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Boylston Hall
Access to material may be restricted.
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Boylston Hall

Address5, Harvard Yard, Cambridge, MA, United States of America, 02138
Site Number312
Building Root Number 04330
Architect (Original)
Architect (Original)
Land Acquired 1794-1805
Constructed 1858
Building Acquired 1858
StatusActive
Site Name HistoryThe site is named after Ward Nicholas Boylston (1747-1828), a merchant and Harvard benefactor.Historical NotesBoylston Hall is the second building designed for Harvard by Paul Schulze. It was built in 1858 of granite from Rockport, Massachusetts. Originally the building was two stories with a hipped roof. In 1871 the firm of Peabody and Stearns made significant changes to the building designing a third-floor addition and new mansard roof. In 1959 The Architects Collaborative oversaw a complete renovation of the interior and an addition of a vestibule at the entrance.

The building was originally designed to house the chemistry laboratory and classrooms. It later held an anatomical museum, a mineralogical collection, and it was the original location of the Harvard –Yenching Institute.

Additional Information
Fong Auditorium
Ticknor Library
“Boylston’s Fifth Incarnation.” Architectural Forum, vol. 113, no. 1, Jan. 1960, p. 90.
Padjen, Elizabeth S., et al. “The Thompson Sampler: Five Buildings, Five Views of an Architectural Legacy.” Architecture Boston, vol. 14, no. 1, Jan. 2011, pp. 16–21.
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 University and Cambridge: Photogravures. A.Wittemann, c1895., http://hdl.handle.net/2027/gri.ark:/13960/t3pw3c357.
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 Archives. Construction Management Records, ca. 1953-1986. Harvard University Archives call number UAV 298.8000
“Boylston Laboratory to Be Utilized as Supplementary Annex for Widener Library-Bindery Will Go in Basement.” Harvard Crimson, 3 Oct. 1928, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1928/10/3/boylston-laboratory-to-be-utilized-as/.
Henry, Stephen G. “A Brand New Boylston.” Harvard Crimson, 30 Oct. 1998, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1998/10/30/a-brand-new-boylston-iboylston-halli/.
“Language Center To Have Offices In Boylston Hall.” Harvard Crimson, 22 Sept. 1958, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1958/9/22/language-center-to-have-offices-in/.
“Boylston Hall Addition.” Harvard Crimson, 27 May 1902, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1902/5/27/boylston-hall-addition-pat-a-meeting/.
“Work Starts on Renovation of Boylston Hall.” Cambridge Tribune, 52nd ed., 16 Mar. 1929, p. 7.
“Busy Times at Harvard.” Cambridge Chronicle, 23 Aug. 1902, p. 10.
“More Room Needed. Accommodations in Boylston Hall Are Not Sufficient - One Story Addition Being Erected.” Cambridge Tribune, 25th ed., 5 July 1902, p. 9.
“New Life for Boylston Hall, Once a Chemistry Laboratory, Boylston Will Now Be a Language Center.” Harvard Today, Nov. 1958, pp. 23–25.
“Addition to Boylston Hall.” Cambridge Tribune, 32nd ed., 11 Dec. 1909, p. 4.
“Boylston Hall, Harvard, Undergoing Repairs.” Daily Boston Globe, 22 Mar. 1929, p. 18.
“Boylston Hall Undergoing Repairs.” Cambridge Chronicle, 22 Mar. 1929, p. 4.
“Boylston Laboratory for Library Purposes.” Cambridge Tribune, 51st ed., 13 Oct. 1928.
Hurlbut, Byron Satterlee. A Guide Book to the Grounds and Buildings of Harvard University. Cambridge: U, 1898. Print.
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.
Mcniff, Philip. "The Boylston Hall Library." Harvard Library Bulletin, Jan 1, 1950, Vol.4, p.411.
Batter, Michael and Russel Vandiver. Boylston Hall Acoustics Field Problems. 1970. Harvard University Archives call number HUB 1231.7.
DiNisco, Kenneth, Greg Downes, Robert Hutchins, and Robert Pillsbury. Boylston Hall, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. Harvard University. Department of Architecture, 1964. Loeb Design Library call number Din Thesis.
Mulford, William Wheeler and Norman Guy. Report of Boylston Hall Room 9, and Suggestions for Improving the Ventilation of Boylston 9, [1890]. Harvard University Archives call number HUC 8889.324.
"New Life for Boylston Hall, Once a Chemistry Laboratory, Boylston Will Now be a Language Center." Harvard Today, Nov. 1958, pp. 23-25. Loeb Design Library call number NAB 5275 Har.
General Information by and about Boylston Hall. Harvard University Archives call number HUB 1231.2.
Pictures After Renovation. Harvard University Archives call number HUB 1231.5.
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