Winthrop History

John Winthrop

Descended from people who had first lived in England as far back as the Norman Conquest, the Winthrops first achieved real prominence through Adam Winthrop (1498-1562) who became lord of the Manor of Groton (Suffolk) and Patron of the Chuch under Henry VIII and was granted arms and the rank of Gentleman under Edward VI. The house name commemorates two of Adam Winthrop's descendants. John Winthrop (1588-1649), the grandson of Adam Winthrop, sold his home for reasons of conscience at the age of forty-one, left a relatively settled way of life and sailed for the unknown wilderness of New England. This first John Winthrop came to the New World in 1630 to serve as the leader of the Massachusetts Bay Company and served as the first Governer of the Massachusetts Bay Colony for over sixteen years. The second John Winthrop (A.B. 1732), a descendent of Governer Winthrop, was the Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy from the age of 24 until his death at age 65. Highly regarded as the first American astronomer, Winthrop served as the President of Harvard from 1773-1774. Portraits of the two can be seen hanging in the Winthrop House Library, and another portrait of Governor Winthrop hangs in the Dining Hall. The House crest is the Winthrop family coat of arms, a lion on a shield with three chevrons in the background.

The Architecture

Today, John Winthrop House consists of two buildings, Gore Hall and Standish Hall. Originally, the buildings were established in 1914 as separate freshman dormitories, and at this time, the current Library served as the Dining Room for Standich residents. The Architects for the houses, Coolidge, Shepley and Rutan, used more opulent English precedents for architectural accent when desiging the houses. For instance, Gore Hall was based on Sir christopher Wren's late-seventeenth-century garden facade of Hampton Court. Two gates connect Gore and Standish Hall. In the front entrance is the Winthrop Gate, which has the Winthrop family coat of arms welded prominently in the front. Facing the Charles River is the Fly Club Gate. Construction of the Fly Club Gate began in 1914 with a grant provided by the club's membership. Built on a more human scale than some of the other river gates, the gentle inward curve of this English Baroque gate conveys a sense of friendly beckoning. Its size and form mimic the Winthrop Gate, executed in the same year. In the Fly Club Gate, the judicious use of brick and picturesque wrought-iron detailing render the entrance less forbidding than, for example, the massive stone entrance and wrought-iron gate at Dunster House. The symbol of the Fly Club, the panther, is centered within the once polychromed ironwork above the entry. Inscribed below the symbol is the dedication: "For Friendships Made in College the Fly Club in Gratitude has Built this Gate."

The House System

The original construction of the freshman river halls, Standish and Gore, was intended to combat growing social and class schisms in the student community of Harvard. Lowell, the University President, hoped to create a sense of solidarity in students through concentrated housing. Any exaggerated social importance which the clubs might have assumed would be reduced, and any prestige attached to the Gold Coastseriously weakened. The new freshmen halls however, were only part of a plan that had long been in Lowell's mind: the house system.
The two halls were unified as John Winthrop House under the implementation of the House system and through a generous gift to the college by Edward S. Harkness (Yale 1897), heir to a Standard Oil fortune. Harkness was long interested in education and supporting the creation of a house system similar to that of Oxford colleges. When Yale stalled in its efforts to enact a new housing plan Harkness could fund, Harkness turned to President Lowell. When Lowell described his plan, Harkness offered a gift of $11 million to fund seven new residential houses. The final arrangement of the River Houses then incorporated the earlier freshman dorms, creating Winthrop House from Standish and Gore Halls.

No two design plans were alike for the new houses. Exteriors and interiors bespoke elegance. "One ought to eat only venison, drink only champagne in the...dining room," wrote undergraduate columnist George Homans '32 of the new houses. The seven Houses' titles evoked Harvard History. Dunster, Eliot, Kirkland and Leverett bore the names of former presidents. Adams, Lowell and John Winthrop honored families long-involved with the College. When the houses were finally opened, nearly 90% of the student body elected to live in them. The House system was widely hailed as a forward step in American education.

Gore and Standish Halls

Standish Hall honors Captian Miles Standish (c. 1584-1656), a professional soldier and one of the minority of non-Pilgrims on the Mayflower. Mrs. Russel Sage, one of his descendants, donated the funds for this building as a freshman hall. Gore Hall, regarded by many as one of Harvard's "handsomest" buildings, celebrates Christopher Gore (A.B. 1776), a Harvard Fellow, Massachusets Governer, and Senator. Christopher Gore was born in Boston in 1758, the tenth of thirteen children of Francis and John Gore. Christopher served in the Continental Army as a clerk with the artillery regiment of his brother-in-law Thomas Craft. After the war, Christopher Gore pursued law. Gore was unquestionably bright and ambitious, but several factors helped the young lawyer's practice to flourish. Many of Boston's older lawyers were Tories, and by leaving the country, they left their clients to the younger generation. The Revolutionary War increased the city's wealth and also the demand for services such as Gore could provide. Christopher Gore's political career began in 1788 when he was elected to represent Boston at the Philadelphia constitution to ratify the new United States Constitution. A year later, George Washington apointed Gore as the first United States Attorney for Massachusetts. President Washington again appointed Gore to a diplonatic position in 1796. The Gores travelled to England and remained there for eight years while Christopher served on the Jay Commission that negotiated merchantile claims for American ships seixed or destroyed during the war with Britain. Gore also spent two months as charge d'affaires in London after his good friend Rufus King resigned from his post and before James Monroe, the new ambassador, arrived.

Famous Residents

Three of the Kennedy brothers, John, Joseph and Edward, lived in Winthrop House. President Kennedy's college suite is now furnished as a memorial and administered by the Institute of Politics to guests.