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John Winthrop House is the one of the twelve undergraduate residences at Harvard College and home to slightly under 400 students. Commonly referred to as Winthrop House, it consists of two buildings, Standish Hall and Gore Hall, both built in 1912 as separate freshman dormitories. In 1931 they were joined as John Winthrop House, one of the seven original Harvard houses in which students reside from their sophomore until their senior years. Historically, Winthrop was one of the first Harvard houses open to Catholic and Jewish students. The house's name honors two notable men who shared the name John Winthrop—the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, as well as his descendant, a famous astronomer who was both a professor and president of the university. The house crest is the Winthrop family coat of arms: a lion with three chevrons in the background. The current "Masters" of Winthrop House are Stephen Peter Rosen and Mandana Sassanfar. THE TWO JOHN WINTHROPS The first John Winthrop (1588-1649) was a member of the English gentry. In 1630, at the age of 41, Winthrop sold his home and sailed for New England, recording his visions that the New World could be a "city on a hill." He served as leader of the Massachusetts Bay Company , then later became the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony , a position he held for over sixteen years. His great-great-great-grandson John Winthrop (1714-1779) was the Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy from the age of 24 until his death at 65. Regarded as the first American astronomer, Winthrop also served briefly as the president of Harvard from 1773-1774. STRUCTURE Architecture The two halls which would become Winthrop House were built in the same year and share many attributes. Both are four-story U-shaped buildings surrounding courtyards, with a gated open side facing the Charles River. Both have fifth floor living spaces at their central axis only. The facade of Gore Hall is based on Sir Christopher Wren 's late-17th century garden wing of the Hampton Court Palace . Gore Hall contains the Winthrop House dining hall in a below-street-level space at its center. In the same spot, Standish Hall contains the Winthrop House Library, which contains the largest private collection of John Singleton Copley portraits. When Standish was still a stand-alone dorminatory for freshmen, the library was its dining hall. Gates Two gates, both built in 1914, connect Gore and Standish halls. The front entrance, facing Mill street, is the Winthrop Gate, which has the family coat of arms welded prominently in the front. On the river side stands the Fly Club Gate, an English baroque structure named after one of Harvard's male-only Final Clubs whose members provided a grant to build it. The panther symbol of the Fly Club is centered within the ironwork above the entry, and inscribed is the dedication: "For Friendships Made in College the Fly Club in Gratitude has Built this Gate." TRADITIONAL SOCIAL EVENTS Arbella Ball The Winthrop Arbella Ball is the house's annual spring formal dance. Named after the Arbella, John Winthrop 's sailboat, the ball typically features a large chocolate fountain, ice sculptures, a live swing band playing before a temporary dance floor set up in the Gore Courtyard, and a DJ in the Winthrop Junior Common Room. Debauchery Ball Winthrop has also hosted an annual fall dance entitled the Debauchery Ball. Attendees are given "debauchery dollars"—essentially, Monopoly money—when entering the dance. Throughout the night, people pay fellow dancegoers to do certain things, such as remove clothing or kiss somebody. At the end of the evening, the dancegoers with the most money win prizes. Because this dance sometimes lives up to its name, it sometimes proved controversial and its hosting has been irregular in recent years. Stein Club In 1955, Edward Kennedy came up with the idea of turning up Winthrop's Junior Common Room into a bar every Thursday night. The masters were apprehensive, but after students' positive reaction to the house's first few Stein Clubs, they decided to allow students to hold them on a regular basis. Eliot House immediately seized this idea, and started their own Stein Club; and before long, many other houses copied Teddy Kennedy's idea, claiming it as their own. Thropstock Thropstock is Winthrop's annual spring carnival. Thropstock features blow up rides and amusements, a picnic lunch, cotton candy, and live music. In 1968, the then-up-and-coming guitar rocker Jimi Hendrix played at Thropstock. ALUMNI Winthrop House's most famous former inhabitant was President John F. Kennedy . Harvard University maintains Kennedy's former dorm room in Gore Hall as a private room for guests of the university, especially political notables who visit the Kennedy School Of Government . Other famous Winthrop alumni include Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke ; United States Representative Barney Frank (D-Mass.); United States Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.); conservative African-American activist Alan Keyes ; conservative anti-tax lobbyist Grover Norquist , Nixon Administration cabinet official and Watergate figure Elliot Richardson ; and Clinton Administration Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin . EXTERNAL LINK |
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