Leverett House
Encyclopedia
Leverett House is the largest (by number of students) of twelve residence houses for upperclass undergraduates (who have already completed their first year) at Harvard University
. It is situated along the north bank of the Charles River
in Cambridge and consists of McKinlock Hall, constructed in 1925, two 12-story towers completed in 1960, and two floors of 20 DeWolfe Street, a building Leverett shares with two other houses at Harvard.
The Leverett Towers (commonly referred to as F- and G-Tower since the entryways in McKinlock span A-E), on the other hand, serve a primarily residential function. Each tower consists primarily of singles and doubles and holds approximately 150 students. The top floors of the towers - especially those facing south - boast outstanding views of the Boston skyline and the Charles River for the students lucky enough to live there. The ground floor of G-Tower features a common area that house residents have nicknamed the "G-spot," although the space goes largely unused due to its poor design. The ground floor of F-tower includes class and meeting spaces as well as several house offices. Between the towers and McKinlock sits the Leverett Library, which was constructed along with the towers and has won awards for its innovative design. The ground floor of the library building houses the superintendent's office.
The top floors of 20 DeWolfe Street were annexed by the house in fall 2007. Originally intended for faculty or graduate students, the DeWolfe suites offer more modern amenities than those available in either McKinlock or Leverett Towers, but those amenities come at the cost of tighter living conditions.
(whose grandfather, John Leverett
had been the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
), who was President of Harvard from 1708 to 1724. Leverett's election was one of the significant turning points for Harvard, for every President before him had been a clergyman. Leverett was a leader of the liberal movement in the Congregational Church
and he opposed the powerful clergymen Increase
and Cotton Mather
, who had attempted to impose upon the College a new charter containing a loyalty oath that would have refused appointment to the faculty of anyone not willing to acknowledge the primacy of Biblical scripture. Leverett, during his tenure as president, improved the quality of instruction in the College and maintained the position of Harvard in the critical years when Yale
was becoming a formidable rival.
In the mid-1920s, Harvard constructed student residences on the banks of the recently dammed Charles River
, residences initially occupied by freshmen. McKinlock Hall, built in 1925, was one of those original buildings. The building was donated by the family of Lieut. George Alexander McKinlock Jr., a Harvard graduate who was killed by a German machine gun near Soissons
in 1918. With the formation of Leverett House in 1930-31, Mather Hall, across Mill Street, was built along with the present dining hall and Master's residence. Six squash courts were also constructed, adjacent to Mather Hall. Leverett remained in that configuration until the early 1960s when the College expanded and new Houses were added. Mather Hall became a part of Quincy House
, the squash courts were lost, and the Leverett Towers were built. The Saltonstall family gave money for a new library in honor of the ten generations of Saltonstalls who had attended Harvard, and the House offices moved to the first floor of F tower. In 1983, McKinlock was renovated, and at that time a new entrance to the dining hall was constructed.
The first Master of the House was Kenneth Murdoch, Professor of English and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The second Master was Leigh Hoadley, a biologist interested in the development of animals. The third Master was John Conway
, an historian and bachelor for most of his tenure at the House. He married his wife Jill in Leverett House in the early 60s, and later they were at Smith College
where she served as President. Richard T. Gill, an economist, was the fourth Master. Master Gill was a wonderful bass and sang each year in the Leverett House Opera—a fixture in the House. While Master he auditioned for the New York City Opera
and was offered a contract. He accepted and left Harvard, economics, and Leverett to begin a new career, first with the New York City Opera
, and later with the Metropolitan Opera
.
The fifth Master, Kenneth Andrews
, was appointed in 1971. During his tenure the Houses became coeducational and Leverett had for the first time a Co-Master, Carolyn Andrews. Ken Andrews was a professor at the Business School (the first Business School faculty member to be appointed Master), and during Harvard's 350th anniversary celebration, was one of the 20 individuals receiving Harvard Medals for distinguished service to the University. His citation read: "He understands, as Mark Twain never did, how business works best; his writings elucidate the complex subject to the benefit of his Harvard colleagues and of managers everywhere." Renowned biologist John Dowling
and his wife Judith were appointed as the sixth Masters of Leverett House in 1981. Finally, in 1998, Howard Georgi
and his wife Ann, were appointed as the seventh Masters. Howard and Ann, more commonly known as Chief and Coach respectively, are beloved for their house pride (Chief is rarely seen without a Leverett House tee shirt on), their three dogs, and their "monkeybread", a delicious cinnamon-flavored treat that is extraordinarily popular among Leverett students.
, Timothy Crouse
, Al Jean
, Anthony Lake
, Steven Levitt
, Jeremy Lin
, Saul Perlmutter
, Mike Reiss
, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Sydney Schanberg
, Pete Seeger
, Laurence Tribe
, John Weidman
, and Cornel West
. Yo-Yo Ma
was a music tutor for the house. Archibald MacLeish
, Perry Miller
, and Lillian Hellman
lived on the top of F-Tower. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan
and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan
, both currently cabinet officials in the Obama Administration, also resided in Leverett during their times at Harvard; in fact, the two were roommates.
.
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. It is situated along the north bank of the Charles River
Charles River
The Charles River is an long river that flows in an overall northeasterly direction in eastern Massachusetts, USA. From its source in Hopkinton, the river travels through 22 cities and towns until reaching the Atlantic Ocean at Boston...
in Cambridge and consists of McKinlock Hall, constructed in 1925, two 12-story towers completed in 1960, and two floors of 20 DeWolfe Street, a building Leverett shares with two other houses at Harvard.
Structure
The bulk of McKinlock Hall consists of 5 entryways, each of which leads to four or five floors of suites for approximately 35 students. McKinlock also serves as the center of Leverett social life: it houses the Leverett Dining Hall, the Junior and Senior Common Rooms, the Old Library Theatre, the Master's Residence, and several other common spaces.The Leverett Towers (commonly referred to as F- and G-Tower since the entryways in McKinlock span A-E), on the other hand, serve a primarily residential function. Each tower consists primarily of singles and doubles and holds approximately 150 students. The top floors of the towers - especially those facing south - boast outstanding views of the Boston skyline and the Charles River for the students lucky enough to live there. The ground floor of G-Tower features a common area that house residents have nicknamed the "G-spot," although the space goes largely unused due to its poor design. The ground floor of F-tower includes class and meeting spaces as well as several house offices. Between the towers and McKinlock sits the Leverett Library, which was constructed along with the towers and has won awards for its innovative design. The ground floor of the library building houses the superintendent's office.
The top floors of 20 DeWolfe Street were annexed by the house in fall 2007. Originally intended for faculty or graduate students, the DeWolfe suites offer more modern amenities than those available in either McKinlock or Leverett Towers, but those amenities come at the cost of tighter living conditions.
History
Leverett House was named after John LeverettJohn Leverett the Younger
John Leverett was an early American lawyer, politician, educator, and President of Harvard University.John Leverett was the son of Hudson Leverett, an attorney, and Sarah Leverett,...
(whose grandfather, John Leverett
John Leverett
John Leverett was an English colonial magistrate, merchant, soldier and governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Born in England, he came to Massachusetts as a teenager. He was a leading merchant in the colony, and served in its military...
had been the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
), who was President of Harvard from 1708 to 1724. Leverett's election was one of the significant turning points for Harvard, for every President before him had been a clergyman. Leverett was a leader of the liberal movement in the Congregational Church
Congregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
and he opposed the powerful clergymen Increase
Increase Mather
Increase Mather was a major figure in the early history of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Province of Massachusetts Bay . He was a Puritan minister who was involved with the government of the colony, the administration of Harvard College, and most notoriously, the Salem witch trials...
and Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather, FRS was a socially and politically influential New England Puritan minister, prolific author and pamphleteer; he is often remembered for his role in the Salem witch trials...
, who had attempted to impose upon the College a new charter containing a loyalty oath that would have refused appointment to the faculty of anyone not willing to acknowledge the primacy of Biblical scripture. Leverett, during his tenure as president, improved the quality of instruction in the College and maintained the position of Harvard in the critical years when Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
was becoming a formidable rival.
In the mid-1920s, Harvard constructed student residences on the banks of the recently dammed Charles River
Charles River
The Charles River is an long river that flows in an overall northeasterly direction in eastern Massachusetts, USA. From its source in Hopkinton, the river travels through 22 cities and towns until reaching the Atlantic Ocean at Boston...
, residences initially occupied by freshmen. McKinlock Hall, built in 1925, was one of those original buildings. The building was donated by the family of Lieut. George Alexander McKinlock Jr., a Harvard graduate who was killed by a German machine gun near Soissons
Battle of Soissons (1918)
The Battle of Soissons was a World War I battle, waged during 18 July to 22 July 1918, between the French and the German armies....
in 1918. With the formation of Leverett House in 1930-31, Mather Hall, across Mill Street, was built along with the present dining hall and Master's residence. Six squash courts were also constructed, adjacent to Mather Hall. Leverett remained in that configuration until the early 1960s when the College expanded and new Houses were added. Mather Hall became a part of Quincy House
Quincy House
Quincy House may refer to:* Quincy House , a residential house at Harvard* Quincy House , graduate house in the Brookland neighborhood of Washington, DC* Quincy House , the U.S. ambassador's residence in Riyadh...
, the squash courts were lost, and the Leverett Towers were built. The Saltonstall family gave money for a new library in honor of the ten generations of Saltonstalls who had attended Harvard, and the House offices moved to the first floor of F tower. In 1983, McKinlock was renovated, and at that time a new entrance to the dining hall was constructed.
The first Master of the House was Kenneth Murdoch, Professor of English and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The second Master was Leigh Hoadley, a biologist interested in the development of animals. The third Master was John Conway
John Conway
John Conway may refer to:* John Horton Conway, mathematician at Princeton University. Popularly known for Conway's Game of Life* John B. Conway, mathematician, functional analyst, George Washington University...
, an historian and bachelor for most of his tenure at the House. He married his wife Jill in Leverett House in the early 60s, and later they were at Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
where she served as President. Richard T. Gill, an economist, was the fourth Master. Master Gill was a wonderful bass and sang each year in the Leverett House Opera—a fixture in the House. While Master he auditioned for the New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
and was offered a contract. He accepted and left Harvard, economics, and Leverett to begin a new career, first with the New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
, and later with the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
.
The fifth Master, Kenneth Andrews
Kenneth R. Andrews
Kenneth R Andrews was an academic who wrote and thought on business policy or corporate strategy at the Harvard Business School. He is regarded as one of the 'fathers' of modern business strategy and has been credited with giving corporate strategy its dominant strategy...
, was appointed in 1971. During his tenure the Houses became coeducational and Leverett had for the first time a Co-Master, Carolyn Andrews. Ken Andrews was a professor at the Business School (the first Business School faculty member to be appointed Master), and during Harvard's 350th anniversary celebration, was one of the 20 individuals receiving Harvard Medals for distinguished service to the University. His citation read: "He understands, as Mark Twain never did, how business works best; his writings elucidate the complex subject to the benefit of his Harvard colleagues and of managers everywhere." Renowned biologist John Dowling
John Dowling
John Dowling may refer to:*John Dowling *John Dowling *John Dowling *John Dowling *John Dowling -See also:...
and his wife Judith were appointed as the sixth Masters of Leverett House in 1981. Finally, in 1998, Howard Georgi
Howard Georgi
Howard Mason Georgi III, born January 6, 1947 in San Bernardino, California, is Harvard College Professor and Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics at Harvard University...
and his wife Ann, were appointed as the seventh Masters. Howard and Ann, more commonly known as Chief and Coach respectively, are beloved for their house pride (Chief is rarely seen without a Leverett House tee shirt on), their three dogs, and their "monkeybread", a delicious cinnamon-flavored treat that is extraordinarily popular among Leverett students.
People
Notable alumni of Leverett House include Aga Khan IVAga Khan IV
Prince Karim, Aga Khan IV, NPk, NI, KBE, CC, GCC, GCIH, GCM is the 49th and current Imam of the Shia Imami Nizari Ismaili Muslims. He has held this position under the title of Aga Khan since July 11, 1957, when, at the age of 20, he succeeded his grandfather, Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan...
, Timothy Crouse
Timothy Crouse
-Family:Timothy Crouse's affinity for campaign reporters and the theater took root thanks to his father, Russel Crouse, who was a career newspaperman and playwright. "The stories he told me of his newspaper days—especially traveling around the country with prankish sports teams—had a fatal tinge of...
, Al Jean
Al Jean
Al Jean is an award-winning American screenwriter and producer, best known for his work on The Simpsons. He was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his writing career in the 1980s with fellow Harvard alum Mike Reiss...
, Anthony Lake
Anthony Lake
William Anthony Kirsopp Lake, best known as Tony Lake, is the Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund , author, academic, and former American diplomat, Foreign Service Officer, and political advisor. He has been a foreign policy advisor to many Democratic U.S...
, Steven Levitt
Steven Levitt
Steven David "Steve" Levitt is an American economist known for his work in the field of crime, in particular on the link between legalized abortion and crime rates. Winner of the 2004 John Bates Clark Medal, he is currently the William B...
, Jeremy Lin
Jeremy Lin
Jeremy Shu-How Lin is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association...
, Saul Perlmutter
Saul Perlmutter
Saul Perlmutter is an American astrophysicist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of...
, Mike Reiss
Mike Reiss
Michael "Mike" Reiss is an American television comedy writer. He served as a show-runner, writer and producer for the animated series The Simpsons and co-created the animated series The Critic...
, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Sydney Schanberg
Sydney Schanberg
Sydney Hillel Schanberg is an American journalist who is best known for his coverage of the war in Cambodia.-Life:Schanberg joined The New York Times as a journalist in 1959. He spent much of the early 1970s in Southeast Asia as a correspondent for the Times...
, Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
, Laurence Tribe
Laurence Tribe
Laurence Henry Tribe is a professor of constitutional law at Harvard Law School and the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard University. He also works with the firm Massey & Gail LLP on a variety of matters....
, John Weidman
John Weidman
John Weidman is an American librettist. He is the son of librettist and novelist Jerome Weidman.He has written the books for a wide variety of stage musicals, three in collaboration with Stephen Sondheim: Pacific Overtures, Assassins, and Road Show...
, and Cornel West
Cornel West
Cornel Ronald West is an American philosopher, author, critic, actor, civil rights activist and prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America....
. Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
was a music tutor for the house. Archibald MacLeish
Archibald MacLeish
Archibald MacLeish was an American poet, writer, and the Librarian of Congress. He is associated with the Modernist school of poetry. He received three Pulitzer Prizes for his work.-Early years:...
, Perry Miller
Perry Miller
Perry G. Miller was an American intellectual historian and Harvard University professor. He was an authority on American Puritanism, and a founder of the field of American Studies. Alfred Kazin referred to him as "the master of American intellectual history"...
, and Lillian Hellman
Lillian Hellman
Lillian Florence "Lily" Hellman was an American playwright, linked throughout her life with many left-wing causes...
lived on the top of F-Tower. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan
Arne Duncan
Arne Duncan is an American education administrator and currently United States Secretary of Education. Duncan previously served as CEO of the Chicago Public Schools.-Early years and personal:...
and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan
Shaun Donovan
Shaun L.S. Donovan is the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, serving in the cabinet of President Barack Obama. Prior to this he headed the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development...
, both currently cabinet officials in the Obama Administration, also resided in Leverett during their times at Harvard; in fact, the two were roommates.
House symbols
The House Shield is a derivative of the ancient Leverett family crest depicting three hares rampant with an inverted chevron. The family name is derived from the word "leveret" (with one "t") which means young hare; family tradition has it that the earliest recorded family members were keepers of ferrets in the royal household (the ferrets were trained to chase rabbits from their burrows). The official house colors are black and yellow, appearing on the earliest House paraphernalia that can be found. However, the combinations of black and red as well as green and yellow are often used. Annual t-shirt designs usually feature some combination of those four colors. Leverett House has a sister house at Yale, Timothy Dwight CollegeTimothy Dwight College
Timothy Dwight College, commonly abbreviated and referred to as "TD", is a residential college at Yale University named after two university presidents, Timothy Dwight IV and Timothy Dwight V. The college was designed in 1935 by James Gamble Rogers in the Federal-style architecture popular during...
.