Walking Tour
Austin Hall
One of the oldest buildings in continuous use for law teaching in the country, Austin Hall was designed by Henry Hobson Richardson in the style of architecture known as Romanesque Revival. The arches that grace the entryway are characteristic of the form. A major rehabilitation of the building was completed in 1985 with careful attention to the integrity of Richardson's design.
The first floor contains three large classrooms, in which today's students still learn the law under the watchful eyes of the English judges whose portraits are part of the Law School's unique art collection. Notice the graceful gothic archways that frame the long first-floor hallway.
Up the stairway, on the second floor, you'll find the Ames Courtroom, named for Dean James Barr Ames (1895-1910). Here, second- and third-year students argue moot court cases before panels of practicing judges. A justice of the United States Supreme Court usually presides over the final round of the Ames moot court competition. Ames Courtroom originally housed the law library until Langdell Hall was built in 1906. It has undergone several renovations in its lifetime, the most recent in 2001.
The Office of Clinical Programs is located on the first floor of Austin Hall and on the second floor you will find the law school's Admissions Office. The Criminal Justice Institute occupies the third floor, sharing space with a small courtroom. Several student organizations have offices in the building, including the Harvard Defenders, Prison Legal Assistance Project, the Mediation Program, and the Tenant Advocacy Project (TAP).
To continue the tour, leave Austin Hall through the front door. Diagonally to your right, you'll see a white porticoed Greek Revival building - Gannet House, #2 on our tour.
Gannett House
Designed by Samuel William Pomeroy in 1838, Gannett House is the oldest surviving building on campus. Harvard University purchased it in 1897 and named it after Reverend Caleb Gannett, whose own home had stood nearby on the site of Austin Hall. The house has had many uses: in the early 1900s, students rented rooms for $125 to $250 a year, and since 1925, it has been home to the Harvard Law Review. The newly created Pro Bono Service Program took up residence in 2003. Gannett House originally faced Harvard Square, but in 1938 it was turned ninety degrees as part of a proposed mall that was never built. In 1982, Gannett House was renovated to provide more efficient work space.
The building to the right of Gannett House is Hemenway Gymnasium, #3 on our tour.
Hemenway Gymnasium
Although it is owned and operated by Harvard University and not the Law School, Hemenway's convenient location makes it popular with law students, faculty, and staff for basketball, squash, and general exercise. In front of Hemenway is a sculpture called Discobolus (The Discus Thrower). It is a bronze replica of a sculpture at the Vatican by Jonderia Chiurozzi.
As you leave Hemenway, bear left, and you will see two buildings ahead. To your right is Griswold Hall, a contemporary mauve gray brick and glass structure and to your left is the red brick facade of Hastings Hall, #4 on the tour.
Hastings Hall
Originally built as a dormitory, Hastings Hall was a gift to Harvard University by Walter Hastings, whose ancestral home was nearby. The building provides living quarters for 96 students in 60 suites. The lower level houses the Publications Center, where most administrative publications are produced, as well as eight scholarly journals edited by Law School students. (The illustration depicts the Massachusetts Avenue side of Hastings Hall.)
With Hastings Hall at your back, you are facing Griswold Hall, #5, the next stop on your tour. Enter Griswold through the door facing Hastings Hall.
Griswold Hall
Griswold Hall was dedicated in the fall of 1979 to Erwin Griswold (1904-1994), former dean of the School (1946-1967) and former United States solicitor general, on the occasion of his seventy-fifth birthday. Griswold houses the Dean's Office, the First-Year Legal Research and Writing Program, faculty offices, and other administrative offices. This building and Pound Hall were designed by Cambridge architect Benjamin Thompson, renowned for his rehabilitation of Quincy Market near Boston's waterfront.
Two sculptures grace Griswold Hall--as you enter the building, you'll see Two Triangles and a Harp by Bernice Loss, former curator of the School's art collection, and in the courtyard between Griswold and Areeda Halls is a three-piece bronze sculpture called Judgment by John Safer of the Class of 1949.
Exit Griswold through the same door you entered, and turn right for Areeda Hall, #6.
Areeda Hall (1929)
Built as an addition to Langdell Hall in 1929, Langdell West was renamed in the spring of 1995 in honor of Langdell Professor of Law Phillip Areeda (1930-1995). Twenty-two faculty offices are located in Areeda Hall, and the spacious corridors are home to many of the art collection's large portraits. The fourth and fifth floors, renovated in 1997 as part of the Langdell Hall renovation project, contain the Library's reference center and administrative offices. A new glass-enclosed bridge links the fourth floor of Areeda with the foreign law collections housed in the International Legal Studies Library, located in the Reginald F. Lewis International Law Center (number 8 on our tour).
Walk the length of the main-level hallway of Areeda until you come to the entrance to the Library, and enter the lobby of Langdell Hall, number 7 on our tour. The Library's Circulation Desk and Access Center will be to your right.
Langdell Hall
When the Law School outgrew Austin Hall, Dean James Barr Ames in 1905 engaged the architects Shepley Rutan & Coolidge (the firm that succeeded Henry Hobson Richardson, designer of Austin Hall) to design a new building that would contain classrooms, faculty offices, and the Library. The new building--the southern portion of the present Langdell Hall--was occupied in 1907. In 1929 the northern and western portions were completed under the direction of the same architects, then renamed Coolidge, Shepley, Bulfinch and Abbot. The building was named for Christopher Columbus Langdell, the first dean of the Harvard Law School (1870-1895) and the father of the case method of teaching law.
In 1997 Langdell Hall was completely renovated and once again the successor firm (now renamed Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson and Abbott) of the original architect was chosen. The Library now occupies the entire building, except for a large classroom at each end. The collections, which include more than 1.5 million bound volumes, support the teaching and research of the Law School and serve as a resource for legal scholars throughout the world.
The main Reading Room on the fourth floor is open to the public. Guest passes are available at the Circulation Desk. At the north end of the reading room is the Caspersen Room, where rare books, manuscripts, and the most valuable paintings in the Schools Art and Visual Materials Collection are displayed. Visitors are welcome.
Before leaving Langdell Hall, walk to the main entrance of the building, just a few steps from the Circulation Desk. In the entrance foyer is the magnificent statue of Joseph Story, Harvard Law School professor (1829-1845) and United States Supreme Court Justice (1811-1845). The sculptor was Storys son, William Wetmore Story.
Leave Langdell by walking back through Areeda Hall. When you exit the building, turn right. The next building on your right is the Lewis International Law Center, number 8 on our tour.
Reginald F. Lewis International Law Center
The Lewis International Law Center houses the International Legal Studies Library, consisting of approximately one-third of the Law Library's large international law collection. It is also the home of the Graduate Program to which each year approximately 150 lawyers and scholars, most of them from foreign countries, come to pursue an LL.M. or S.J.D. degree or to spend time on writing or research. The Lewis Center was dedicated in 1993 to the late Reginald F. Lewis of the Class of 1968, chairman and CEO of TLC Beatrice. Lewis is the first major facility at Harvard named in honor of an African American.
The next building on the tour is Pound Hall, #9. It is diagonally opposite the Lewis Center's main entrance.
Pound Hall
Like Griswold Hall, Pound Hall was designed by Cambridge architect Benjamin Thompson. It is named for Roscoe Pound, former dean of the School (1916-1936). On the first floor are photoportraits of the Law School faculty as well as exhibitions on women in the law. Pound Hall contains several classrooms on the first and second floors, and a large conference area on the second floor. The Registrar's Office, administrative offices, and other student services offices are located on the third floor.
Leave Pound Hall by the north entrance, next to the Mail Room in Pound 103. Walk straight through the parking lot ahead, to Baker House -- #10 on our tour.
Baker House
This elegant Victorian home was purchased by the Law School in 1981 and renovated, through the generosity of Leon Baker '49. The adjoining carriage house was renovated in 1983. Baker House is the home of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society and the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau. This drawing shows Baker House from its Mass. Ave. side.
When you leave Baker House, turn left toward the large yellow building ahead. This is Harkness Commons, #11 on the Walking Tour.
Harkness Graduate Center
This student dormitory, cafeteria and social center was designed by Walter Gropius (assisted by a group of young architects, including Benjamin Thompson) and decorated by artists of the Bauhaus school. Murals in Harkness Commons are by Joan Miro, Josef Albers, Jean Arp, and Herbert Bayer. Here students gather to eat and talk in dining and social rooms. Student mailboxes, the Law School Coop and a coffee shop are also located here.
Connected to the main building by covered walkways are five law school dormitories: Ames, Dane, Holmes, Shaw and Story Halls. While these dorms predominantly house law students, graduate students from other Harvard schools also reside here.
The sculpture by Richard Lippold entitled World Tree is in the Center's courtyard.
As you leave Harkness Commons, you will be facing Holmes Field, originally an athletic field, where the Law School's Commencement luncheon is held each June. At your left is Hauser Hall, #12, the newest building and last stop on the tour.
Hauser Hall
This is the newest building on campus since Pound Hall was constructed in 1970. Designed by the notable Boston architectural firm of Kallmann, McKinnell & Wood, Hauser Hall is named after its donors, alumni Gustave and Rita Hauser. The building, cleverly incorporating architectural elements of Austin Hall yet with a strong design all its own, won the American Institute of Architects 1994 achievement award. Hauser Hall contains 35 faculty offices, three seminar rooms, three conference rooms, and two classrooms. The School's Student Computer Laboratory and Information Technology Services offices are located on the lower level. Note the striking portrait of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes by Charles Hopkinson opposite the main entrance.
This is the last stop on our tour. Click on "Tour Starting Point" if you wish to view the campus map again.
Thank you for joining us!