection of East-Asian language material outside of East Asia is held in Harvard-Yenching Library . Other major libraries in
4214-581: The birthplace of the Continental Army. The Massachusett inhabited the area that is now called Cambridge for thousands of years prior to European colonization of the Americas , most recently under the name Anmoughcawgen , which means 'fishing weir' or 'beaver dam' in Natick . At the time of European contact, the area was inhabited by Naumkeag or Pawtucket to the north and Massachusett to
4312-423: The building was completed in 1890 and provided both research facilities and public exhibit space, which were the botanical complement to the " Agassiz " Museum of Comparative Zoology . Three successive directors substantially enlarged the collections of economic products, medicinal plants , artifacts , archeological materials, pollen , and photographs . Faculty and students continue to add significantly to
4410-473: The bursting of the United States housing bubble in 2008 and 2009. Cambridge has been a sanctuary city since 1985 and reaffirmed its status as such in 2006. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , Cambridge has a total area of 7.1 square miles (18 km ), 6.4 square miles (17 km ) of which is land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km ) (9.82%) of which is water. Cambridge is located in eastern Massachusetts, bordered by: The border between Cambridge and
4508-470: The carving up of the last estates into residential subdivisions to house the thousands of immigrants who arrived to work in the new industries. For much of the 19th and early 20th centuries, the city's largest employer was the New England Glass Company , founded in 1818. By the middle of the 19th century, it was the world's largest and most modern glassworks. In 1888, Edward Drummond Libbey moved all production to Toledo, Ohio , where it continues today under
4606-472: The churches when our present ministers shall lie in the dust." In its early years, the college trained many Puritan ministers and offered a classical curriculum based on the English university model many colonial-era Massachusetts leaders experienced at the University of Cambridge , where many of them studied prior to immigrating to British America . Harvard never formally affiliated with any particular Protestant denomination, but its curriculum conformed to
4704-406: The city . Within four years of repealing the law, Cambridge, where "the city's form of rent control was unusually strict," saw new housing and construction increase by 50%, and the tax revenue from construction permits tripled. Property values in Cambridge increased by about $ 7.8 billion in the decade following the repeal. Roughly a quarter of this increase, $ 1.8 billion ($ 3 billion in 2024 dollars),
4802-477: The city. The population density was 16,354.9 inhabitants per square mile (6,314.7/km ). There were 47,291 housing units at an average density of 7,354.7 per square mile (2,839.7/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 66.60% White , 11.70% Black or African American , 0.20% Native American , 15.10% Asian (3.7% Chinese , 1.4% Asian Indian , 1.2% Korean , 1.0% Japanese ), 0.01% Pacific Islander , 2.10% from other races, and 4.30% from two or more races. 7.60% of
4900-453: The construction of West Boston Bridge in 1792 connecting Cambridge directly to Boston , making it no longer necessary to travel eight miles (13 km) through the Boston Neck , Roxbury , and Brookline to cross the Charles River . A second bridge, the Canal Bridge, opened in 1809 alongside the new Middlesex Canal . The new bridges and roads made what were formerly estates and marshland into prime industrial and residential districts. In
4998-520: The creation of neighboring Somerville from the formerly rural parts of Charlestown . Cambridge was incorporated as a city in 1846. The city's commercial center began to shift from Harvard Square to Central Square, which became the city's downtown around that time. Between 1850 and 1900, Cambridge took on much of its present character, featuring streetcar suburban development along the turnpikes and working class and industrial neighborhoods focused on East Cambridge, comfortable middle-class housing on
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#17327722016555096-588: The era of rent control in Massachusetts , at least 20 percent of all rent controlled apartments in Cambridge housed the rich. The vast majority housed middle- and high-income earners. In an independent study conducted of 2/3 of the rent controlled apartments in Cambridge in 1988, 246 were households headed by doctors, 298 by lawyers, 265 by architects, 259 by professors, and 220 by engineers. There were 2,650 with students, including 1,503 with graduate students. Those who lived in rent controlled apartments included The end of rent control in 1994 had numerous effects on
5194-473: The extensive paleobotanical collections, particularly Precambrian material containing early life forms. The Oakes Ames Collection of Economic Botany, the Paleobotanical Collection (including the Pollen Collection), and the Margaret Towle Collection of Archaeological Plant Remains are housed in the Botanical Museum building. The Botany libraries and various herbaria are located in the Harvard University Herbaria building. The Botany Libraries collectively are
5292-409: The female counterpart of Harvard College, becoming one of the most prominent schools in the nation for women. In 1923, a year after the percentage of Jewish students at Harvard reached 20%, A. Lawrence Lowell , the university's 22nd president, unsuccessfully proposed capping the admission of Jewish students to 15% of the undergraduate population. Lowell also refused to mandate forced desegregation in
5390-522: The first convenient Charles River crossing west of Boston , Newtowne was one of several towns, including Boston, Dorchester , Watertown , and Weymouth , founded by the 700 original Puritan colonists of the Massachusetts Bay Colony under Governor John Winthrop . Its first preacher was Thomas Hooker , who led many of its original inhabitants west in 1636 to found Hartford and the Connecticut Colony ; before leaving, they sold their plots to more recent immigrants from England. The original village site
5488-602: The first network router in 1969 and hosted the invention of computer-to-computer email in 1971. The 1980s brought a wave of high technology startups. Those selling advanced minicomputers were overtaken by the microcomputer . Cambridge-based VisiCorp made the first spreadsheet software for personal computers, VisiCalc , and helped propel the Apple II to consumer success. It was overtaken and purchased by Cambridge-based Lotus Development , maker of Lotus 1-2-3 (which was, in turn, replaced in by Microsoft Excel ). The city continues to be home to many startups. Kendall Square
5586-455: The following year, a struggle broke out over their replacements. In 1805, Henry Ware was elected to replace Tappan as Hollis chair. Two years later, in 1807, liberal Samuel Webber was appointed as Harvard's 13th president, representing a shift from traditional ideas at Harvard to more liberal and Arminian ideas. In 1816, Harvard University launched new language programs in the study of French and Spanish , and appointed George Ticknor
5684-507: The following year. In 1638, the university acquired British North America 's first known printing press . The same year, on his deathbed, John Harvard , a Puritan clergyman who emigrated to the colony from England, bequeathed the emerging college £780 and his library of some 320 volumes; the following year, it was named Harvard College . In 1643, a Harvard publication defined the college's purpose: "advance learning and perpetuate it to posterity, dreading to leave an illiterate ministry to
5782-469: The force of Patriot soldiers camped on Cambridge Common on July 3, 1775, which is now considered the birthplace of the Continental Army . On January 24, 1776, Henry Knox arrived with an artillery train captured from Fort Ticonderoga , which allowed Washington to force the British Army to evacuate Boston . Most of the Loyalist estates in Cambridge were confiscated after the Revolutionary War . Between 1790 and 1840, Cambridge grew rapidly with
5880-486: The largest university endowment in the world, valued at about $ 50.7 billion as of 2023. During the recession of 2007–2009 , it suffered significant losses that forced large budget cuts, in particular temporarily halting construction on the Allston Science Complex. The endowment has since recovered. About $ 2 billion of investment income is annually distributed to fund operations. Harvard's ability to fund its degree and financial aid programs depends on
5978-428: The late 1990s; it underwent gentrification in recent years (in conjunction with the development of the nearby University Park at MIT ), and continues to grow more costly. It is served by the Central Station stop on the MBTA Red Line subway. Lafayette Square , formed by the junction of Massachusetts Avenue, Columbia Street, Sidney Street, and Main Street, is considered part of the Central Square area. Cambridgeport
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#17327722016556076-456: The late 19th century, Harvard University's graduate schools began admitting women in small numbers. In 1900, Harvard became a founding member of the Association of American Universities . For the first few decades of the 20th century, the Harvard student body was predominantly "old-stock, high-status Protestants , especially Episcopalians , Congregationalists , and Presbyterians ," according to sociologist and author Jerome Karabel . Over
6174-416: The late 19th century, various schemes for annexing Cambridge to Boston were pursued and rejected. Newtowne's ministers, Hooker and Shepard, the college's first president , the college's major benefactor, and the first schoolmaster Nathaniel Eaton were all Cambridge alumni, as was the colony's governor John Winthrop. In 1629, Winthrop had led the signing of the founding document of the city of Boston, which
6272-441: The main campus in Cambridge are the Law , Divinity (theology), Engineering and Applied Science , Design (architecture), Education , Kennedy (public policy), and Extension schools, and Harvard Radcliffe Institute in Radcliffe Yard. Harvard also has commercial real estate holdings in Cambridge. Harvard Business School , Harvard Innovation Labs , and many athletics facilities, including Harvard Stadium , are located on
6370-421: The mid-19th century, Cambridge was the center of a literary revolution. It was home to some of the famous Fireside poets , named because their poems would often be read aloud by families in front of their evening fires. The Fireside poets, including Henry Wadsworth Longfellow , James Russell Lowell , and Oliver Wendell Holmes , were highly popular and influential in this era. Soon after, turnpikes were built:
6468-431: The name Owens-Illinois . The company's flint glassware with heavy lead content is prized by antique glass collectors, and the Toledo Museum of Art has a large collection. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Sandwich Glass Museum on Cape Cod also house several pieces. In 1895, Edwin Ginn , founder of Ginn and Company , built the Athenaeum Press Building for his publishing textbook empire. By 1920, Cambridge
6566-403: The nation's most academically talented female students. MIT 's move from Boston to Cambridge in 1916 reinforced Cambridge's status as an intellectual center of the United States. After the 1950s, the city's population began to decline slowly as families tended to be replaced by single people and young couples. In Cambridge Highlands, the technology company Bolt, Beranek, & Newman produced
6664-461: The neighboring city of Somerville passes through densely populated neighborhoods, which are connected by the MBTA Red Line . Some of the main squares, Inman , Porter, and to a lesser extent, Harvard and Lechmere , are very close to the city line, as are Somerville's Union and Davis Squares . Through the City of Cambridge's exclusive municipal water system, the city further controls two exclave areas, one being Payson Park Reservoir and Gatehouse,
6762-413: The old Cambridgeport, and Mid-Cambridge estates and upper-class enclaves near Harvard University and on the minor hills. The arrival of the railroad in North Cambridge and Northwest Cambridge led to three changes: the development of massive brickyards and brickworks between Massachusetts Avenue , Concord Avenue , and Alewife Brook ; the ice-cutting industry launched by Frederic Tudor on Fresh Pond ; and
6860-476: The performance of its endowment; a poor performance in fiscal year 2016 forced a 4.4% cut in the number of graduate students funded by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences . Endowment income is critical, as only 22% of revenue is from students' tuition, fees, room, and board. Since the 1970s, several student-led campaigns have advocated divesting Harvard's endowment from controversial holdings, including investments in South Africa during apartheid , Sudan during
6958-482: The population were Hispanic or Latino of any race (1.6% Puerto Rican , 1.4% Mexican , 0.6% Dominican , 0.5% Colombian & Salvadoran , 0.4% Spaniard ). Non-Hispanic Whites were 62.1% of the population in 2010, down from 89.7% in 1970. An individual resident of Cambridge is known as a Cantabrigian . In 2010, there were 44,032 households, out of which 16.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 28.9% were married couples living together, 8.4% had
7056-432: The pressure. Harvard is a large, highly residential research university offering 50 undergraduate majors, 134 graduate degrees, and 32 professional degrees. During the 2018–2019 academic year, Harvard granted 1,665 baccalaureate degrees, 1,013 graduate degrees, and 5,695 professional degrees. Harvard College , the four-year, full-time undergraduate program, has a liberal arts and sciences focus. To graduate in
7154-461: The south, and may have been inhabited by other groups such as the Totant, not well described in later European narratives. The contact period introduced a number of European infectious diseases which would decimate native populations in virgin soil epidemics , leaving the area uncontested upon the arrival of large groups of English settlers in 1630. In December 1630, the site of present-day Cambridge
7252-402: The southern end of New England's interior. Abundant rain falls on the city (and in the winter often as snow); it has no dry season. The average January temperature is 26.6 °F (−3 °C), making Cambridge part of Group D, independent of the isotherm. There are four well-defined seasons. As of the census of 2010, there were 105,162 people, 44,032 households, and 17,420 families residing in
7350-423: The surrounding Harvard Square neighborhood. The Yard houses several Harvard buildings, including four of the university's libraries, Houghton , Lamont , Pusey , and Widener . Also on Harvard Yard are Massachusetts Hall , built between 1718 and 1720 and the university's oldest still standing building, Memorial Church , and University Hall Harvard Yard and adjacent areas include the main academic buildings of
7448-460: The tenets of Puritanism. In 1650, the charter for Harvard Corporation , the college's governing body, was granted. From 1681 to 1701, Increase Mather , a Puritan clergyman, served as Harvard's sixth president . In 1708, John Leverett became Harvard's seventh president and the first president who was not also a clergyman. Harvard faculty and students largely supported the Patriot cause during
7546-498: The top universities in the world in each of these categories. Harvard students and alumni have also collectively won 10 Academy Awards and 110 Olympic medals , including 46 gold. Harvard was founded in 1636 during the colonial , pre- Revolutionary era by vote of the Great and General Court of Massachusetts Bay Colony , one of the original Thirteen Colonies of British America . Its first headmaster, Nathaniel Eaton , took office
7644-515: The town comprising farms and estates. Most inhabitants were descendants of the original Puritan colonists, but there was also a small elite of Anglican "worthies" who were not involved in village life, made their livings from estates, investments, and trade, and lived in mansions along "the Road to Watertown", present-day Brattle Street , which is still known as Tory Row . The Virginian George Washington , coming from Philadelphia , took command of
7742-498: The undergraduate college became accessible to striving middle class students from public schools; many more Jews and Catholics were admitted, but still few Blacks, Hispanics, or Asians versus the representation of these groups in the general U.S. population. Over the second half of the 20th century, however, the university became incrementally more diverse. Between 1971 and 1999, Harvard controlled undergraduate admission, instruction, and housing for Radcliffe's women; in 1999, Radcliffe
7840-400: The university's freshman dormitories , writing that, "We owe to the colored man the same opportunities for education that we do to the white man, but we do not owe to him to force him and the white into social relations that are not, or may not be, mutually congenial." Between 1933 and 1953, Harvard University was led by James B. Conant , the university's 23rd president, who reinvigorated
7938-428: The university's creative scholarship in an effort to guarantee Harvard's preeminence among the nation and world's emerging research institutions. Conant viewed higher education as a vehicle of opportunity for the talented rather than an entitlement for the wealthy, and devised programs to identify, recruit, and support talented youth. In 1945, under Conant's leadership, an influential 268-page report, General Education in
8036-531: The university's first professor for these language programs. From 1869 to 1909, Charles William Eliot , Harvard University's 21st president, decreased the historically favored position of Christianity in the curriculum, opening it to student self-direction. Though Eliot was an influential figure in the secularization of U.S. higher education, he was motivated primarily by Transcendentalist and Unitarian convictions influenced by William Ellery Channing , Ralph Waldo Emerson , and others, rather than secularism. In
8134-507: The usual four years, undergraduates normally take four courses per semester. In most majors, an honors degree requires advanced coursework and a senior thesis. Though some introductory courses have large enrollments, the median class size is 12 students. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences , with an academic staff of 1,211 as of 2019, is the largest Harvard faculty, and has primary responsibility for instruction in Harvard College ,
8232-472: The war. The university has ten academic faculties and a faculty attached to Harvard Radcliffe Institute . The Faculty of Arts and Sciences offers study in a wide range of undergraduate and graduate academic disciplines , and other faculties offer graduate degrees, including professional degrees. Harvard has three campuses: the main campus, a 209-acre (85 ha) in Cambridge centered on Harvard Yard ; an adjoining campus immediately across Charles River in
8330-679: The world's largest university owned herbarium. The Gray Herbarium is named after him. HUH hosts the Gray Herbarium Index (GCI) as well as an extensive specimen, botanist, and publications database. HUH was the center for botanical research in the United States of America by the time of its founder's retirement in the 1870s. The materials deposited there are one of the three major sources for the International Plant Names Index . The Botanical museum
8428-489: Was a software hub through the dot-com boom and today hosts offices of such technology companies as Google, Microsoft , and Amazon . The Square also now houses the headquarters of Akamai . In 1976, Harvard's plans to start experiments with recombinant DNA led to a three-month moratorium and a citizen review panel. In the end, Cambridge decided to allow such experiments but passed safety regulations in 1977. This led to regulatory certainty and acceptance when Biogen opened
8526-464: Was appointed interim president. In August 2024, the university announced that Garber would be appointed Harvard's 31st president through the end of the 2026–27 academic year. The 209-acre (85 ha) main campus of Harvard University is centered on Harvard Yard , colloquially known as "the Yard," in Cambridge, Massachusetts , about 3 miles (5 km) west-northwest of downtown Boston , and extending to
8624-482: Was chosen for settlement because it was safely upriver from Boston Harbor , making it easily defensible from attacks by enemy ships. The city was founded by Thomas Dudley , his daughter Anne Bradstreet , and his son-in-law Simon Bradstreet . The first houses were built in the spring of 1631. The settlement was initially referred to as "the newe towne". Official Massachusetts records show the name rendered as Newe Towne by 1632, and as Newtowne by 1638. Located at
8722-548: Was due to the repeal of rent control. Close to 40% of all Cambridge properties were under rent control when it was repealed. Their property values appreciated faster than non-rent controlled properties, as did the properties around them. By the end of the 20th century, Cambridge had one of the most costly housing markets in the Northeastern United States . Cambridge's mix of amenities and proximity to Boston kept housing prices relatively stable despite
8820-458: Was formally merged into Harvard University. On July 1, 2007, Drew Gilpin Faust , dean of Harvard Radcliffe Institute , was appointed Harvard's 28th and the university's first female president. On July 1, 2018, Faust retired and joined the board of Goldman Sachs , and Lawrence Bacow became Harvard's 29th president . In February 2023, approximately 6,000 Harvard workers attempted to organize
8918-604: Was founded in 1858. It was originally called the Museum of Vegetable Products and was predominantly focused on an interdisciplinary study of useful plants (i.e. economic botany and horticulture ). The nucleus of materials for this museum was donated by Sir William Hooker , the Director of the Royal Botanic Garden . Professor George Lincoln Goodale became the museum's first director in 1888; under his direction
9016-521: Was known as the Cambridge Agreement , after the university. In 1650, Governor Thomas Dudley signed the charter creating the corporation that still governs Harvard College. Cambridge grew slowly as an agricultural village eight miles (13 km) by road from Boston, the colony 's capital. By the American Revolution , most residents lived near the Common and Harvard College, with most of
9114-542: Was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge , England, which was an important center of the Puritan theology that was embraced by the town's founders. Harvard University , an Ivy League university founded in Cambridge in 1636, is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Lesley University , and Hult International Business School also are based in Cambridge. Radcliffe College ,
9212-743: Was nicknamed "Confectioner's Row". Only the Cambridge Brands subsidiary of Tootsie Roll Industries remains in town, still manufacturing Junior Mints in the old Welch factory on Main Street. The Blake and Knowles Steam Pump Company (1886), the Kendall Boiler and Tank Company (1880, now in Chelmsford, Massachusetts ), and the New England Glass Company (1818–1878) were among the industrial manufacturers in what are now Kendall Square and East Cambridge. In 1935,
9310-782: Was one among the first cities established in the Thirteen Colonies , and it went on to play a historic role during the American Revolution . In May 1775, approximately 16,000 American patriots assembled in Cambridge Common to begin organizing a military retaliation against British troops following the Battles of Lexington and Concord . On July 2, 1775, two weeks after the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia formally established
9408-633: Was one of New England 's main industrial cities, with nearly 120,000 residents. Among the largest businesses in Cambridge during the period of industrialization was Carter's Ink Company , whose neon sign long adorned the Charles River and which was for many years the world's largest ink manufacturer. Next door was the Athenaeum Press. Confectionery and snack manufacturers in the Cambridgeport-Area 4-Kendall corridor included Kennedy Biscuit Factory, later part of Nabisco and originator of
9506-479: Was renamed "Baldwin" in 2021, and so some know the area better by its former name, Agassiz, after the famed scientist Louis Agassiz . Porter Square is about a mile north on Massachusetts Avenue from Harvard Square, at the junction of Massachusetts and Somerville Avenues. It includes part of the city of Somerville and is served by the Porter Square Station , a complex housing a Red Line stop and
9604-429: Was training ministers . According to Cotton Mather , Newtowne was chosen for the site of the college by the Great and General Court , then the legislature of Massachusetts Bay Colony , primarily for its proximity to the popular and highly respected Puritan preacher Thomas Shepard . In May 1638, the settlement's name was changed to Cambridge in honor of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge , England. In 1639,
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