Voices from the trees
“I’m a bad influence,” Microsoft CEO and philanthropist Bill Gates told a crowd of graduating Harvard students in 2007. The speech, delivered before a boisterous Commencement crowd, and recorded for posterity, is out of the archive and streaming from the trees — literally. To celebrate the University’s 375th anniversary, Gates’ address — as well excerpts of other famous addresses — will play on loop from trees in Harvard Yard as part of a project called Harvard Voices. The selections reflect Harvard’s collective memory and continuing dialogue of ideas. “As you walk through the Yard, you will hear the voices of Bill Gates, J.K. Rowling, Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and other notables who have spoken here at Harvard in the past,” said University Marshal Jackie O’Neill, whose office has overseen the project. “We hope people will pause for a moment and linger, to reflect on what is being said and on all the history made...