Harvard Club of Boston Centennial

Throughout 2008, the Harvard Club of Boston will proudly be celebrating its Centennial. Although our actual anniversary date will be on March 19th, our celebration will be a year-long one, and we sincerely hope you will join us -- starting with our New Year's Day Brunch at the Main Clubhouse. A Platinum Club of America, the Harvard Club of Boston is planning to apply a Centennial theme to its traditional events in 2008. To celebrate its first 100 years, the Harvard Club is planning two spectacular Galas and will provide its members with special offerings. The Club will continue to offer new special member events and activities, while continuing in its tradition of attracting celebrated individuals to host them. The following are some notable excerpts edited from "A Brief History of the Harvard Club of Boston" by Geoffrey H. Movius '62:

In February, 1908, Harvard's Class Secretaries' Association voted on the question of starting a Harvard Club in Boston. Keeping in mind the failed attempt at founding a Harvard Club in 1855, along with bitter memories of the 1907 financial panic still fresh, the Class Secretaries concluded it was an "inopportune time" to begin a club, and held that such an organization did not seem "necessary, desirable or feasible" in Boston.

In a mutinous frame of mind, Odin Roberts (18)'86, Arthur J. Garceau '91, and John J. Hayes '96 decided to go ahead despite the Class Secretaries. On March 19, 1908, Roberts, Garceau and Hayes gathered with others who favored their idea, and the Harvard Club of Boston was formed -- this time for keeps. The 22 men who signed the articles of association and comprised the Club's first membership signed themselves:

This group adopted by-laws and elected the Club's first officers. For their president, they chose Major Higginson, who brought to the venture his reputation for leadership in Boston society and cultural life, a deep interest in Harvard affairs, an extraordinary record of philanthropy, and the benefits of his forceful personality. Higginson had founded the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and had given the land which became Soldiers Field to Harvard. The other officers were: Tucker Burr and James Perkins, Vice Presidents; Frederick Mead, Treasurer; and "Turo" Garceau, Secretary. Dues were set at five dollars a year for resident members -- living within 20 miles of Boston -- and three dollars for nonresidents.

The Club's basic aim would be "to give effective expression to the Harvard spirit". The founders planned to hold an annual dinner, and "other occasional informal meetings as opportunity offers, for the purpose of social intercourse". Within four weeks, the original 22 had elected 432 "charter members" to join them, and the list was growing daily. The new Club's first general meeting was a luncheon in the Crystal Dining Room of the Parker House on June 23, 1908, to "entertain visiting graduates". Over 400 attended the Club's first athletic dinner on November 13, honoring the victorious varsity crew and baseball teams. By the time Arthur Garceau submitted the first Secretary's Report at the end of 1908, only nine months after organizing, the Club's membership stood at 786. A year later, there were almost 1,200 members, and the treasury showed a balance of $4,512.99.

The Club's first annual dinner was held at the Hotel Somerset on January 20, 1909, with Harvard President Charles W. Eliot as guest of honor. The cost was $3 a plate. The early members sought ways to serve not only the University but the Boston community as well. Five annual scholarships of $200 each were established on January 29, 1909, for the benefit of the graduates of local high schools planning to attend Harvard College. From the modest beginnings of this program of financial assistance, the efforts and generosity of Club members have enabled many hundreds of students to attend Harvard over the past 100 years.

With membership and income rising steadily, the need for a permanent home became increasingly apparent. A number of members favored the downtown area as most convenient; others held out for "mid-town", and supported purchase of the lot where the Ritz-Carlton now stands, or another at the corner of Newbury and Dartmouth Streets for which plans were actually drawn-up. However, majority will and the availability of an affordable site coalesced, and the lot at the corner of Massachusetts and Commonwealth Avenues was purchased in May, 1912, for $200,000. The firm of Parker, Thomas, and Rice drew up plans for a building, and work on the foundations began in the fall. The cost of the building was estimated at $480,000 though the actual cost of completion came to almost $700,000. In January, 1913, the Harvard Club ceased to be a "voluntary organization" and incorporated itself in order to facilitate the financing of a new home.

At 10 pm on February 26, 1913, following a torchlight parade to the building site, Harvard President A. Lawrence Lowell '77 laid the cornerstone. Speaking before the ceremony, Odin Roberts, who -- with Robert F. Herrick '90 and Arthur Garceau -- had been instrumental in the activities of the building committee, expressed the wish that the Harvard Club of Boston might "be distinguished from all other clubs in being inclusive instead of exclusive". On November 12, 1913, the Club's new home was formally dedicated in a ceremony held in Harvard Hall during which President Lowell lit the fire in the great fireplace. "A fire on the hearth signifies home", he said, "and herds a home for Harvard men. I hope that this fire will burn every winter evening, and that it will burn long for comfort and for light."

Membership stood at nearly 3,500 at the end of 1913. Once into its own quarters, the Club broadened its activities perceptibly. Concerts, dinners, lectures, informal "smokers" and formal dinners served to mingle the mighty with the ordinary, the exotic with the familiar. One of the first large dinners in the new building honored William C. Forbes '92, former governor general of the Philippines. Speakers included President Eliot and former U.S. President William Howard Taft, a Yale man.

On November 19, 1914, the 1914 Henley Championship crew was given a banquet. The boat had contained several men who were to become familiar figures at the Club in later years, including Louis Curtis, Jr. (19)'14, Charles C. Lund '16 -- later Club president -- and Leverett Saltonstall '14, who was to become first the beloved Governor of and then U.S. Senator from Massachusetts. At the December banquet honoring Harvard's legendary 1914 football team, Professor Chang Loy Soong of China's Imperial University found himself seated next to William F. "Pooch" Donovan, varsity track coach and trainer, at a head table that included football immortals Charlie Brickley, Eddie Mahan, and Tack Hardwick.

In March, 1915, the Club received an extraordinarily generous gift in the form of a $150,000 bequest from J. Arthur Beebe '69. By the end of the year, the Treasurer's Report listed total assets of more than $800,000. Membership stood at 4,397. America was about to enter the war, and at the annual dinner in March, 1917, Major Higginson moved passage of a resolution supporting severance of diplomatic relations with Germany, calling for mobilization against "a common enemy", and pledging the support of the Harvard Club of Boston for President Woodrow Wilson. It passed unanimously. For the next two years, the Harvard Club became, in effect, Boston's Army and Navy officer's club.

Still other problems came with peace the following year. A little card dated February 15,1918, puts the matter of the 18th Amendment sadly but succinctly: "In view of the coming Prohibition, the Club will have to dispose of its surplus stock of wines including many vintages in the near future. On or before February 24th, the Club would be glad to receive the names of members who may be interested, in order that it may have them available when determining what the proper method of distribution shall be." Prohibition did not erode use of the club house, for the ensuing years boasted increased membership and unflagging energy in mounting events.

On April 24, 1924, the Harvard Class Secretaries Association's annual dinner was held at the very Club they had years before held not to be "necessary, desirable or feasible". The oldest secretary attending was President Eliot's classmate, Edwin H. Abbott '53, and the youngest was about to graduate from Harvard College, F.A.O. Schwartz '24. Facilities at the club were expanded in 1925 with the addition of eight new squash courts, along with new wash rooms, a steam room, and barbershop. It was during this year that the Club reached its peak membership of 5,070 -- a level not achieved again until the 1970s. The formal opening of the grill room featured several football films and the footage of the Tunney-Dempsey fight, shown in Harvard Hall courtesy of Tex Rickard.

The national trauma and after-shocks of the Great Depression produced substantial changes in the lives of many members of the Club. In an open letter to his constituents dated February 5, 1932, Club President Nathaniel E Ayer '00 wrote: "A number of our members are without positions. It is probable that in our total membership of 5,000 there are a number who require the services of properly qualified men...Believing that the collection and coordination of this information will be a proper and valuable service to our membership, your Board of Governors has appointed a Placement Information Committee to find out as much as possible about both sides of the employment situation in the Club membership and to act as a clearing-house of placement information."

In March, 1940, the question of admitting women to the club house, which had been under consideration for many years, came again to a vote and passed. The Ladies' Annex was clearly an idea whose time had come. As the report issued by the Board of Governors under President George Peabody Gardner '10 made clear, "facilities for ladies are now provided or are being provided by most of the clubs in Boston". Whether good fiscal judgment or plain common sense prevailed, the Ladies' Annex became a reality, despite the consternation of some crusty habitués of the old reading room.

On January 7, 1949, the Club celebrated its long relationship with Maestro Serge Koussevitzky on his 25th and last season with the Boston Symphony, and the entire orchestra was on hand to perform. In a break with rule, Koussevitzky was made a life member of the Harvard Club -- the first non-Harvard alumnus to be so honored. Illustrious visitors continued to make appearances at the Club, including Eleanor Roosevelt on February 11, 1950, and Walter Lippmann '10 the following year. Lippmann's lecture on foreign policy was the first sponsored by the Harvard Club of Boston Foundation, which had been formally established on July 10, 1950, to facilitate non-profit fund raising in the areas of scholarships and financial aid, prizes and awards, concerts, and lectures. The Foundation remains the bulwark of the philanthropic activities of the Harvard Club of Boston.

In the spring of 1954, the directors voted to grant members of the Yale Club of Boston, homeless lambs since 1935, "Special Extended Guest Privileges" under the same dues schedule as regular members. On November 19, 1954, a downtown "Harvard Banquet Room" was opened upstairs at Purcell's Restaurant on School Street. This facility was intended to give members a location where 300 at a time could meet for lunch close to work. The downtown dining facility moved in March, 1967, to the premises at the corner of Milk and Batterymarch Streets. The "Downtown Harvard Club" was to remain there until the present permanent quarters at One Federal Street opened in 1976.

The celebration of the Club's first 50 years took place on April 14, 1958. Robert E. Gross '19, chairman of the Lockheed Corporation gave a talk illustrated with impressive films and slides on space-age issues of modern aviation and national defense; and Alden H. MacIntyre '21, long-time Club Secretary and one of the guiding spirits of these years, spoke on "Highlights of the Club's Half Century". There was more, though, than a grand slice of history to celebrate: Under Club President Dr. Augustus Thorndike '19, the erosion of membership had been halted. The number of members stood at 4,231 -- the highest figure since 1931.

On March 10, 1964, those who attended the 56th Annual Dinner heard Prof. Henry A. Kissinger '50 speak on "Strains in the Western Alliance". In September of 1964, Harvard Club squash began a period of rapid growth, vitality, and national prestige. Mohibullah Khan of Pakistan, who had recently won the British Open, became resident professional. Mo Khan was to dominate the U.S. and Canadian squash scenes for years to come, and his great skills and gifts as a teacher have brought distinction to the Club. Khan became the moving spirit behind a phenomenal growth in the use of the Club's eleven singles courts and Sonnabend doubles court.

Sponsoring an event from quite another spot on the cultural spectrum, the Club hosted its first "fight night" on March 26, 1968. Arranged by Robert Banker '58, the evening featured a ring in Harvard Hall, set up by promoter Sam Silverman beneath the great silver chandelier, "overseen by the portraits of Presidents Pusey, Conant, and Eliot", as reported by Boston Globe sportswriter Bud Collins, who wrote in his March 27 article "By evening's end it was not certain whether the Harvard Club had elevated boxing, or boxing had elevated the Harvard Club."

A very significant happening was the establishment of a permanent Downtown Harvard Club on the 38th floor of One Federal Street. The formal opening of the new quarters was celebrated in November, 1976. Daily dining facilities are available for 324, with at least six potential function spaces for groups of ten to 200. Through special arrangements with the building's owners and with the Shawmut Bank, its prime tenant then, the Club was able to move from Batterymarch Street without incurring an increase in occupancy costs or making any capital investment. Harvard Club President Stanley Miller '52 was instrumental in this successful major relocation.

The opening of full membership to women has increased their use of all the Club's facilities, and resulted in their participation on all of its standing committees and in the planning and execution of its many programs and events. The language of Article I of the By-Laws was amended on March 23, 1978, to reflect not only this important equality of membership, but the broadening aims of the Club as well. The Article as amended now reads: "The name of the Club shall be Harvard Club of Boston. Its objects shall be to encourage the social, intellectual and athletic interests of its members, to promote the welfare of Harvard University, to assist worthy students with financial aid, and to foster the Harvard spirit in all Harvard men and women."

The new millennium brought major capital improvements to the Harvard Club of Boston, as both Clubhouses underwent extensive multi-million-dollar renovations. Celebrated individuals continued to grace the Harvard Club of Boston with their presence, including: former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter, Vice President Dick Cheney, Senator Hillary Rodham-Clinton, Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas, King Abdullah of Jordan, and New England Patriots' Quarterback Tom Brady.

When we examine these first hundred years of the Harvard Club of Boston, what emerges is a regular pattern of growth and adaptation to local needs and historical demand. The Harvard Club has maintained for 100 years its strong traditions of hospitality, education, recreation, and charity that have enriched the lives of members, served Harvard University, and benefited the broader community. If we learn one lesson from our brief glance at the history of this Club, it is that a valuable and respected institution works hard to maintain its value and respect in each succeeding generation. As one sees repeatedly, a spirit of willing, intelligent adaptation to the times has marked the Club's development. Commitment to that spirit will remain alive into the future, and should guarantee that the Harvard Club of Boston will continue, like its parent institution, "a calm rising through change and through storm."

For more information on the Harvard Club of Boston, please visit www.harvardclub.com.

 
Main Clubhouse: 374 Commonwealth Ave Boston, MA 02215 (617) 536-1260 Fax (617) 536-0175
Downtown Club: One Federal Street, 38th floor Boston, MA 02110 (617) 542-2070 Fax (617) 426-2684