Harvard Dining Association

The Dining Association was first known as the Memorial Hall Dining Association; it was superceded by the Harvard Dining Council in 1909.

Following the English tradition, 17th century students at Harvard College ate at least one meal together in a dining hall (also known as "dining in commons.") The original College Hall, as well as both of the Harvard Halls that replaced it (constructed in 1679 and 1766 respectively), contained a dining hall. In 1816, the dining hall was moved to the new University Hall. Due perhaps to the less than satisfactory nature of the food served, students increasingly preferred to board elsewhere, despite College laws forbidding them from doing so. In 1825, pressure on the College administration to allow students to dine outside the college had grown so strong the laws were finally changed. As a result, by 1849 very few students were dining in commons, and the practice was abandoned.

The lack of economical dining options proved a hardship for poorer students. In 1865, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals Andrew Preston Peabody and benefactor Nathaniel Thayer (hon. A.B. 1866) rented the former terminal station of the Harvard Railroad Branch to establish the Thayer Commons, housing the Thayer Club. This independent and voluntary dining association provided board at cost to about 150 undergraduates. The popularity of this venture inspired the University to revive the tradition of dining in commons. In 1874 the Corporation established the Harvard Dining Association in the newly constructed Memorial Hall, built as a memorial to Harvard graduates who fought for the Union cause during the Civil War.

The Harvard Dining Association consisted of the students (later changed to anyone connected with the University) boarding at Memorial Hall, and was governed by a president, vice-president, and two directors representing each school and College class. According to the original plans for the Association, the officers were to “regulate the diet in the Hall, preserve order, and exercise a general control over the expenditures of the Association,” and to “receive and consider all complaints about the food and service.” The Association also selected an auditor from among the members, whose job was to make written orders for all purchases, to approve all bills, to keep lists of boarding members, and “in general to supervise purchases and expenditures.” After 1878, the auditor was appointed by the Corporation.

The Corporation initially advanced the money to furnish the dining hall and the kitchen, and as necessary, advanced the money needed to pay the Association’s bills, collecting interest as the money was repaid. The Corporation maintained some control over the Association by appointing a steward, responsible for making all purchases for the Association upon the written orders of the auditor and for hiring and supervising the employees.

The Association provided enrolled diners with the choice of two plans: the American plan, which included breakfast, à la carte lunch and dinner within the weekly rate for board, or the European plan with only à la carte meals.

Students who could not obtain seats in Memorial Hall or who could not afford the cost of the plan could become members of the Foxcroft Club, another cooperative dining association organized in 1889. The Foxcroft Club, which became the Randall Hall Association in 1899 when it moved to the new Randall Hall, had a $3 annual membership fee and offered students the option to pay per meal and order à la carte.

Both the Harvard Dining Association and the Randall Hall Association were temporarily overseen by a Managing Committee in 1909. The Committee was composed of three members: Jerome Davis Greene, Secretary to the Corporation; Walter Safford Burke, Inspector of Grounds and Buildings; and Edward Huidekoper Wells (AB 1897), Curator of Modern English Literature and Secretary for Appointments. At the Committee's recommendation, the University Dining Council was created to oversee both dining associations. The Council consisted of nine members: three were appointed by the Corporation, three were elected by the members of the Harvard Dining Association, and three were elected by the members of the Randall Hall Association.

Despite efforts to keep costs low and attract more members, attendance in the Memorial Hall dining room began to wane in 1910. In a last attempt to retain Memorial Hall as a viable dining option, in September 1924 the membership fee was abolished and the Hall was opened to all students. These changes did not solve the problem of low membership, and the University was forced to close Memorial Hall in 1925; the last meal was served on January 10. Until dining halls were opened in the new student houses, built in the 1930s, the only campus dining option for upper class students was the Harvard Union. Regular student dining did not resume in Memorial Hall until 1994, when, after extensive renovations, the dining hall, renamed Annenberg Hall, was opened as the freshman dining hall.