Harvard Stadium is a
horseshoeA horseshoe is a U-shaped item made of metal or of modern synthetic materials, nailed or glued to the hooves of horses and some other draught animals. Like a shoe on a human, it is used to protect the animal's feet from wear and tear...
-shaped
footballAmerican football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, and often as Gridiron or Tackle football outside North America, is a competitive team sport known for combining strategy with physical play. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the...
stadiumA modern stadium is a place, or venue, for outdoor sports, concerts or other events, consisting of a field or stage partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.-History of the stadium:The word originates from the Greek word...
in the Allston neighborhood of
BostonBoston is the capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of the region and is sometimes regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England"...
,
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Most of its population of...
, in the United States. Built in 1903, the stadium seats 30,323. The stadium seated up to 57,166 in the past, as temporary steel stands (completing a straight-sided oval) stood in the north end zone until 1951. Afterwards, there were smaller temporary stands until the building of the Murr Center (which is topped by the new scoreboard) in 1998.
Completed in just four and a half months, the structure cost $310,000.
Harvard Stadium is a
horseshoeA horseshoe is a U-shaped item made of metal or of modern synthetic materials, nailed or glued to the hooves of horses and some other draught animals. Like a shoe on a human, it is used to protect the animal's feet from wear and tear...
-shaped
footballAmerican football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, and often as Gridiron or Tackle football outside North America, is a competitive team sport known for combining strategy with physical play. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the...
stadiumA modern stadium is a place, or venue, for outdoor sports, concerts or other events, consisting of a field or stage partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.-History of the stadium:The word originates from the Greek word...
in the Allston neighborhood of
BostonBoston is the capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of the region and is sometimes regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England"...
,
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Most of its population of...
, in the United States. Built in 1903, the stadium seats 30,323. The stadium seated up to 57,166 in the past, as temporary steel stands (completing a straight-sided oval) stood in the north end zone until 1951. Afterwards, there were smaller temporary stands until the building of the Murr Center (which is topped by the new scoreboard) in 1998.
History
Completed in just four and a half months, the structure cost $310,000. It is the home of the football team of
Harvard UniversityHarvard University is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and currently comprises ten separate academic units...
, whose all-time record (at the end of the 2007 season) at the stadium is 414-220-34 (.653). The stadium also hosted the Crimson track and field teams until 1984 and was the home of the
Boston PatriotsThe New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the...
during the 1970 season. It is also the host of
music festivalA music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...
s like the
Amandla FestivalAmandla--Festival of Unity—was a world music festival held at Harvard Stadium in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 21, 1979. The goals of the concert were to support and celebrate the liberation of Southern Africa as well as the on-going efforts of people in Boston to end racism in their families,...
, where
JamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width, amounting to 11,100 km
2. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harboring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n reggae legend
Bob MarleyRobert Nesta "Bob" Marley was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist for the ska, rocksteady and reggae bands The Wailers and Bob Marley & The Wailers...
performed a historic concert in 1979.
Janis JoplinJanis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter and music arranger, from Port Arthur, Texas. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist...
performed her last show at the stadium in 1970, shortly berfore her death. In 2007, the
Boston CannonsThe Boston Cannons are a professional men's field lacrosse team based in Boston, Massachusetts. Since the 2001 season, they have played in Major League Lacrosse. From 2006 to 2008, they were in the Eastern Conference. From the league's inception in 2001 through 2005, they were in the American...
, a professional lacrosse team for
Major League LacrosseMajor League Lacrosse is a professional men's field lacrosse league that is made up of five teams in the United States and one team in Canada. The league currently has all six teams in one conference.- History :...
, moved their home site to the stadium. They previously played at
Boston UniversityBoston University is a private nonsectarian university located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Although chartered by the Massachusetts Legislature in 1869, Boston University traces its roots to the establishment of the Newbury Biblical Institute in Newbury, Vermont in 1839...
's
Nickerson FieldNickerson Field is a stadium on the site of Braves Field, in Boston, Massachusetts, the former home of the National League Boston Braves baseball team which is now located in Atlanta...
.
In 2006, Harvard installed both
FieldTurfFieldTurf is a brand of artificial turf playing surface. It is manufactured and installed by the FieldTurf Tarkett division of Tarkett Inc., based in Peachtree City, Georgia. In the late 1990s, the artificial surface changed the industry with a design intended to replicate real grass...
and lights allowing it to become the home stadium of the
Boston CannonsThe Boston Cannons are a professional men's field lacrosse team based in Boston, Massachusetts. Since the 2001 season, they have played in Major League Lacrosse. From 2006 to 2008, they were in the Eastern Conference. From the league's inception in 2001 through 2005, they were in the American...
. On September 22, 2007, Harvard played its first night game at the stadium, against
Brown UniversityBrown University is a private university located in Providence, Rhode Island, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III...
, winning 24-17.
Beginning on April 11, 2009, Harvard Stadium became the home field of the Boston Breakers of the
Women's Professional SoccerWomen's Professional Soccer is the top level professional women's soccer league in the United States that began play on March 29, 2009. The league replaced the Women's United Soccer Association , which folded after the 2003 season...
(WPS) league when they beat Saint Louis Athletica 2-0.
Location
Although most of Harvard's campus is in
Cambridge, MassachusettsCambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, a nexus of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Notably, Cambridge is home to two internationally prominent...
, the stadium and most other intercollegiate athletic facilities, along with
Harvard Business SchoolHarvard Business School is a graduate business school in Boston, Massachusetts. The school offers a full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, as well as many . The School owns Harvard Business School Publishing, which publishes business books, online management tools for corporate learning, case...
, lie in Allston. The stadium is the cornerstone of the Soldiers Field athletic complex, which also includes the baseball stadium, outdoor track, an artificial turf field hockey/lacrosse field, soccer field, pools, Beren Tennis Center (outdoor), the Gordon Indoor Track, Dillon Fieldhouse,
Lavietes PavilionThe Ray Lavietes Basketball Pavilion at the Briggs Athletic Center is a 2,195-seat multi-purpose arena in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Harvard University Crimson basketball team...
and
Bright Hockey CenterThe Alexander C. Bright Hockey Center is a 2,850-seat ice hockey arena in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is home to the Harvard University Crimson men's and women's ice hockey teams. It is named for Alec Bright '19, a former hockey player....
. Newell Boathouse, home of Harvard's men's crew, lies across Soldiers Field Road on the banks of the
CharlesThe Charles River is a river in Massachusetts, USA. It travels through 22 cities and towns in eastern Massachusetts, from Hopkinton to Boston on the Atlantic Ocean.-Route:...
.
External links