Harvard Club of Boston

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The Harvard Club of Boston is an organization of Harvard alumni living in and around Boston, Massachusetts. Its membership is open to alumni and associates of Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale University, and Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. The Back Bay Clubhouse is located in Boston's historic Back Bay neighborhood, at 374 Commonwealth Avenue.

The Club was founded on March 19, 1908, more than fifty years after the first Boston-based Harvard club was established (see the Records of the Harvard Club, Harvard University Archives call number: HUD 3226). The original aim of the Harvard Club of Boston, summarized by its first five officers, was to "give effective expression to the Harvard spirit" through such activities as annual dinners and other social meetings. By the time the first meeting was held on June 23, 1908, there were more than 450 members. By its second year, the Club had almost 1,200 members, and by 1915, membership was over 4,000.

As membership continued to grow, the Club began to search for a permanent clubhouse. Land at the corner of Massachusetts and Commonwealth Avenues was purchased in May 1912, and the clubhouse was dedicated on November 12, 1913. Due to the higher than expected construction costs, the Club incorporated itself itself in January 1913 to facilitate funding.

In its early year, the Club began several long-standing traditions. These included attending the Harvard-Yale football game and crew races (the Club provided trains to New Haven in odd years), feting victorious Harvard athletic teams, and providing scholarships for local high school students to attend Harvard College. Annual meetings were held in late winter, and various recitals, concerts, talks, and lectures were sponsored by the Club throughout the year. The new clubhouse included eight squash courts, which were open to members' sons, as well as to wives and daughters in 1927. In 1971, women, once limited to dining in the women's annex while the men dined in Harvard Hall, were welcomed as full and active members for the first time in the Club's history.

The Harvard Club of Boston Foundation was established on July 10, 1950 to facilitate fund-raising for the scholarships offered by the Club. In 1954, a downtown "Harvard Banquet" room was opened at Purcell's Restaurant on School Street in order to give members a convenient place to gather for lunch. This facility moved in 1967, but a permanent Downtown Harvard Club was opened at One Milk Street in November 1976.

In 2016, after 108 years, the Club welcomed its first female President, Karen Van Winkle, a Harvard College alumna and native of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Correspondence with Jerome Johnson, 1920-1943. Houghton Library
referencedIn Roscoe Pound Papers Harvard Law School Library Langdell Hall Cambridge, MA 02138
referencedIn Robert Grant papers Houghton Library
referencedIn Records of symposium on higher education, 1943 November 15. Harvard University Archives.
referencedIn Gropius, Walter, 1883-1969. Papers, 1925-1969 (bulk: 1937-1969) Houghton Library
creatorOf The mechanical, the historical and the statistical : typescript, 1914. Houghton Library
referencedIn Ralph Waldo Emerson letters from various correspondents, ca. 1814-1882. Houghton Library
referencedIn Letters to Boylston Adams Beal, 1893-1941. Houghton Library
referencedIn Unitarian Service Committee. Medical Missions. Records, 1942-1967 Andover-Harvard Theological Library
referencedIn Rogers Memorial Collection: Henry Munroe Rogers papers, 1812-1937 (inclusive), 1862-1937 (bulk). Houghton Library
creatorOf Records of the Harvard Club of Boston, 1908-1990 (inclusive) Harvard University Archives.
referencedIn Papers of Leverett Saltonstall, 1921-1979 (inclusive) Harvard University Archives.
referencedIn Harvard Advocate owned by Winthrop Wetherbee, 1882-1931 (inclusive) Harvard University Archives.
referencedIn Poets' Theatre (Cambridge, Mass.) records Houghton Library
referencedIn Records of the Assistants to the Directors, 1913-1999 (inclusive),1927-1943 (bulk) Harvard Art Museums. Archives
referencedIn Mary Hyde Eccles papers, 1853-2005, (bulk) 1939-2003. Houghton Library
referencedIn Learned Hand papers Harvard Law School Library Langdell Hall Cambridge, MA 02138
referencedIn Felix Frankfurter Letters to his sister Estelle, 1933-1964 Harvard Law School Library Langdell Hall Cambridge, MA 02138
referencedIn Thomas W. Lamont John Masefield collection, 1918-1947. Houghton Library
referencedIn William Ernest Hocking papers Houghton Library
referencedIn Wendell family papers Houghton Library
referencedIn Sheldon Glueck papers Harvard Law School Library Langdell Hall Cambridge, MA 02138
referencedIn Papers of Daniel Robbins and Seymour Slive, 1959-2003 (inclusive), 1971-1982 (bulk) Harvard Art Museums. Archives
referencedIn Harvard Medical School Classes and Reunions. Images, ca. 1883-1977. Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine
referencedIn Papers of John Coolidge and Agnes Mongan, 1909-2006 Harvard Art Museums. Archives
referencedIn La Piana, George, 1879-1971. Papers, 1878-1972. Andover-Harvard Theological Library
creatorOf Records of the Harvard Club of Boston, 1908-1990. Harvard University Archives.
referencedIn Leach, Walter Barton. W. Barton Leach Papers. 1920-1971. Harvard Law School Library Langdell Hall Cambridge, MA 02138
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith A. L. Lowell person
associatedWith Associated Harvard Clubs corporateBody
associatedWith Charles H. Watkins person
correspondedWith Coolidge, John, 1913-1995 person
associatedWith Donald K. David person
associatedWith Eccles, Mary Hyde. person
correspondedWith Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882 person
associatedWith Fitz, Reginald person
associatedWith Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine. Center for the History of Medicine. corporateBody
associatedWith Frankfurter, Felix, 1882-1965 person
correspondedWith Glueck, Sheldon, 1896- person
associatedWith Grant, Robert, 1852-1940 person
correspondedWith Gropius, Walter, 1883-1969 person
correspondedWith Hand, Learned, 1872-1961 person
associatedWith Harvard Art Museum. Director's Office. corporateBody
associatedWith Harvard Club of Boston Foundation. corporateBody
associatedWith Harvard University. corporateBody
correspondedWith Hocking, William Ernest, 1873-1966 person
associatedWith James B. Conant. person
associatedWith J. W. Courtney person
correspondedWith Lamont, Thomas W. (Thomas William), 1870-1948 person
correspondedWith La Piana, George, 1879-1971 person
associatedWith Leach, W. Barton (Walter Barton), 1900- person
associatedWith Lippman, Walter person
associatedWith Nathan M. Pusey person
associatedWith New England Federation of Harvard Clubs. corporateBody
associatedWith Paul Azan person
associatedWith Perry, Bliss, 1860-1954. person
correspondedWith Poets' Theatre (Cambridge, Mass.). corporateBody
associatedWith Pound, Roscoe, 1870-1964 person
correspondedWith Robbins, Daniel person
associatedWith Robert D. Weston person
correspondedWith Rogers, Henry Munroe, 1839-1937 person
associatedWith Royce, Josiah, 1855-1916. person
associatedWith Saltonstall, Leverett, 1892-1979. person
associatedWith Santayana, George, 1863-1952. person
associatedWith S. H. Cross person
associatedWith Theobald Smith person
correspondedWith Unitarian Service Committee. Medical Missions. corporateBody
correspondedWith Wendell family. family
associatedWith Wetherbee, Winthrop, 1863-1949. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Boston MA US
Subject
Occupation
Activity
Club

Corporate Body

Establishment 1908-03-19

Information

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