Wadsworth House
Address1341, Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, United States of America, 02138
Site Number106
Alternate Names
President's House
Building Root Number
06037
Architect (Original)
Unknown
Building Acquired
1726
Constructed 1726
Constructed 1726
StatusActive
Site Name HistoryThe site is named after someone who participated in, benefited from, and supported the practice of human enslavement. Benjamin Wadsworth (1670-1737), Harvard President from 1725-1737
.Historical NotesBuilt in 1726, Wadsworth House is the second oldest building on the Harvard campus. It was built as the official home of Harvard President Benjamin Wadsworth. The previous President's House, built by President Dunster, was on or near the site of Massachusetts Hall. The new house was funded by the colonial legislature, and served as a presidential residence for 9 Harvard presidents over more than 100 years. Edward Everett was the last president to use the house as a dwelling.
In 1775 during the siege of Boston, Wadsworth House was the temporary headquarters of Generals George Washington and Charles Lee. It is the only wood-sheathed building in Harvard Yard, and today houses administrative offices.
A plaque installed in 2016 on the east side of Wadsworth House acknowledges Titus and Venus as enslaved persons who lived and worked for the Wadsworth family. An additional plaque acknowledges Juba and Bilhah as enslaved persons who lived and worked in a nearby house for Harvard President Edward Holyoke.
Additional Information
Manuscript Inventory of Personal Property of the College, 1828. Harvard University Archives call number UAI 20.828.
Records of Early Harvard buildings, 1710-1969. Harvard University Archives call number UAI 15.10.5 http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.ARCH:hua50010.
Key to a Room in Wadsworth House, ca. 1800-1860. Harvard Univesity Archives call number HUB 1873.4.
Harvard University Archives. Construction Management Records, ca. 1953-1986. Harvard University Archives call number UAV 298.8000
General Information about Wadsworth House, 1846-ca. 1970. Harvard University Archives call number HUB 1873.2.
Nails from Wadsworth House, ca. 1726. Harvard University Archives call number HUB 1873.3.
Wadsworth House. https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth-oai:nv936b93t. Accessed 18 Feb. 2021.
King, Moses. Harvard University. Eighty Photographic Views Selected from "King’s Handbook of Harvard University." Boston, Mass., [c1895], http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015063585809.
Harvard University and Cambridge: Photogravures. A.Wittemann, c1895., http://hdl.handle.net/2027/gri.ark:/13960/t3pw3c357.
Cambridge, Mass Wadsworth House. https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:1v53k010v. Accessed 18 Feb. 2021.
Stereograph of Wadsworth House, Cambridge, Mass., 1876. https://www.historicnewengland.org/explore/collections-access/gusn/273548. Accessed 19 Feb. 2021.
Wadsworth House, Harvard Square, Cambridge, Mass. https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:r494x5936. Accessed 18 Feb. 2021.
Wadsworth House, Harvard University. https://www.loc.gov/item/2016803513/. Accessed 1 Mar. 2021.
Drawings for Renovation of Alumni Room in Wadsworth House, ca. 1935. (1935). Harvard University Archives call number HUB 1873.5.
Massachusetts Daughters of the American Revolution. Hannah Winthrop chapter, Cambridge. An Historic Guide to Cambridge. 2nd ed., rev. ed., Cambridge, Mass., 1907.
Pazzanese, Christina. “To Titus, Venus, Bilhah, and Juba.” Harvard Gazette, 6 Apr. 2016, https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2016/04/to-titus-venus-bilhah-and-juba/.
Hurlbut, Byron Satterlee. A Guide Book to the Grounds and Buildings of Harvard University. Cambridge: U, 1898. Print.
Swan, Walter Dana. “The Harvard Memorial Gates.” The Architectural Review, vol. 8:6, June 1901, pp. 61-72, illus.
Photographic Views of Wadsworth House, 1858-1970. (1858). Harvard University Archives call number HUV 46
Wadsworth, Alexander. Plan of the Village in Old Cambridge. 1833. Print. Harvard Map Collection call number G3764.C2:2H25 1833 .W3 1905 oversize
Old 'President's House', Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass. 1850-1920. Boston Public Library, Print Department., Boston. Web. Local Accession Number: 06_11_000912
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
Wadsworth house, first head-qrs. of Washington. 1850-1920. Boston Public Library, Print Department., Boston. Web. Local Accession Number: 06_11_00877
“A Colonial Diary. And What It Tells About Harvard’s Old Landmark, ‘Wadsworth House.’” Cambridge Tribune, 6 Apr. 1895, p. 8.
“Begun 1726.” Western Architect, vol. 17, Jan. 1911, pp. 67–67.
“Wadsworth House, Cambridge.” Boston Evening Transcript, 18 Dec. 1875, p. 2.
This building has been designated by the University Planning Office as having a Notable Interior.
