The Harvard Yard fence is only the latest in a series that have enclosed the 22-acre area since Harvard's early days.

Harvard Yard Gates

The Harvard Yard fence is only the latest in a series that have enclosed the 22-acre area since Harvard's early days. The architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, known for such Boston landmarks as Symphony Hall and the Boston Public Library, won a commission in 1899 to design the fence now standing, after having completed Johnston Gate the year before. A number of College classes gave the gates that bear their names (1877 gate, and so forth). The newest gate, the Bradstreet Gate, dedicated in October 1997, celebrates women living in the Yard and bears a plaque with a quote from 17-century poet Anne Dudley Bradstreet.

Anne Dudley Bradstreet (1612-1672): "I came into this Country where I found a new World and new manners at which my heart rose."

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