Kirkland House - Bryan Hall
Address85, Dunster Street, Cambridge, MA, United States of America, 02138
Alternate Address24, South Street, Cambridge, MA, United States of America, 02138
Site Number930A
Alternate Names
Kirkland Master's Lodging
Building Root Number
03271
Architect (Original)
Coolidge, Shepley, Bulfinch, and Abbott
Constructed
1933
Building Acquired 1933
Building Acquired 1933
StatusActive
Site Name HistoryThe site is named after John Thornton Kirkland (1770-1840), president of Harvard University from 1810 to 1828 and for Gregory Seeley Bryan (Harvard College Class of 1890) from Washington, Connecticut.Historical NotesBryan Hall was originally constructed in 1930 as two separate buildings to be part of Kirkland House. The Kirkland Faculty Dean’s House, which would also house dorms for students, was constructed on the corner of South Street and Dunster Street. An unnamed dormitory was built behind Hicks House on South Street.Between the two buildings on South Street was a privately owned Colonial era house that was home to the Dunster House Book Shop. Harvard purchased the property in late 1932 and the Dunster House Book Shop moved to the first floor of the new Advocate building on the corner of Mt. Auburn and Plympton Streets.
After the book shop moved, the house was torn down and construction took place connecting the dorm and the Faculty Dean’s Residence. The completed building was named Bryan Hall after Gregory Seeley Bryan (Harvard College Class of 1890) who made a bequest to Harvard in 1929 “the Gregory Seeley Bryan fund, or building, or professorship, at the discrestion of the trustees."
The entirety of Bryan Hall was designed for Harvard by Coolidge Shepley Bulfinch and Abbott of Boston. Today it is part of Kirkland House, one of Harvard's twelve undergraduate residential communities.
Historical note: Cambridge Historical Commission has a marker on the Bryan Hall site that reads: "Manning's Wharf. Site of the first wharf on the town creek. The wharves were active here until the river banks were landscaped after 1895. 1651."Additional Information
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
Photographic Views of Kirkland House, 1913-1963. (1913). Harvard University Archives call number HUV 664
Harvard University. Descriptive pamphlets of the buildings included in the House Plan - Adams House, Dunster House, Eliot House, Kirkland House, Leverett House, Lowell House, John Winthrop House 1930-1931, [include sketches and plans]. HOLLIS number 003160105.
“Getting Ready for New Addition at Harvard.” Daily Boston Globe, 30 Mar 1933, p. 12.
“Construction of Bryan Hall Will Start Saturday.” The Harvard Crimson [Cambridge, MA], 29 Mar. 1933, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1933/3/29/construction-of-bryan-hall-will-start.
“Gregory S. Bryan Hall Will be New Unit of Kirkland.” The Harvard Crimson [Cambridge, MA], 15 Mar. 1933, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1933/3/15/gregorys-bryan-hall-will-be-new.
“Harvard to Build a New Dormitory.” Cambridge Tribune, 17 Mar. 1933, p. 4.
“Harvard’s 298th Academic Year to Start This Week.” Cambridge Tribune. 22 Sep. 1933, p. 7.
“House Profiles.” The Harvard Crimson [Cambridge, MA], 20 Mar. 1963, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1963/3/20/house-profiles-pbia-foreword-to-freshmenib.
"New Dormitory Plans Revealed at Harvard." New York Times. 15 Mar 1933, p. 19.
"Estate Halved By Break." New York Times. 31 Oct 1929, p. 3.
"Harvard Gets Bequest." New York Times. 13 Feb 1930, p. 15.
Lowell, A. Lawrence. "Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments, 1930-31." Harvard University, 1931, p. 28.
"What’s in a name? The people behind local places" Danbury (Conn.) News-Times, August 5, 2016. https://www.newstimes. com/local/article/What-s-in-a-name-The-people-behind-local-places-9125060.php
This building has been designated by the University Planning Office as having a Notable Interior.