Contented Cows Grazing in the Yard, and Early College Buildings Shown in Widener Exhibition

Days when cattle browsed in the Harvard Yard and when a total of twelve houses and four barns fronted on the Cambridge common were recalled today in an exhibit at the Widener Library of century old student drawings and water colors of historic buildings.

That cows frequented the shade of the college buildings as late as the end of the 18th century is clear from paintings of Harvard, Hollis, and Massachusetts Halls, and Holden Chapel, made in 1784 by Jonathan Fisher.

In 1810, Cambridge had the appearance of a small country four-corners, with the Harvard buildings the most prominent for miles around, water colors of that year show.

The exhibit contains the original plans for Massachusetts Hall, built in 1720, and now the oldest original college building in America. Also included are the original floor plan and elevation of Hollis Hall, built in 1763, and various perspective views of other college buildings, prepared by the students as "theses" in their Mathematics courses.

Sketches by Bulfinch

Younger than these, but equally famous, are tentative sketches of University Hall prepared in 1815 by Charles Bulfinch, the famous New England architect, and firmly rejected by the college. Bulfinch originally desired that the central building be topped with a massive gold dome; when this was turned down he was willing to compromise on a large cupola. The building, as finally constructed, had a plain roof, and is still in use today for the university offices.