Pforzheimer House
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Pforzheimer House, nicknamed PfoHo (FOE-hoe) (and formerly named North House or NoHo), is one of twelve undergraduate residential Houses at Harvard University. It was named in 1995 for Carol K. and Carl H. Pforzheimer, major University benefactors, and their family.
Located in Harvard's Quadrangle, PfoHo comprises Ada Louise Comstock, Daniel Henry Holmes, Mary Buckminster Moors, and Wolbach Halls, in addition to Faculty Row and the Jordan North and South buildings.
PfoHo's shield features black and crimson squares on a crimson and black field; its mascots are the polar bear and the Pf bigram. The present House Master and Co-Master are Jim and Sue McCarthy. They have served in this capacity since 1996.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early years
Radcliffe College students first took up residence on campus in 1901, and the oldest parts of PfoHo date to that year.
Moors opened in time for the 1949-1950 academic year, the year plans for Holmes were first drawn up. Construction of Comstock began in 1957.
The Jordans, two separate buildings located at the corner of Walker and Shepard Streets, began as an experiment in cooperative living in 1961. They gradually became used as overflow housing in 1985, although one building persisted as a co-op until at least until 1997.
Wolbach, formerly an apartment building, was purchased by Harvard by 1964.
The townhouses of Faculty Row joined the House in 1971.
[edit] North House
The name "North House" first appeared in 1961 and consisted of Comstock, Moors, and Holmes. Wolbach did not yet belong to Harvard at this point. The Jordans were initially assigned to the no-longer-existent East House.
Male students were first assigned to North House around 1971.
House Master and Co-Master Woody and Hanna Hastings began their term in 1975.
[edit] Major renovations of 1986–1988
They attempted to cultivate house spirit by integrating and interconnecting the buildings. Woody Hastings remarked, "Any student in North House ought to be able to get from any place in the House to any other place in the House in his PJs - or less."
Accordingly, when plans were drawn up for a major renovation in the mid-1980s, the Hastings rejected an early proposal that would have segmented the house into disconnected vertical "entryways", opting instead for a plan that connected "the bricks" to one another more closely and in the process allowed the construction of the Holmes junior common room, the PfoHo Grille, the Comstock Library, and the centralized balconied dining hall. The duplex suites on the top floors of "the bricks" were also created during this renovation.
A breezeway connecting Wolbach to Moors, long advocated by Hastings, was constructed in 2002.
[edit] Renamed as Pforzheimer
In 1995, North House was renamed Pforzheimer House. This caused consternation at first. Since the Pforzheimers were known primarily as major University donors, there was a widespread sense that naming rights to the building had been sold off.[citation needed] A Boston Globe columnist referred to "the Pforzheimer House flap," saying that "Harvard renamed the Radcliffe-owned house after a loyal donor without consulting [Radcliffe President Linda] Wilson & Co."[1] The Harvard Notables (their spelling)wrote five song parodies lamenting the name change.[2]
However, North House Masters J. Woodley and Hanna Hastings said they were "thrilled!" and Hanna was quoted as saying "It's just what we've been asking for. We wanted to be more than a direction." The naming represented the first time that one of Harvard's houses had been named for a Jewish family or person.[3]
Pretty quickly, students grew used to the new name. The letters f or ph were replaced by pF in House-related words, hence Pformal, PfoHo Pfora, and Pfreshman Welcome. (Notable exceptions: Faculty Row, Thursdayfest.)
In 1996, the House welcomed new Masters, the McCarthys, to go with its new name. A central common room in Moors was named for the Hastings upon their retirement.
In 1996, The New York Times noted that, "many black and Hispanic students lived in the Radcliffe quadrangle, in the Pforzheimer House",[4] while the Boston Globe observed that "Pforzheimer, formerly North House, [had] evolved into a base for black student activism and a mecca for premeds" and observed that "the distinct cultures" of the residence halls was about to be broken up by the then-new policy of assigning students randomly to residence halls.[5]
[edit] Dispute with Adams on dining access
In October of 1999, Adams House began enforcing a long-standing policy of closing its dining hall to non-residents during peak hours, a policy particularly inconvenient to Pforzheimer House residents, who live farthest from the main class buildings at Harvard Yard. A light-hearted "war" erupted between the houses when residents of Pforzheimer House stole the Adams House gong, which Adams House rung to embarrass students from other houses attempting to sneak into their dinning hall. Pforzheimer House also banned Adams House residents from the Pfoho dinning hall, a mostly symbolic gesture.
In response to the stolen gong and the dinning hall ban, Adams House declared that it was "stealing the Pforzheimer Pf", and would henceforth be known as Pfadams House. To settle this war, Adams and Pforzheimer House agreed to a binding competition, including a football game, a tug-of-war, and a dramatics contest. An Adams win would result in a return of the gong, continued dinning hall ban, and continued use of "Pfadams House" with Pfoho becoming "Orzheimer House". A Pfoho win would result in a return to "Adams" from "Pfadams", the return of the gong, and grant Pfoho residents perpetual dinning hall privileges at Adams House. Pforzheimer House won and Adams accordingly agreed to provide its residents with ID stickers granting them access to the Adams dining hall.[6]
[edit] Administration
As with all houses at Harvard College, Pforzheimer House consists of two classes of members/residents, the Senior Common Room (SCR) and the Junior Common Room (JCR). The official university administration of the house consists of the resident members of the Senior Common Room, such as the House co-Masters, Allston Burr Resident Dean, Senior Resident Tutors, and the Resident Tutors. There is also often a non-academic house administrator and a building manager.
As of September, 2006, the House co-Masters of Pforzheimer House were Professor James McCarthy, chair of the Department of Environmental Science and Public Policy, and his wife Sue McCarthy. The House administrator was Sue Watts. The Allston Burr Resident Dean was Matthew Peattie.
[edit] House Committee
Student life and house events are administered by the House Committee, or HoCo, whose voting members must be from the Junior Common Room, i.e. the undergraduate student body of the house. Members of the Senior Common Room may attend HoCo meetings as non-voting participants. As of February 8, 2006 two members of the class of 2007 served as the co-Presidents of Pfozheimer House Committee.
[edit] Trivia
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- PfoHo is home to the studio of Harvard-Radcliffe Television, the only student-run television organization on campus.
- Like all dorms in the (Radcliffe) Quad, PfoHo originally housed females only. Doors were equipped with special hooks to help residents comply with the Radcliffe College rule that required their doors to remain ajar a certain distance when gentlemen came to call. While this rule is now obsolete, many of the hooks remain as historical curiosities, intentionally retained through various rounds of renovation.
- PfoHo residents are colloquially known as PfoHosers. The term actually existed as "NoHoser" before the House acquired its current name. Combined with the fact that the House was once all-female, this was apparently some sort of joke. "PfoHoser" has fallen somewhat out of use in recent years, and alternatives like "Pfohomie" have caught on.
- Comstock, Moors, and Holmes are known collectively as "the bricks". "The bricks" together with Wolbach are called "the House", as in the exchange Do you live in Jordan? —No, I live in the House.
- The squares on the PfoHo shield represent the four original halls: Holmes, Moors, Comstock, and Wolbach. The colors were chosen because Harvard's color is crimson and Radcliffe's were black and white. The design evokes the design of the Radcliffe shield.
- Pforzheimer is the most recently named House; at least as recently as 2002, House administrators' "department" was still listed as NORTH in Harvard's internal directory database.
- PfoHo inspired the name of North House, the band.
- Famous PfoHo alumni include Mo Rocca and Jennifer 8. Lee.
[edit] The Bell Tower Suite
The "Bell Tower Suite" is one of several flagship "named suites" at Harvard College, including Eliot House's Ground Zero, Cabot House's Library Suite, Quincy House's The Terrace (formely known as the Balcony Suite), and Currier House's Ten-Man Suite, and is the largest party suite of Pforzheimer House.
The Bell Tower Suite is Moors Hall #410, which is located directly under Pfozheimer House's bell tower. It is part of a larger Bell Tower Complex of rooms interconnected by internal fire-escape passageways: the student suites Moors #410, #403, and #404 as well as the bell tower itself (not used for housing). Frequently, a single group of friends shares Moors #410 and #403, or, more rarely, all three of the suites; in these cases the term "Bell Tower Suite" or even "Bell Tower" refers by extension to all the applicable suites.
The complex is located on the fourth and attic floors of Moors with windows facing out over the Quadrangle, and the tower itself which is accessible by a ladder and trap door on the attic level. One of the largest housing arrangements on the Harvard campus, it can comfortably house twelve students with individual bedrooms, four bathrooms (three full and one half), and three common rooms. Of the interconnected three suites, the largest, Moors #410, has over 1000 square feet (90 m²) of space and has often served as a party venue for students. The suite is popular among students of Harvard College because it features a ten foot bar of sturdy construction that lends itself to bar-top dancing. Due to current housing regulations at Harvard College, each of the three suites that connect to form the complex must remain single-sex; hence, it either houses twelve same-sex residents or four residents of one sex and eight of the other.
The bell tower itself is an architectural affectation without actual bells, as are most of the bell towers above houses at Harvard College, with the notable exception being that of Lowell House, which features a set of antique bells from a Russian monastery. Access to the bell tower is possible only via a ladder and trap door in the fire-escape passageway that connects Moors Hall #410 and #403. The first ladder leads to the carpeted mezzanine level, which contains the bell tower steel superstructure and an array of overhead lighting. A long ladder leads via a small hatch from the mezzanine to the highest point in Pforzheimer House, the lantern of the tower called "crow's nest". An access door located halfway between the mezzanine and the lantern provides access to an outdoor inter-level widow's walk. Windows in the lantern allow for an expansive view of the greater Boston area.
[edit] References
(Dec. 10, 1949). "Moors Will Speak At Hall Inaugural". The Harvard Crimson. Available online.
(Mar. 8, 1950). "Future Annex Dormitory To Be Called Holmes Hall". The Harvard Crimson. Available online.
Miller, Martha E. (Apr. 12, 1957). "'Cliffe to Break Ground For Ninth Dorm April 29". The Harvard Crimson. Available online.
Gale, Mary Ellen (Jun. 14, 1962). "Mrs. Bunting's Radcliffe". The Harvard Crimson. Available online.
Cliff, Mary F. (Feb. 9, 1984). "Hanging Out Up There". The Harvard Crimson. Available online.
Masters, Brooke A. (Sep. 28, 1987). "Quadlings Celebrate Renovations". The Harvard Crimson. Available online.
Resnick, Scott A. (Oct. 18, 1999). "Spirit Unleashed As House War Ends". The Harvard Crimson. Available online.
Fong, J. G. (Mar. 16, 2000). "Fifteen Minutes: Harvard Band on the Rise, Again". The Harvard Crimson. Available online.
Studlien, Kirsten G. (Jun. 8, 2000). "Dilemma on Walker Street". The Harvard Crimson. Available online.
Kofol, Anne K. (Sep. 9, 2002). "Quad Updated With Renovations". The Harvard Crimson. Available online.
Dolan, Meghan M. and Cornelia L. Griggs (Oct. 23, 2003). "Room With A Crew". Fifteen Minutes. Available online.
Bell, Richard, et al., ed. (Oct. 2002). "2002-03 Pforzheimer House Pfacebook."
Doroshow, D.B. (Nov. 1, 2001). "Pfoho's Photogenic Polar". The Harvard Crimson. Available online.
[Pf-OPEN] mailing list archives, Sep.-Dec. 2001, inclusive.
- ^ Beam, Alex (1997), "The Last Days of Radcliffe?", The Boston Globe, September 19, 1997, Living, p. E1
- ^ The Harvard Noteables: Parodies, Volume I. Digitas.
- ^ Jonathan N. Axelrod (1994-12-06). North House to Be Named For Pforzheimer Family; Change Designed to Honor Longtime Contribution. The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved on 2006-10-12.
- ^ Rimer, Sara (2003), "Blacks' Guide to Harvard Covers History and Tips," The New York Times, February 1, 2003, p. A15
- ^ Dembner, Alice (1996), "Harvard Puts End to Selective Living," The Boston Globe," June 6, 1996, Metro section, p. 1
- ^ Resnick, Scott A (1999-10-18). "Spirit Unleashed As House War Ends". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved on 2006-10-09.
[edit] External links
- The Noteables: Parodies, vol. I. Search the text for the words "The following five" - it's about two-thirds of the way down.
