LyLena

Music has played a large part in the development of Harvard Square over the years, which is why this tour looks closely at its history and future in the area. Stop 1: First Church Cambridge When the Puritans first immigrated to the area, religious psalms played an “integral part of worship” and, in a highly religious society, an integral part of life. First Church was one of the original sites where this music would have been sung, and also played a part in the printing of the Bay Psalm Book in 1640, “the first book printed in the British colony” of Massachusetts. Stop 2: Tulla’s Coffee Grinder Next in the tour we skip ahead to the 1950s, when music began to explode and Harvard Square became a center of the blast.  Tulla’s Coffee Grinder, which once stood on 30 Dunster Street, was first opened by Tulla Cook in 1955. As it was the only coffee house in Cambridge at that time, it quickly became a meeting place for Harvard students, and performances began to take place within its unass...

The Brattle Theater (aka Brattle Hall) should receive landmark status. This building sits on Brattle Street close to Brattle Square and beside the Cambridge Center for adult education. It was built in 1890 as a space for performances after the Civil War. Throughout its history, however, it has served as everything from a space for Harvard Gentlemen to meet Cambridge ladies to one of the first theaters to bring foreign films to America. It has had a central role in the fight against censorship, winning the rights to show controversial films and put on political theater shows. The Brattle Film Foundation took over the theater in 2001, and they have at times struggled financially to maintain their important place in the square. They now offer a variety of programming such as movies with drinks, poetry, and readings. Its large brick front stand out on a corner made mostly of large cement and glass structures. Designating this building as a landmark would ensure protection against pressures...

The Old Burial Ground is nestled securely within Cambridge. Its landscape is simple, a mostly flat plain with a few trees. The Old Burial Ground Mt. Auburn Cemetery on the other hand is on the outskirts of Cambridge. It is much less flat with more trees, shrubbery, and flowers to create a more picturesque landscape. Mount Auburn Cemetery This difference reflects both a cultural and religious shift in how the men and women of the late 19th and early 20th centuries related to one another and to their dead as compared to the men and women of the 17th century. We can see this difference when comparing their graves. Pictured above is the tomb of Joseph Whall. The move to more intricate and varied styles of entombment shows a move toward more varried taste in burial style. Compared to this tombstone for Margarit Holyoke, the wife of one of Harvard’s earliest presidents, which is much smaller and simpler.  In “Thomas Shepard’s Record of Relations of Religious Experience” by Mary Rhineland...

  “George Washington’s Headquarters and Home” by J.L. Bell is an informative guide to many sites important to the American Revolution in Cambridge. What I found most interesting were sites that had all but disappeared from the landscape, and the ways in which people had left a remnant of the history behind to be remembered. Two examples of this phenomenon are the Washington Elm and Fort Putnam.

When Cambridge was originally being settled, Harvard College was just a small part of what was otherwise a very residential area.  “Plan of the Village in Old Cambridge”  by Alexander Wadsworth 1833 But over time, and as land became more filled in, more land and buildings were acquired by Harvard College.  "Wards 8-9”  by George Washington Bromley and Walter Scott Bromley 1903 Until some maps of the area were pretty much just the College and hardly any residential buildings remained. As a result of this slow take over, many of the houses that once housed families around Harvard Square now house University Offices. “A prospect of Harvard University and Radcliffe College” by Edwin Shruers 1935 For example, the current building housing OCS was originally created as a residential building for a Theta Delta Chi Society, but later acquired by Harvard. Even buildings that were once residential buildings related to the college , like Wadsworth House which was built in 1726...

Topic Idea 1 The first topic that I’d like to research for my final project would be concepts of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) and their presence (or lack thereof) in Harvard Square. I would like to find out crime statistics and what areas crimes occur in the area, as well as an analysis of the space according to principles of CPTED. What does Harvard Square do well, and what could be done better. I think this would be especially interesting given the focus on the University lately on issues of campus safety.  Topic Idea 2 Another topic that I think would be interesting to explore is the history of the Harvard Square Plaza in view of the Harvard Square Plaza Redesign project currently underway. I’d want to find out how long the renovations have been planned, what sparked the desire for the change, how the new usage covers or highlights the historical usage, and, if there are people against it, why they feel that way.  Source:  http://www.halvorsond...