Harvard Stadium
Photographer: Jones, Leslie, 1886-1967
Brighton, Massachusetts
1920-1929
Harvard Stadium,
designed by Charles McKim and George Bruno de Gersdorff, was erected in
1902-03, across the Charles River on Soldiers Field Road in Boston’s
Brighton neighborhood. The stadium's appearance was meant to evoke the ideal of
classical amphitheaters and Stadia and was modeled after a similar structure in Athens, Greece.
Harvard Stadium was the first permanent and the largest reinforced concrete structure of its time. It was the first stadium built for U.S. college athletics. Originally, the facility had a seating capacity of 22,000 which was increased by wooden, and later, steel bleachers. The capacity is now roughly 30,000 spectators.
The first football game played on the field was on November 14, 1903
against Dartmouth College (Dartmouth won 11-0), and it has been the site of Harvard football’s hometown games ever since. The “Stadium” was used not only for football but for other sports and even theatrical events. In
addition, generations of Harvard grads have paraded around the field
during alumni and commencement exercises. As
early as 1906 the Harvard Classics department productions of classical
Greek drama were performed there and this tradition has continued
through the decades. Harvard Stadium
was refurbished in 1982.
Sources:
2. Bronze tablet at Soldiers Field showing Harvard property
Image number: 05_02_010181
Photographer: Jones, Leslie, 1886-1967
Brighton, Massachusetts (1924)
Shows raised detail of Harvard Stadium along with layout of roads engraved in tablet, including Soldiers Field Road and North Harvard Street.
5. West Point Cadets in Harvard Stadium before Harvard - Army game
Image number: 05_02_010008
Photographer: Jones, Leslie, 1886-1967
Brighton, Massachusetts (ca. 1930)
"Do you remember when the West Point Cadets were famous and his head coach just went in the Hall of Fame? The boys will never be seen in their uniforms + clever football" is written in pencil by photographer on back of photo.
7. Harvard Stadium as it used to look with the steel stands removed
Image number: 05_02_010041
Brighton, Massachusetts (1952)
Newspaper caption on verso reads, "Harvard Stadium sports old look as the camera, trained from Dillon Field House, reveals the horseshoe now that the steel stands have disappeared completely, returning the Cambridge Coliseum to its original profile."
8. Harvard's Inflatable Track Dome
Image number: 05_02_010047
Brighton, Massachusetts (1968)
Floor of track laid out by workers under the inflatable dome of the new indoor track facility at Harvard University.
9. Dome of new indoor track facility at Harvard University
Image number: 05_02_010048
Brighton, Massachusetts (1968)
Newspaper caption on verso reads, "Dome looms on Harvard campus on Storrow Drive opposite Harvard boathouse (top photo). At bottom, workmen lay flooring inside the structure. Memorial Drive on right, from bottom up; Harvard Business School, Briggs Cage, i
Sports
Temples of Boston: Images of Historic Ballparks, Arenas and Stadiums,
1872-1972
has been made possible through a Library Services and
Technology Act grant
administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library
Commissioners.
