design - The Cambridge Historical Commission Blog

Torn Down Tuesday – Harvard Botanic Garden Greenhouse

Posted on April 28, 2020May 13, 2020 by cambridgehistoricalcommission

greenhouse_Page_1 — View of the greenhouse complex from within the garden, 1867.

From 1805 to 1948, Harvard University operated a botanic garden under the direction of its botany department. In addition to its role in scientific research and education, the garden was open to the public and became a very popular park. Located on seven acres at the corner of Linnaean and Garden streets, the garden featured a greenhouse filled with exotic tropical plants. The structure was one of several buildings organized in a line on the northern, elevated portion of the site, including the professor’s residence, a herbarium, a library, and a lecture room.

Screenshot 2020-04-28 09.41.29B — 1886 Hopkins atlas showing the layout of the botanical garden buildings and walkway circulation. The greenhouse complex is circled in red.

The greenhouse was designed by Ithiel Town who also designed the professor’s residence (now located at 88 Garden Street). Known for his Greek Revival designs, Town also developed a truss system for bridges, which is named after him. The dimensions of the greenhouse are not known. The structure consisted of a semicircular central block with a pitched roof and lower wings that also had pitched roofs. Cold frames were located along the southern foundation, and a toolshed/workshop was located at the north wall. Wooden shutters slid up and down on tracks. Two cisterns inside the greenhouse were filled with water from a nearby spring, and two wood- and coal-burning stoves heated the structure. The greenhouse featured a traveler’s tree of Madagascar (Ravenala madagascariensis), Indian bamboo (Bambusa bosa), an extensive collection of cacti and palm plants, and over 200 orchids.

greenhouse_Page_2b — View of greenhouse to the right, along with library and herbarium situated on a terrace overlooking the botanical garden, 1867.

An article in a publication called The Century Illustrated Monthly from 1886 described the greenhouse complex:

“From the lecture room, you may pass directly into the conservatory, or what is pleasanter, you may walk out around the big hickory on the terrace and enter the rounded front of the central greenhouse, where an ambitious bamboo almost fills the doorway with masses of dark green drooping leaves … . There are several distinct compartments so as to suit the different requirements of the tropical and sub-tropical plants here brought together from all parts of the world. The 1400 species grown insure a goodly supply of blossoms at all seasons of the year, and hundreds of kinds not found in other greenhouses.”

The structure was razed in the late 1940s to make way for a new residential development for Harvard faculty and students, as well as returning military servicemen.

With the establishment of the Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain in 1872, research on woody plants was moved to that location. The herbarium collection continues to be maintained by Harvard at a facility at 22 Divinity Avenue. The former herbarium building, now known as Kittredge Hall, is the home of Harvard University Press.

Below are several illustrations of the greenhouse and plants in The Century Monthly Illustrated drawn by Roger Riordan, Harry Fenn, Francis Lathrop, and E. P. Hayden.

Pages from THE_CENTURY_ILLUSTRATED_MONTHLY_MAGAZINE-2

Sources:

Ernest Ingersoll, “Harvard’s Botanic Garden and Its Botanists,” The Century Monthly Illustrated, 1886, pp.242-243.

Susan E. Maycock and Charles M. Sullivan, Building Old Cambridge, 2016.

Charles A. Hammond, “The Botanic Garden in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1805-1834,” The Herbarist, Vol. 53, 1987, The Herb Society of America.

Torn Down Tuesday: 8 Dana Street

Posted on March 24, 2020 by Meta Partenheimer

Raymond_statearchives — Massachusetts State Senator Zebina Lee Raymond (1804-1872), State Library of Massachusetts

Happy Torn Down Tuesday! Today we are featuring the two-story home that once stood at 8 Dana Street on the corner of Centre Street. Built in 1848, this elaborately ornate Italiante-style home was commissioned by the Honorable Zebina L. Raymond, a Senator and Mayor of Cambridge.

CambChron_1June1848 — Clipping describing Raymond’s house, *Cambridge Chronicle* (1 June 1848)

The house and land was purchased by Henry B. Ward in 1856 who in turn sold the house to merchant John S. Paine two years later. Paine’s Furniture Company was once the largest business of its kind in New England.

CambChron_7June1884 — Advertisement for Paine’s, Cambridge Chronicle (7 June 1884)

Paine executed many renovations in the home including new window treatments, gas fixtures, chandeliers, and carpets. The house was again renovated in 1891 when Paine contracted Wellington Fillmore to build a one-story addition.

PanasonicMECH=KV-S7075C
SIDE=F — Photograph of 8 Dana St taken by Denys Peter Myers, Jr. or Richard Ruggles (1937)

The home was described in Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge Vol. 2: Mid Cambridge as follows:

Although the gable ends of 8 Dana Street have cornices carried across to form pediments in the Greek Revival manner, the rest of the detail is Italiante. The house is pictorial in effect, with much of its quality depending on the play of light and shadow across the wall surfaces and under the arcaded porches. (p. 53)

In 1911, owner Sterling F. Hayward contracted the well-known Cambridge architect John A. Hasty to complete alterations in the sum of $3,000–nearly $80,000 in today’s money. Hasty is also responsible for designing the Cambridge Mutual Fire Insurance building and “The University” apartments–both on Massachusetts Avenue.

In the 1920s, the building was purchased by Mary M. Collins and converted into multi-occupant housing catering to students and short-term tenants. The building was named Vernon Hall and offered dining options in addition to accommodation.

CambTrib_19Dec1925 — Ad for Vernon Hall, *Cambridge Tribune* (19 December 1925)

By the mid 1940s, the building was in use as a convalescent home and later classified as nursing/rest home. The house at 8 Dana St was demolished in 1975 to make way for an addition of that complex, now known as the Cambridge Rehabilitation and Nursing Center.

hopkins1886 — Detail of Hopkins Atlas showing location of 8 Dana St (1886)

Modern Monday – Continental Terrace at 29 Concord Avenue

Posted on January 27, 2020May 14, 2020 by cambridgehistoricalcommission

Constructed in 1960 and designed by Hugh Stubbins & Associates, Inc., Continental Terrace at 29 Concord Avenue is an apartment building that maximized space while providing natural light throughout. The 8-story brick building consists of 103 apartments and features distinctive white balconies for every unit.

View of Continental Terrace with central front entrance descending below grade. City of Cambridge.

The design encompassed 81,690 square feet organized around a galleried central well. Stubbins was able to add an 8^th floor by dropping the ground floor a half level below the sidewalk, providing more units while staying under the 65-foot height limit as measured from the sidewalk. The building has a single loaded system and one elevator which opens out onto a light-filled atrium furnished with couches. Since the building is single loaded, each corridor is adjacent to the open atrium, making the space feel larger and more pleasant. Stubbins provided residents with access to daylight from most parts of the building.

Architect’s rendering of 29 Concord Avenue. Francis Loeb Library, Harvard Graduate Design School.

The design of the lobby and the single elevator fostered interaction among neighbors creating a sense of community. Since the building was designed a half story below grade, to reach the vestibule one descends between two garden terraces into what feels like a private area, deterring strangers from wandering inside. This is also the location of the mailboxes, and according to one former resident people often linger there to check mail, further contributing a sense of security. Residents were also known to spend time in the lobby which has views of the upper corridors.

Article in *Architectural Forum* showing floor plans as well as a view of the atrium from above. *Architectural Forum*, June 1961.

View of atrium in *Architectural Forum*, June 1961.

Architect’s first floor plan illustrating the lobby and arrangement of units with patio/gardens. Francis Loeb Library, Harvard Graduate Design School.

In the apartments, the living room receives natural light from a floor to ceiling, wall-to-wall window while the bedroom has one narrow tall window. The interior layout is very open, and spaces flow easily with minimal doors and walls, but does reduce opportunities for privacy. Each unit has a private balcony which also makes the unit feel larger. Basement level apartments also have gardens.

Article in *Architectural Forum* with photographs of interior units. *Architectural Forum*, June 1961.

Architect: Hugh Stubbins & Associates, Inc. Landscape Architect: John L. Wacker. Structural Engineer: Goldberg & LeMessurier. Mechanical Engineer: Delbrook Engineering, Inc. Electrical Engineer: Fred S. Dubin Associates. Acoustical Consultant: Bolt, Beranek & Newman. Contractor: John F. Griffin Co.

Sources

Pierson, Caroline (former resident), “Why Design Matters: The Effect of Architecture on Living Experience.” March 2010.

“Apartments Around a Well,” Architectural Forum, June 1961.

T.J. Flynn Metal Works Inc.

Posted on November 18, 2019May 14, 2020 by cambridgehistoricalcommission

Today we are highlighting some archival photographs that we recently digitized. In our archive’s stacks there is a flat box housing seven mounted photographs associated with the T.J. Flynn Metal Works Inc., a 20^th century Cambridge business.

Life raft metal cross-section. T.J. Flynn Metal Works Collection, CHC.

The earliest reference to the company was in 1914, when Thaddeus J. Flynn’s T.J. & Sons Co., Sheetmetal Works, was located on Albany Street in Cambridgeport. This family company witnessed many location changes from 1914 to the 1930s. In 1918 it was at 37 Albany Street, then it moved to 18-20 Portland Street in 1925, and in 1930 it was located at 49 Albany Street. By 1918, the name of the company changed to its more well-known version, T.J. Flynn Metal Works Inc.

Associated with this larger business was Flynn Roofing and Metal Co., run by Flynn’s son, Edmund T. Flynn. It also moved around the neighborhood – residing at 37 Albany Street in 1917, 8 Portland in 1920, then 35 Albany Street between 1921-1922, and subsequently 49 Albany Street in 1937. Unfortunately, none of the original buildings have photographic references in the CHC files and the larger company was officially unincorporated by 1968-1972, although its final locations are unknown.

During the heyday of the T.J. Flynn Metal Works Inc., Thaddeus married Mary A. Flynn. Their son Edmund invented a life-raft design in the early 1900s. The photographs in the CHC’s archival box are accounts of his work.

A polygonal-shaped testing model raft created by Edmund T. Flynn. T.J. Flynn Metal Works Collection, CHC.

It is unknown when these images were taken since they do not reflect Edmund’s patent approved by the U.S. Patent Office on July 16, 1918. His final design notes emphasize how the official raft was “substantially pointed” at each end and that the “buoyant member is non-circular in cross-section.” The polygon version reflected in the photographic images could have been an earlier design Edmund scrapped during his tests at Scituate Harbor. Or, it could have been a later revision since his patent was updated in 1941.

Two unidentified men standing in a raft to demonstrate the submerged section. T.J. Flynn Metal Works Collection, CHC.

Nevertheless, Edmund’s patented life-raft was a success. It was used in both World Wars and it was officially approved for use on ocean, coast, bay, lake and sound vessels by the Department of Commerce.

E.T. Flynn’s patent design authorized by the U.S. Patent Office on July 16, 1918. Patent # 1,272,412. Source: USPTO PatFT database.

Thaddeus also gained a patent in 1929 for a roof drain. A year later, on September 9, 1930, Thaddeus died, and his wife Mary became president of the company. She was assisted by J. Henry Flynn and his wife Belinda S. Flynn, who were first referenced as additional owners of the company in 1925. However, by 1968-1972 the family business had dwindled out. Edmund’s son, Jonathan, opened European Engineering in Belmont, MA in 1958 but it was ultimately a failed venture. Jonathan’s son, Nick, recounts his father’s subsequent journey in “The Button Man,” published in The New Yorker in 2004.

Torn Down Tuesday: The Shoe and Leather Exposition Building

Posted on September 24, 2019May 13, 2020 by cambridgehistoricalcommission

In 1907, shoe and leather interests in Boston and Cambridge, began to envision a trade exhibition building for the marketing and sale of goods made in the area. Led by Oran McCormick, the group canvassed the two cities, looking for prime real estate on which to construct a venue worthy of the world’s first Shoe and Leather Exposition. McCormick purchased land from property owners along the under-developed Charles River Road (now Memorial Drive). At the time of the sale, Cambridge restricted heights of buildings along the river. Fearing that the deal would fall through and the building and its revenue would be lost to Boston, the Board of Aldermen called a special meeting with the Common Council and removed the restriction, and permitted the exposition building for construction.

Memorial Dr 100_Construction — Shoe and Leather Expo Building during construction. CHC Archives photo from Chamber of Commerce.

Plans for the development — already in the works — were drawn by Edward T. P. Graham, a prominent local architect best known for his many Roman Catholic church designs in and around Cambridge. The white building was constructed of wood, concrete and steel, measured 500 feet long and was Classical Revival in the grandest sense, evoking memories of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

Memorial Drive 100_Exterior1 — Shoe and Leather Expo Building, circa 1909. CHC Archives photo from Chamber of Commerce.

Memorial Drive 100_Exterior — Shoe and Leather Expo Building. CHC Archives photo from Chamber of Commerce.

The building featured five domes: a large central dome to represent America capped with an American flag, and four smaller ones to represent Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe with respective labeled flags. The main dome measured 125 feet from the ground floor. Under the large dome, a circular theater, an entirely new concept for exhibition buildings, with seating for upwards of 3,000 people on the upper tier anchored the two exhibition wings. A round bandstand on the ground floor was arranged for a large band, which performed every hour while the fair was open.

Memorial Drive 100_Interior dome_Cambridge Room CPL — 1909 photo of interior showing performance arena under central dome, courtesy of Cambridge Public Library-Cambridge Room.

Two interior corridors ran the length of the building and were lined with mahogany and glass display cases that were electrically lit to display exhibitor’s leather shoes and goods. Flanking the exhibits, 6’x14′ sample rooms showcased the finest products, and dealers staffed pop-up shops and fittings for patrons where they could be measured and order directly from the companies.

Memorial Drive 100_Interior booths_Cambridge Room CPL — 1909 photo of interior showing displays and sample rooms, courtesy of Cambridge Public Library-Cambridge Room.

On the ground floor at one end, a 10,000 square foot working exhibit served as a functioning shoe factory and was sponsored by the United Shoe Machinery Company, which educated visitors on every step in the manufacture of leather shoes from assembling of materials to the finishing shine.

Balconies on the building’s upper level overlooked the displays on the ground floor as well and housed displays for retailers’ exhibits which showed local and international dealers just what styles are in demand in other parts of the country, the displays were organized by state. A promenade on the roof of the building encircled the entirety of the structure and offered views of landmark buildings in Cambridge and Boston, as well as a front-row seat to the booming industrial development along the Charles River and nearby Kendall Square.

Memorial Dr 100_Roof dome detail — Shoe and Leather Expo Building central dome, before 1920. CHC Archives Photo from Chamber of Commerce.

The World’s First Shoe and Leather Exposition was held the entire month of July 1909 and an estimated 30,000 visitors attended the opening night. Attendance later dwindled due to the closing of the Harvard Bridge for repairs coupled with limited places to stay in Cambridge. By the end of the month, fair organizers were over $150,000 in debt. They failed to recruit other industries for trade shows and the building’s future was uncertain. The group, which had feared bankruptcy and demolition of the building were saved when Frederic Fisk, the man who initially owned the land, and his business parner William S. Youngman purchased the complex for redevelopment.

Memorial Drive 100_Interior dome group posing_Cambridge Room CPL — Circa 1910 photo of interior, courtesy of Cambridge Public Library-Cambridge Room.

Half of the building was leased to the J. Frank Cutter Automobile Company. Mr. Cutter had been in the carriage and automobile business for about 25 years. His company was one of the most active builders of limousines and landaulet car bodies as well as automobile tops and slip covers. The other half of the building was occupied by the Velie Motor Vehicle Co.’s Boston factory branch.

Memorial Dr 100_Interior stairs — Shoe and Leather Expo Building interior, circa 1948. CHC Archives Photo from Chamber of Commerce.

Memorial Dr 100_Under dome — Shoe and Leather Expo Building, circa 1948. CHC Archives Photo from Chamber of Commerce.

Memorial Dr 100_East Elevation — Shoe and Leather Expo Building. CHC Archives Photo from Chamber of Commerce.

The building, with its large central dome, suffered from deferred maintenance and seemed small and inadequate compared to the Great Dome at MIT’s new campus next door. The Shoe and Leather exposition building was demolished in phases beginning in the 1920s before the site was completely cleared in 1948 for the Eastgate Apartments at 100 Memorial Drive.

Memorial Drive 100_Fire Damage_1940s (2) — Shoe and Leather Expo Building, circa 1948 photo. CHC Archives Photo from Chamber of Commerce.

1916 Sanborn Map of 100 Memorial Dr.

1947 Aerial view of 100 Memorial Dr.

Torn Down Tuesday: 18 Old Dee Road

Posted on August 6, 2019May 13, 2020 by cambridgehistoricalcommission

Old Dee Road 18_001 — The house at 18 Old Dee Road was set back from the road and nestled into the landscape. (CHC Collection)

Constructed in 1947 for Harold and Anna Ryan, 18 Old Dee Road typified the mid-century International Style residence. Located on a cul-de-sac off Larchwood Drive, the house was a one-story, shed roof, frame structure with vertical wood tongue and groove siding. Fenestration consisted of single glazed wood frame casement and fixed glass units, with a horizontal emphasis. A large brick chimney was positioned near the back of the house. The main entrance was recessed at the center of the façade, and a side entry door was covered by a small shed roof. The house had an unusual trapezoidal footprint that widened from the front façade to the back, in response to the irregular shape of the lot.

map old dee road — The site’s shape, outlined in red, informed the layout of the house. Note the address numbers are different on this plan dated 1952. (City of Cambridge Public Works)

18 old dee road_Page_3 — View of the back of the house just prior to demolition. (CHC Collection, gift of Peter Wasserman)

18 old dee road_Page_5 — Floor plan as documented in 2005. The footprint is original except for an addition on the north wall which dates from 2001. (Dingman Allison Architects)

18 old dee road_Page_1 — View of main living area with fireplace. (CHC Collection, gift of Peter Wasserman)

The house was the first design by The Architects Collaborative (TAC) in Cambridge. The firm was headed by Walter Gropius, founder of the famed Bauhaus design school in Germany. In 1934, Gropius moved to England as Hitler rose to power. He eventually came to the United States in 1937 with his family to chair the architecture department at Harvard Graduate School of Design. Other TAC partners included Norman and Jean Fletcher, John and Sarah Harkness, Robert MacMillan, and Benjamin Thompson. As the name of the firm implied, there was an emphasis on a team approach to design and a modernist aesthetic that involved clean lines, functionality, and a rejection of superfluous ornamentation. Several partners designed their own homes at Six Moon Hill in Lexington which are still extant today. The firm’s only other residential commission in Cambridge was at 15 Hemlock Road in 1952.

tac 02 — Portrait of partners of TAC, 1952. Left to right, Sarah Harkness, Jean Fletcher, Robert McMillan, Norman Fletcher, Walter Gropius, John Harkness, Benjamin Thompson, and Louis McMillen . (*The Architects Collaborative*, Arthur Niggli, Ltd.)

TAC went on to design a range of projects around the world including the University of Baghdad, the Rosenthal Porcelain Factory in Bavaria, and the United States Embassy in Greece. In Massachusetts, the firm designed the Harvard Graduate Center, Wayland High School, and the John F. Kennedy Office Building in Boston, among others. Gropius was a part of TAC until his death in 1969. The firm closed in 1995.

The house was demolished in 2005.

Sources

http://architectuul.com/architects/view_image/the-architects-collaborative/27096

Jean Bodman Fletcher

http://wiedler.ch/felix/books/story/182

Modern Monday and Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Joyce Chen’s Restaurant, 390 Rindge Avenue

Posted on May 20, 2019May 14, 2020 by cambridgehistoricalcommission

Joyce Chen (1917-1994) was born on September 12, 1917 in Beijing, China. Born into a wealthy family, she discovered her passion for cooking at a very early age. Her father, a railroad administrator and city executive, hired a family chef that cooked all of their meals. Chen learned about Chinese cuisine simply by watching their chef and other family members cook in their home kitchen. During the Chinese Communist Revolution, Chen and her family moved to the United States. Along with her husband Thomas Chen and their two children Henry and Helen, the family left Shanghai, China in 1949 and moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts.

While living near Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she frequently met Chinese students that missed the food they’d grown up with. Chen’s children attended Buckingham School and she would often cook food to be served at school events. Her meals quickly became popular among college students and the families at the Buckingham School. This inspired Chen to open her first restaurant in 1958, called “Joyce Chen Restaurant.” At this restaurant, she served both Chinese and American dishes to encourage customers to try new foods. She often served “buffet-style” meals, to allow customers to try samples of everything. She created a menu with both Chinese and English translations of her food and numbered the menu items for easier communication in her restaurants. This made it easier for customers who spoke different languages to order at her restaurant.

joyce chen 2 — Joyce Chen, image courtesy of Joycechenfoods.com

Concord Ave 617_Joyce Chen foods_ca.1958.jpg — Joyce Chen’s first restaurant at 617 Concord Avenue in Cambridge. Courtesy of Joycechenfoods.com

In 1967, Chen opened her second restaurant called “The Joyce Chen Small Eating Place.” That same year, Chen starred in Joyce Chen Cooks, her own cooking show on PBS that aired worldwide. This twenty-six-episode broadcast was filmed in the same studio as famous chef Julia Child’s show, and the two became good friends. Her business empire expanded, and two larger restaurants were built in the Boston area with an architecturally unique restaurant at 390 Rindge Avenue.

Rindge Ave 390_Joyce Chens Survey Photo004 — Circa 1974 image of Joyce Chen’s Restaurant. Photo from CHC Collections.

The restaurant, believed to have been designed by Allan Ahaknian, was built in 1974 and employed architecture not typical for Cambridge. Partially hidden behind a tall wooden fence to screen noise from the heavily trafficked Rindge Avenue, the structure featured minimal fenestration on the sides but employed large skylights to flood the interior with natural light. The Contemporary/Shed style restaurant was a common stomping ground for residents of Cambridge and beyond. The restaurant was purchased by Just-A-Start and was converted to a child-care facility in 1999. The remainder of the lot was filled with townhomes for moderate-income, first-time homebuyers. In 2005, the structure was demolished for eight additional units of affordable condominium units. As it was not yet 50+ years old, it did not qualify for protection under the Demolition Delay Ordinance.

Rindge Ave 390_Joyce Chens Color Slide003 — Circa 1984 image of Joyce Chen’s Restaurant at 390 Rindge Avenue. Image from CHC Collections.

1978 Aerial Image of 390 Rindge Ave.

2018 Aerial image of 390 Rindge Ave. Note: the building has been demolished and replaced with housing.

While her restaurants are all now closed, the impressions of Joyce Chen’s legacy can be seen in almost every Chinese-American restaurant in the country today and in the enduring popularity of “Peking ravioli.” Also, her cookbooks and branded cooking utensils can be found in kitchens all over the world.

joyce chen cookbook.jpg

Images and some information on Joyce Chen courtesy of joycechenfoods.com

Modern Monday: Harvard Science Center

Posted on April 8, 2019May 14, 2020 by cambridgehistoricalcommission

The Harvard Undergraduate Science Center at 1 Oxford Street, is a pre-cast concrete behemoth designed by Josep Lluís Sert (1902-1983) the Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Design at the time.

Science Center_2019 — Staff photo of Harvard Science Center (1 Oxford Street) April 2019.

Designed in 1970 and completed just two years later, the Brutalist structure integrates its siting along the three major streets in which it is framed: Kirkland, Oxford and Cambridge Streets and is a visual link between Harvard Yard and the North Yard. The design terraces upward from the pedestrian mall overpass at Cambridge Street to limit the massing and shifts the bulk of the structure back (north) with just a more pedestrian-scaled section fronting the mall. A central spine runs down the building which visually serves as an upwards staircase and terminates at a nine-story tower. Science Center Model_Radcliffe Archives_1970 Science Center Model aerial_Radcliffe Archives_1970

Science Center under construction_Harvard Archives 1971
Approximately two-fifths of the cost of the $25 Million building centered around the two un-adorned concrete towers on the western and eastern walls of the Science Center. The non-descript boxes are water-cooling towers intended to service not only the Center itself, but all buildings in the North Yard. The towers are connected by a massive pump room in the basement. The tarantula-like steel girders seemingly creep over the lecture hall area and serve to support the roof of the auditorium.

Science Center exterior_Radcliffe Archives_1970s

Science Center aerial_Radcliffe Archives_1973

Science Center Interior 1st floor_Radcliffe Archives_1973

Science Center Interior 1st floor_Harvard Archives_2011

It is believed that Sert took inspiration for the design from his former mentor, Le Corbusier, who designed the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard just ten years prior. The Science Center was influenced by an unbuilt project, The Palace of the Soviets, designed for Russia by Le Corbusier in 1931 and worked on by Sert as a young architect. The current Science Center borrows the steel girder and cable vocabulary from the unbuilt Palace of the Soviets along with the use of pre-cast concrete panels to somewhat pay homage to his mentor. Sert loved the use of concrete as an “honest and muscular material that could be molded into any shape” and liked to set splashes of bright color against its textured grey – “like a parade of elephants and parrots”.

LeCorbusier’s Model of the Palace of the Soviets (unbuilt)

Aerial of the Palace of the Soviets (unbuilt)

Harvard later outgrew the Science Center and hired firm Leers-Weinzapfel Associates Architects in 2004 to expand the science village. Three vertical additions of minimal steel-framed glass volumes contrast in materiality from the concrete panel main structure yet echo elements of the initial design. The verticality of the glass panes creates a visual rhythm with the vertical grooves in the older precast concrete panels. At the interior, splashes of color and light flood the spaces and the newly dedicated museum space is visually connected to a light-filled terrace.

Rendering of completed additions by LWA Architects.

Completed additions by LWA Architects.

Interior courtyard with new addition by LWA Architects.

Sarah Wyman Whitman

Posted on March 28, 2019May 14, 2020 by cambridgehistoricalcommission

Sarah Wyman Whitman (1842-1904) was a painter, stained glass artist, and book cover designer based in Boston. Whitman was also a doyenne of Boston society, along with Isabella Stewart Gardner for whom she designed a sign over the entrance to her house, now a museum in the Fenway. Married to Henry Whitman, a wool and dry goods merchant, they entertained in their home on Beacon Hill and summered in Beverly Farms on the North Shore. In addition to her social activities, Whitman was deeply involved in philanthropy. She founded the Boston Water Color Club in response to the Boston Society of Water Color Artists who only admitted men, and co-founded the Boston Arts & Crafts Society. Whitman advocated for Radcliffe College and better educational opportunities for women and children in the public school system, and she was a benefactor of Howard University and Tuskegee Institute.

Whitman studied painting with William Morris Hunt of the Boston Museum School from 1868 to 1871, and studied drawing with William Rimmer. In the late 1870s, she traveled to France and studied drawing with Hunt’s former master Thomas Couture. She worked in oil and pastel, painting landscapes around New England as well as floral studies. She also painted numerous portraits, preferring to paint her subjects against dark backgrounds. She exhibited widely in the 1870s through the 1890s, including the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.

H0062-L00884938 2 — “A Song,” signed S. W. Whitman, 1883, invaluable.com

In the early 1880s, Whitman apprenticed with John La Farge, a stained glass artist who utilized opalescent glass in his work and innovated methods of layering and welding glass. Whitman also used opalescent glass in her own work along with colored and transparent glass. Whitman later started her own firm, Lily Glass Works, and her stained glass windows can be found in churches and colleges throughout New England, including the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe, Memorial Hall at Harvard University, Trinity Church in Boston, and First Parish Church in Brookline. For Harvard’s Memorial Hall she designed both the elaborate south transept window and the Honor and Peace window on the south side of what is now Annenberg Hall.

sarahwymanwhitman3 — Stained glass at the Memorial Hall, Harvard University, 1900. The left side depicts “honor”, the right, “peace”.

In 1884, Whitman was asked to design book covers for the publishing company Houghton Mifflin. She designed over 200 books, working in the Art Nouveau style using organic forms and delicate line work. She also employed gold stamping and was one of the first to carry the design over the front, spine, and back of the book.

book 02

book 01

book 03

pba02985f01l

jewett

Whitman designed many book covers for her dear friend Sarah Orne Jewett, author of Country Of The Pointed Firs and A Marsh Island, among others. Wyman also designed a stained glass window in memory of Jewett’s father at his alma mater, Bowdoin College.

More images of her book cover designs can be seen at the Boston Public Library’s flickr site, https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/sets/72157604192955355/, and at the University of Wisconsin online digital archives.

Sources

Smith, Betty S. “Sarah de St. Prix Wyman Whitman.” Old Time New England, V. 77, No. 266, Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, Boston, 1999.

https://rbscp.lib.rochester.edu/3350

http://www.designworklife.com/2014/04/30/sarah-wyman-whitman/

Sarah Wyman Whitman

http://bindings.lib.ua.edu/designerbios/whitman.html

Modern Monday: McCormick Hall and Katharine Dexter’s Legacy at MIT

Posted on March 11, 2019January 5, 2022 by cambridgehistoricalcommission

In the year 1960, just 22 women were admitted to MIT, in comparison to 914 men. After decades of feeling pressure to admit more female students, President James Killian and his Chancellor Julius Stratton made the decision not only to admit more women to the university, but to actively work to improve the environment and resources available for female students.

Women at MIT Enrollment

The shift to admit and provide better education to young women was described years later in 1970 in a report written by Professor Emily Wick, Associate Dean of Students and the first woman promoted to tenure at MIT:

“Until the Institute could commit itself to educating women in significant numbers, and could provide suitable living conditions, coeds were not overly `successful.’ … Before 1960 women entered MIT at their own risk. If they succeeded — fine! If they failed — well, no one had expected them to succeed. … The class of 1964 entered in 1960 knowing that MIT believed in women students. It was the first class in which coeds, as a group, matched the proportion of B.S. degrees earned by their male classmates!”

Emily Wick_MIT Alum Class 1964 — Emily L. Wick talking with students circa 1963. Photo courtesy of MIT Class of 1964.

An early and vocal advocate for women’s rights and increased visibility of women at MIT, Katharine Dexter, (1875-1967) graduated from MIT in 1904 in biology. She married Stanley McCormick whose mental illness emerged soon after. Throughout her life, she tried to find a biological basis and cure for schizophrenia as well as supporting women’s right to vote as a strong proponent of the suffrage movement. Later in life, she turned her full attention to the construction of the first women’s dormitory at MIT, which coincided with the Institute’s newly established goals for admitting more women. Starting in the 1940s, 120 Bay State Road in Boston was occupied as a women’s dormitory (the only such dormitory for female MIT students at the time), and it housed approximately 19 graduate and undergraduate women students from the early 1950′s until McCormick opened. The Bay State Road dorm was over a mile from campus, which was less than ideal. As a result, Katharine funded a taxi service to shuttle the students to campus on poor weather days.

800px-Katharine_McCormick_on_April_22,_1913 — Katharine Dexter McCormick in 1913. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia.

In 1963, the west wing of Stanley McCormick Hall was dedicated and named after her late husband. Just three years later, the second wing (a second tower) was constructed and dedicated just after her death. Both phases of the building were bankrolled by Katharine Dexter McCormick and were to house women studying at MIT. McCormick Hall was designed by Herbert Beckwith, a member of MIT’s architecture faculty and principal of the firm Anderson, Beckwith and Haible. Elizabeth McMillin Beckwith, Herbert’s wife, also an architect in the firm, assisted with the design. The dorm could today be classified as “Brutalist” in design. The two concrete and glass towers front Memorial Drive and are connected by a low-rise community space. The buildings are used today as all-female dorms housing upwards of 255 students.

Katharine McCormick at Hall dedication 1963_MIT Alum Class 1964 website — Katharine McCormick speaking at McCormick Hall dedication ceremony. Photo courtesy of MIT Class of 1964.

Mccormick Hall 1963_Before addition_MIT Alum Class 1964 — McCormick Hall West Wing. Photo courtesy of MIT Class of 1964.

McCormick Hall_1968_0002 — Image located in McCormick Hall Survey File at CHC. Photo circa 1966.

McCormick Hall_1968_0004 — Image located in McCormick Hall Survey File at CHC. Photo circa 1967.

Aerial 2017 — 2017 aerial view of McCormick Hall and surrounding structures.

To learn more about McCormick Hall, feel free to make a research appointment with us by emailing histcomm@cambridgema.gov.