Harvard Stadium

Harvard Stadium was constructed on 31 acres (13 ha) of land known as Soldiers Field, donated to Harvard University by Henry Lee Higginson in 1890 as a memorial to Harvard men who had died in the Civil War (1861–1865).^[8] The structure, similar in shape to the Panathenaic Stadium, was completed in just 4½ months costing $310,000. Much of the funds raised came from a 25th reunion gift by Harvard's Class of 1879. It is the home of Harvard's football team. The stadium also hosted the Crimson track and field teams until 1984 and was the home of the Boston Patriots during the 1970 season, until Schaefer Stadium opened the following year to fulfill post-AFL–NFL merger minimum seating requirements requiring a 50,000+ seat venue. Harvard Stadium was the largest concrete stadium in the nation until the construction of Syracuse University's Archbold Stadium in 1907.^[9]

Lewis Jerome Johnson, professor of civil engineering at Harvard, was a consultant to the design team for the stadium. It is historically significant that this stadium represents the first vertical concrete structure to employ reinforced structural concrete. Prior to the erection of the stadium in 1902, reinforced structural concrete was used in horizontal, that is flooring, sidewalks, etc., design only. Johnson was the engineer of note responsible for incorporating the concept into the vertical structure of the stadium design. There is a plaque dedicating the stadium to his honor on the east end wall outside the stadium.

Harvard installed both FieldTurf and lights in 2006.^[10]In2007, Harvard played its first night game at the stadium, winning 24–17 over Brown University on September 22.^[11][12]

In the early 20th century, American football was an extremely violent sport. 18 players died and 159 were seriously injured in 1905 alone.^[13] There was a widespread movement to outlaw the game but U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt intervened and demanded the rules of the game be reformed. In 1906, Roosevelt met with representatives from 62 colleges and universities and formed the Intercollegiate Football Conference, the predecessor of the NCAA.^[14] The committee's purpose was to develop a uniform set of rules and regulations to make the game safer. A leading proposal, at the time, was widening the field to allow more running room and reduce serious collisions. While it was popular among committee members, Harvard objected. Their recently completed stadium could not accommodate a larger field. Because of the permanent nature of Harvard Stadium, the proposal was rejected and the forward pass was legalized in April 1906.^[15] Harvard Stadium led to the creation of two of the most fundamental aspects of modern American football: standard field dimensions and the legal forward pass.

Early in its existence two ice rinks were built on the stadium during the winter months for the men's ice hockey team. The Stadium served as the home for the hockey team until World War I.^[16]

Harvard Stadium was the site of the U.S. Olympic Trials for men's track and field in 1912, 1920, 1924, and 1928.

It is also the host of music festivals like the Amandla Festival, where Jamaican reggae legend Bob Marley performed a historic concert in 1979. Janis Joplin performed her last show at the stadium in 1970, shortly before her death. Other concerts included those by Miles Davis, Ray Charles, Van Morrison, The Band, B.B. King, Ike & Tina Turner, James Taylor, Joan Baez, Sly and the Family Stone, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, The Supremes, Mountain, Ten Years After and Johnny Mathis. During the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles, the stadium hosted several soccer preliminaries.^[17] In 2007, the Boston Cannons, a professional lacrosse team for Major League Lacrosse, moved their home site to the stadium. They previously played at Boston University's Nickerson Field. They have since moved to Quincy, MA. ^[18]

Harvard installed FieldTurf and lights in 2006.

Beginning on April 11, 2009, Harvard Stadium became the home field of the Boston Breakers of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league when they beat Saint Louis Athletica 2–0.

Soccer games played at Harvard Stadium during the 1984 Summer Olympics

Although most of Harvard's campus is in Cambridge, the stadium and most other intercollegiate athletic facilities, along with Harvard Business School, lie to the south, across the Charles River, in the nearby Allston neighborhood of Boston. The stadium is the most iconic piece of the Soldiers Field athletic complex, which also includes the baseball stadium, outdoor track, an artificial turf field hockey/lacrosse field, two soccer stadiums, pools, Beren Tennis Center (outdoor), the Gordon Indoor Track, Dillon Fieldhouse, Lavietes Pavilion, and Bright Hockey Center. Newell Boathouse, home of Harvard's men's crew, lies across Soldiers Field Road on the banks of the Charles.

The stadium's horseshoe opens to the northeast, towards the river, and the press box is at the top of the northwest sideline's grandstand. The running track has been removed; it was non-standard, with long straights and tight turns, and the outside lanes were very near the stadium walls.

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  Dedication Plaque by the Class of 1879–1903
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  Performance of Greek Play – 1905
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  Aerial view, c. 1930–45
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  John F. Kennedy attending a game in 1963
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  Scoreboard – 1984–2007
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  Exterior ivy, removed in 2006
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  Aerial view of the 2006 Harvard-Yale game – the Murr Center (built in 1998) now sits across the open end of the stadium
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  The stadium's southwest-facing exterior, 2006
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  View of the field in 2009
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  Scoreboard, 2011
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  Cheerleaders in Harvard Stadium, 2019

• Harvard Crimson
• List of NCAA Division I FCS football stadiums
• List of National Historic Landmarks in Massachusetts
• National Register of Historic Places listings in northern Boston, Massachusetts

• Official website