Leverett House is the largest (by number of students) of twelve residence houses for upperclass undergraduates (who have already completed their first year) at
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...
. It is situated along the north bank of the
Charles RiverThe 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:...
in Cambridge and consists of McKinlock Hall, constructed in 1925, two 12-story towers built in the 1960s, and two floors of 20 DeWolfe Street, a building Leverett shares with two other houses at Harvard.
Structure
The bulk of McKinlock Hall consists of 5 entryways, each of which leads to four or five floors of suites for approximately 35 students. McKinlock also serves as the center of Leverett social life: it houses the Leverett Dining Hall, the Junior and Senior Common Rooms, the Old Library Theatre, the Master's Residence, and several other common spaces.
The Leverett Towers (commonly referred to as F- and G-Tower since the entryways in McKinlock span A-E), on the other hand, serve a primarily residential function. Each tower consists primarily of singles and doubles and holds approximately 150 students. The top floors of the towers - especially those facing south - boast outstanding views of the Boston skyline and the Charles River for the students lucky enough to live there. The ground floor of G-Tower features a common area that house residents have nicknamed the "G-spot," although the space goes largely unused due to its poor design. The ground floor of F-tower includes class and meeting spaces as well as several house offices. Between the towers and McKinlock sits the Leverett Library, which was constructed along with the towers and has won awards for its innovative design. The ground floor of the library building houses the superintendent's office.
The top floors of 20 DeWolfe Street were annexed by the house in fall 2007. Originally intended for faculty or graduate students, the DeWolfe suites offer more modern amenities than those available in either McKinlock or Leverett Towers, but those amenities come at the cost of tighter living conditions.
History
Leverett House was named after
John LeverettJohn Leverett son of Hudson Leverett, an attorney, and Sarah Leverett, . He was an early American lawyer, politician, and educator. He was educated at Harvard College , 1683.For twelve years Leverett was a resident fellow at Harvard...
(whose grandfather,
John LeverettJohn Leverett was a colonial magistrate, merchant, soldier and governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.-Early life:...
had been the governor of the
Massachusetts Bay ColonyThe Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, centered around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston...
), who was President of Harvard from 1708 to 1724. Leverett's election was one of the significant turning points for Harvard, for every President before him had been a clergyman. Leverett was a leader of the liberal movement in the
Congregational ChurchCongregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
and he opposed the powerful clergymen
IncreaseIncrease Mather was a major figure in the early history of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Province of Massachusetts Bay . He was a Puritan minister who was involved with the government of the colony, the administration of Harvard College, and most notoriously, the Salem witch trials...
and
Cotton MatherCotton Mather . A.B. 1678 , A.M. 1681; honorary doctorate 1710 , was a socially and politically influential New England Puritan minister, prolific author, and pamphleteer. Cotton Mather is often remembered for his connection to the Salem witch trials...
, who had attempted to impose upon the College a new charter containing a loyalty oath that would have refused appointment to the faculty of anyone not willing to acknowledge the primacy of Biblical scripture. Leverett, during his tenure as president, improved the quality of instruction in the College and maintained the position of Harvard in the critical years when
YaleRapidMiner is an environment for machine learning and data mining experiments. It allows experiments to be made up of a large number of arbitrarily nestable operators, described in XML files which are created with RapidMiner's graphical user interface...
was becoming a formidable rival.
In the mid-1920s, Harvard constructed student residences on the banks of the recently dammed
Charles RiverThe 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:...
, residences initially occupied by freshmen. McKinlock Hall, built in 1925, was one of those original buildings. The building was donated by the family of Lieut. George Alexander McKinlock Jr., a Harvard graduate who was killed by a German machine gun near
SoissonsThe Battle of Soissons was a World War I battle, waged during 18 July to 22 July 1918, between the French and German Army....
in 1918. With the formation of Leverett House in 1930-31, Mather Hall, across Mill Street, was built along with the present dining hall and Master's residence. Six squash courts were also constructed, adjacent to Mather Hall. Leverett remained in that configuration until the early 1960s when the College expanded and new Houses were added. Mather Hall became a part of
Quincy HouseQuincy House may refer to:* Quincy House , a residential house at Harvard* Quincy House , graduate house in the Brookland neighborhood of Washington, DC* Quincy House , the U.S. ambassador's residence in Riyadh...
, the squash courts were lost, and the Leverett Towers were built. The Saltonstall family gave money for a new library in honor of the ten generations of Saltonstalls who had attended Harvard, and the House offices moved to the first floor of F tower. In 1983, McKinlock was renovated, and at that time a new entrance to the dining hall was constructed.
The first Master of the House was Kenneth Murdoch, Professor of English and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The second Master was Leigh Hoadley, a biologist interested in the development of animals. The third Master was
John ConwayJohn Conway may refer to:* John B. Conway, mathematician, functional analyst, George Washington University* John Horton Conway, mathematician at Princeton University. Popularly known for Conway's Game of Life...
, an historian and bachelor for most of his tenure at the House. He married his wife Jill in Leverett House in the early 60s, and later they were at
Smith CollegeSmith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
where she served as President.
Richard GillRichard T. Gill held several teaching and administrative positions at Harvard over a period of twenty-two years. He was Assistant Dean of Harvard College, Allston Burr Senior Tutor of Leverett House, and Teaching Fellow, Instructor, and Assistant Professor of Economics...
, an economist, was the fourth Master. Master Gill was a wonderful bass and sang each year in the Leverett House Opera—a fixture in the House. While Master he auditioned for the
New York City OperaThe New York City Opera is an American opera company and the second largest opera company, after the Metropolitan Opera, in New York City. The company was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
and was offered a contract. He accepted and left Harvard, economics, and Leverett to begin a new career, first with the
New York City OperaThe New York City Opera is an American opera company and the second largest opera company, after the Metropolitan Opera, in New York City. The company was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
, and later with the
Metropolitan OperaThe Metropolitan Opera Association of New York City, founded in April 1880, is a major presenter of all types of opera including Grand Opera. Peter Gelb is the company's general manager. The music director is James Levine....
.
The fifth Master,
Kenneth AndrewsKenneth Andrews is an associate professor of Sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He received his doctorate in sociology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1997; in 1993, Andrews earned his Master's degree in sociology from the same institution. His...
, was appointed in 1971. During his tenure the Houses became coeducational and Leverett had for the first time a Co-Master, Carolyn Andrews. Ken Andrews was a professor at the Business School (the first Business School faculty member to be appointed Master), and during Harvard's 350th anniversary celebration, was one of the 20 individuals receiving Harvard Medals for distinguished service to the University. His citation read: "He understands, as Mark Twain never did, how business works best; his writings elucidate the complex subject to the benefit of his Harvard colleagues and of managers everywhere." Renowned biologist
John DowlingJohn Dowling may refer to:*John Dowling *John Dowling *John Dowling *John Dowling *John Dowling -See also:*John Dowling Coates, Australian*Jonathan Dowling, physicist...
and his wife Judith were appointed as the sixth Masters of Leverett House in 1981. Finally, in 1998,
Howard GeorgiHoward Mason Georgi III, born in 1947 in San Bernardino, California, is Harvard College Professor and Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics at Harvard University. He has, for many years, taught an advanced freshman physics course, "Physics 16" in the fall semester. He is also Director of Undergraduate...
and his wife Ann, were appointed as the seventh Masters. Howard and Ann, more commonly known as Chief and Coach respectively, are beloved for their house pride (Chief is rarely seen without a Leverett House tee shirt on), their three dogs, and their "monkeybread", a delicious cinnamon-flavored treat that is extraordinarily popular among Leverett students.
People
Notable alumni of Leverett House include
Aga Khan IVShah Karīm al-Hussaynī, The Āgā Khān IV, KBE, CC, GCC, GCIH is the 49th and current Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims. He has been in this position and has held the title of Āgā Khān since July 11, 1957, when at the age of 20 he succeeded his grandfather, Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan...
,
Timothy Crouse-Family:Timothy Crouse's affinity for campaign reporters and the theater took root thanks to his father, Russell Crouse, who was a career newspaperman and playwright. "The stories he told me of his newspaper days—especially traveling around the country with prankish sports teams—had a fatal tinge...
,
Al JeanAl Jean is an American screenwriter and producer, best known for his work on The Simpsons.-Biography:...
,
Anthony LakeAnthony Lake, or William Anthony Kirsopp Lake is a retired American diplomat, political figure, and academic. He has been a foreign policy advisor to many Democratic U.S. presidents and presidential candidates, and served as National Security Advisor under U.S. President Bill Clinton from 1993 to...
,
Steven LevittSteven David "Steve" Levitt is an American economist known for his work in the field of crime, in particular on the link between legalized abortion and crime rates. Winner of the 2004 John Bates Clark Medal, he is currently the William B...
, Mike Reiss, Chief Justice John G. Roberts,
Sydney SchanbergSydney Hillel Schanberg is an American journalist who is best known for his coverage of the war in Cambodia....
,
Pete SeegerPeter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and a key figure in the mid-20th century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early '50s as a member of The Weavers, most notably the 1950 recording of Leadbelly's...
,
Laurence TribeLaurence Henry Tribe is a professor of constitutional law at Harvard Law School and the Carl M. Loeb University Professor. He also serves as a consultant for the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld....
,
John WeidmanJohn Weidman is an American librettist. He is the son of librettist and novelist Jerome Weidman.He has written the books for a wide variety of stage musicals, three in collaboration with Stephen Sondheim: Pacific Overtures, Assassins, and Road Show...
, and
Cornel WestCornel Ronald West is an American philosopher, author, critic, actor, and civil rights activist, as well as a prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America...
.
Yo-Yo MaYo-Yo Ma is a French-born American virtuoso cellist and composer and winner of multiple Grammy Awards. He is one of the most revered cellists of the 20th and 21st centuries. He is also a highly accomplished musician on the piano, viola, and violin.-Biography:Yo-Yo Ma was born in Paris to Chinese...
was a music tutor for the house.
Archibald MacLeishArchibald MacLeish was an American poet, writer and the Librarian of Congress. He is associated with the modernist school of poetry. He has received three Pulitzer Prizes for his work.-Early years:...
,
Perry MillerPerry G. Miller was an American intellectual historian and Harvard University professor. He was an authority on American Puritanism...
, and
Lillian HellmanLillian Florence Hellman was an American playwright, linked throughout her life with many left-wing causes...
lived on the top of F-Tower; ominously, both
Dashiell HammettSamuel Dashiell Hammett was an American author of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade , Nick and Nora Charles , the newspaper comic strip Secret Agent X-9 and the Continental Op...
and
Italo CalvinoItalo Calvino was an Italian journalist and writer of short stories and novels. His best known works include the Our Ancestors trilogy , the Cosmicomics collection of short stories , and the novels Invisible Cities and If on a winter's night a traveler .Lionised in Britain and America, he was...
died immediately after contracting to live there.
House symbols
The House Shield is a derivative of the ancient Leverett family crest depicting three hares rampant with an inverted chevron. The family name is derived from the word "leveret" (with one "t") which means young hare; family tradition has it that the earliest recorded family members were keepers of ferrets in the royal household (the ferrets were trained to chase rabbits from their burrows). The official house colors are black and yellow, appearing on the earliest House paraphernalia that can be found. However, the combinations of black and red as well as green and yellow are often used. Annual t-shirt designs usually feature some combination of those four colors. Leverett House has a sister house at Yale,
Timothy Dwight CollegeTimothy Dwight College, commonly abbreviated and referred to as "TD", is a residential college at Yale University named after two university presidents, Timothy Dwight IV and Timothy Dwight V. The college was designed in 1935 by James Gamble Rogers in the Federal-style architecture popular during...
.
External links