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Coolidge Hall, 1737 Cambridge Street [Demolished]
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Coolidge Hall, 1737 Cambridge Street [Demolished]

Address1737, Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA, United States of America, 02138
Site Number828
Alternate Names Ambassador Hotel, Dudley House,
Building Root Number 04355
Architect (Original) Edward F. Heenan
Constructed 1928
Building Acquired 1963
Land Acquired 1963
Demolished 2003
StatusInactive
Materials for this building in our collection are not fully processed at this time.
Site Name HistoryThe site is named after Archibald Cary Coolidge, class of 1887. Coolidge was a great-grandson of Thomas Jefferson and the first director of the Harvard Library in 1910. He was instrumental in forwarding the construction of the Widener Library.Historical NotesOriginally constructed in 1928 this site, which had housed the Ambassador Hotel, was acquired by Harvard University in 1963 to house the students who were displaced by the construction of Holyoke Center which necessitated the demolition of Dudley Hall and Little Hall. The site was altered multiple times before being razed for the construction of the CGIS Knafel Center.Additional Information
Harvard University Archives. Construction Management Records, ca. 1953-1986. Harvard University Archives call number UAV 298.8000
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
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.
Paisner, Bruce L. “Harvard Buys Ambassador Hotel, to Replace Dudley, Little Halls.” The Harvard Crimson. May 2, 1963.
“‘The Ambassador,’a New Apartment, Will Be Ready for Business Soon.” Cambridge Chronicle, 24 Aug. 1928, p. 9.
“Former Ambassador Hotel Renamed as Coolidge Hall.” Cambridge Chronicle, 23 Nov. 1967, p. 13.
“Dudley House’s Old Home Christened Coolidge Hall.” The Harvard Crimson, 18 Nov. 1967, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1967/11/18/dudley-houses-old-home-christened-coolidge/.
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