Harvard Square: An Illustrated History Since 1950

by Mo Lotman, John Updike (Commentary), Amanda Palmer (Commentary)

What do Barack Obama, Samuel Beckett, Fidel Castro, Joan Baez, Conan O’Brien, Natalie Portman, and Dwight D. Eisenhower have in common? Their footsteps have all crossed paths in Harvard Square. This well-trod patch of Cambridge turf at the corner of the United States’ most renowned university has long been a crossroads where poetry, retailing, politics, design, performance, and every other cultural endeavor intersect. 


 From the square’s tweedy aspect in the 1950s through its many transformations in the ’60s,’70s, and beyond, author Mo Lotman gives a decade-by-decade account of Harvard Square’s history, traditions, and lore. The bookstores, the billiard parlors, the barbershops, the booze and burger joints: they’re all here. Based on interviews with more than a hundred of the square’s denizens, illustrated with archival photographs, and graced with texts by John Updike, Bill McKibben, Governor Bill Weld, and others, Harvard Square brings “the smartest urban space in America” to vivid life.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

240 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2009

Reviews

[Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apparently this book has gone out of print - which is a shame - though it can be found at decent prices from used booksellers. (I should clarify that my own familiarity with Harvard Square covers the period from about 1970 to maybe 2010 or so. I even remember my COOP number.) Mr. Lotman has done an amazing job stringing together stories and photos about the evolution and, I suspect some would say, devolution of this famous university district. Where else can I find photos of the Blue Parrot, the legendary Tasty, Cronin's Bar, the Wursthaus, the downstairs awnings of the ORIGINAL Casablanca, Kings Tavern, or the grand old Gulf gasoline station that was replaced by the snooty Inn at Harvard?

Nowhere else, that's where. And I've just scratched the surface.

People have been complaining that Harvard Square isn't what it used to be for a long time. For more, see Catherine Turco's wonderful "Harvard Square: A Love Story." But some things have indeed changed the Square, and for the worse. Number 1 was the extension of the Red Line to Alewife Brook, a change that meant that large numbers of riders who used to disembark at Harvard would now stay on the train, resulting in fewer customers for merchants in the Square. Number 2 has been the pernicious effect of the internet on physical bookstores and record stores, as well as newsstands like Nini's Corner and Out of Town News.

If you have any fond feelings for Harvard Square, I recommend you try to find a good used copy of Lotman's marvelous book. Thank you sir!

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really the most conclusive history of the square I can imagine being packed in one book. I am sure there are thousands of more personal histories, as something memorable seems to happen every day at this crossroads of culture, social classes, artistry and academics. Well presented, great visual research, make this book a feast for the eyes. This well researched and new primary research is a great feast for the curious.

I walk around the square for my job and I was curious and now satisfied.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating book. The only problem was the decision to print much of the text in white lettering on orange, blue or light green backgrounds, thereby making it almost impossible to read.

[Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great old pictures of the square, and some interesting interviews.