Harvard materials showcased in Cambridge-wide archives tour

The Cambridge Archives Project hosted its “Fifth Annual Archives Crawl” June 17 through 21, which included the Harvard University Archives, the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD), the Cambridge Public Works Department, the Cambridge Freemasons Lodge and Christ Church. This year’s theme was “Spaces: Sacred & Profane.” The Harvard University Archives has been a stop on the tour for the last three years, and this year the Graduate School of Design’s Special Collections and the Property Information Resource Center (PIRC) also participated.

“This is a great event because it invites members of the general public—not just researchers and scholars—to see what we have in our collection,” said Virginia Hunt, associate university archivist for collection development and acting associate university archivist for records management. Hunt worked this year with the Cambridge Archives Project—whose members include representatives from the Cambridge Historical Society, the Cambridge Public Library and the Cambridge Historical Commission—to coordinate Harvard’s section of the tour.

“The Harvard Archives have many materials relating to Cambridge and American history,” Hunt said. Examples of items showcased from the University Archives this year included a plan for Massachusetts Hall from 1718, a spike from the Massachusetts Hall roof that was repurposed as a gift to a donor and then donated back to the Library and a poster for a Hasty Pudding Club play in Hollis Hall presented by members of the class of 1858.