Location: Harvard Yard, Harvard University campus, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Boston was my home for almost 6 years, unforgettable memories associated with this lively city.
A visit to Boston is incomplete without a visit to the several universities this beautiful New England city has to offer. For the unknown, New England is a region in the East Coast comprising six states : Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.
A day trip to the town of Cambridge definitely comprises a visit to the Harvard University; it’s campus alive and kicking with current students, prospective students, and tourists wanting to have a glimpse of this famous university. One of the most popular spots to hang out here is the “JOHN HARVARD STATUE”. The statue depicts a young clergyman holding a book in his lap, wearing a typical 17th-century attire.
The university where this statue of a young “John Harvard” is placed is Harvard University, so common sense prevails in most of us to conclude that this man was the founder of the world-famous university. The truth is that the founding of the university is not the work of one but many men. There is more to the story. Read on!.
Building a college in Cambridge was already in the pipeline, by the Massachusetts Bay Colony (an English settlement in Boston from 1628 – 1691). The Englishmen who had emigrated from England to New England had desired to build a great university like the one where most of the colonists had studied, the very famous and the oldest Cambridge University in England. Hence, a location was chosen and named Cambridge (after the renowned English University). The process of collection of Funds has begun.
Two years later, a young emigrant English minister, John Harvard (30 years old), on his deathbed (suffering from Tuberculosis) bequests a considerable sum of money £ 780 to the school(a huge amount at that time and era). And more importantly, he also donates his scholar’s library comprising some 329 titles (around 400 volumes of books) to the new proposed college. In gratitude, the upcoming University would be now be named “Harvard University“.
Around 200 years later, in 1883, it was decided to honor John Harvard by putting up a statue. But there was not a picture or a photograph available for reference. Hence, some current student Sherman Hoar (as he was descendent of some very important person) was used as an inspiration for the statue’s face !!! So, basically, the statue’s face is not the real John Harvard, it is just a visualization. How ironic !! This is the second of the big three lies associated with the statue. Let’s know about the other lies.
The first lie is that John Harvard founded the university. The third lie is that touching the brass foot will bring in good luck. This was just initiated by someone to keep a group of tourists or prospective students interested in the Harvard visits. Many selfies are created, group pictures clicked, and memories created here.
