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Dana Palmer
Access to material may be restricted.
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Dana Palmer

Address16, Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA, United States of America, 02138
Previous Address11, Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA, United States of America, 02138
Site Number102
Alternate Names Dana-Peabody House
Building Root Number 06006
Architect (Original)
Constructed 1823
Building Acquired 1835
Land Acquired 1892
Moved 1947
StatusActive
Site Name HistoryThe site is named after Richard Henry Dana (A.B. 1808), a lawyer and author, and George Herbert Palmer (A.B. 1864), a Harvard professor, who were successive occupants of the house.Historical NotesThe Dana Palmer house was built in 1823 and was the residence of Richard Henry Dana (A.B. 1808). Harvard acquired the property at 11 Quincy Street in 1835. It served as the original Harvard College Observatory and home of the director, William Cranch Bond (hon. A.M. 1842) from 1835 to 1842. It later served as a residence for Harvard faculty and President Conant during World War II and then as a house for guests of the university. The house was moved across Quincy Street in 1947 to accommodate construction of Lamont Library. Today Dana Palmer houses Harvard's Department of Comparative Literature.
Additional Information
Maycock, Susan E., and Charles Sullivan. Building old Cambridge: architecture and development. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2016. Print. Lamont Library call number NA735.C28 M39 2016; Loeb Design Library call number NA735.C28 M39 2016.
Weber, Paul J. Photographs of Harvard University Buildings and Grounds Taken by Paul J. Weber, Ca. 1929-1931 and 1939. Harvard University Archives call number HUV 2329
“Harvard Opens An Official Guest House Next Week.” Cambridge Chronicle, 27 May 1948, p. 2.
O'Brien, Mary. "Harvard's Guests to Live in Grand Manner of 1825: Dana-Palmer House is Restored for New Role in College History." Daily Boston Globe (1928-1960), May 23, 1948, pp. 1. ProQuest, http://search.proquest.com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/docview/819727480?accountid=11311.
General Information by and about Dana-Palmer House. Harvard University Archives call number HUB 1314.
Dana, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. "The Dana-Palmer House." Cambridge Historical Society Proceedings for the Years 1949-50. Cambridge, Mass., 1953. Harvard University Archives call number HUB 1360.71.
Massachusetts Daughters of the American Revolution. Hannah Winthrop chapter, Cambridge. An Historic Guide to Cambridge. 2nd ed., rev. ed., Cambridge, Mass., 1907.
Harvard University Archives. Construction Management Records, ca. 1953-1986. Harvard University Archives call number UAV 298.8000
“Historic Dana-Palmer House Will Be Moved Across Quincy Street.” The Harvard Crimson, 15 Jan. 1947, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1947/1/15/historic-dana-palmer-house-will-be-moved/.
“Dana-Palmer House to Move Across Quincy Street And Serve as Official Guest House After Refitting.” Harvard Crimson, 25 May 1946, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1946/5/25/dana-palmer-house-to-move-across-quincy/.
Placed on the National Register of Historic Places May 19, 1986. National Register Information System ID: 86001682
2007 winner Cambridge Historical Commission Preservation Award
This building has been designated by the University Planning Office as having a Notable Interior.
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