Child Hall
Address26, Everett Street, Cambridge, MA, United States of America, 02138
Site Number782
Alternate Names
William James Hall
Building Root Number
04860
Architect (Original)
Walter Adolph Georg Gropius
Architect (Original)
The Architects Collaborative, Inc.
Land Acquired
1869
Building Acquired 1950
Dedicated 1950
Constructed 1950
Building Acquired 1950
Dedicated 1950
Constructed 1950
StatusActive
Site Name HistoryThe site is named after Francis J. Child, a writer, scholar, and Harvard's first Professor of English. Child Hall was originally named William James Hall, after the psychologist, but was changed when William James Hall was constructed in 1964.Historical NotesChild Hall is a graduate student dormitory completed in 1950. It was designed by The Architects Collaborative, founded by noted International Style architect and Harvard architecture professor Walter Gropius. Additional Information
“University Dedicates New Graduate Dorms, Commons This Afternoon.” The Harvard Crimson, 6 Oct. 1950, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1950/10/6/university-dedicates-new-graduate-dorms-commons/.
“Harvard to Build Housing for 600 Grad Students.” Cambridge Chronicle, 14 Oct. 1948, p. 1.
“Harvard Reaffirms an Old Tradition.” Architectural Record, vol. 104, no. 5, 1948, pp. 118–19, usmodernist.org/AR/AR-1948-11.pdf.
“Award Contract for Jarvis Field Project.” The Harvard Crimson, 30 June 1949, p. 6.
“Dormitories for Harvard University, U.S.A.” Architects’ Journal, vol. 109, Feb. 1949, pp. 125–26.
Gropius, Walter and Harvard University Graduate Center. The Graduate Center and “Gropius in America.” Harvard Bulletin, Inc, 1950.
“Harvard Builds a Graduate Yard : New Dormitory Center Retains Quadrangle Pattern, Recasts Student Life in a Modern Mold.” Architectural Forum, vol. 93, no. 6, Dec. 1950, pp. 62–71.
“Harvard to Build 7 Dormitories at Cost of $3,000,000: Quarters for 600 Men to Rise Near the Square; Work Begins in Spring.” Daily Boston Globe, 14 Oct. 1948, pp. 1–2.
This building has been designated by the University Planning Office as having a Notable Interior.
