Hidden Spaces: Newell Boathouse
Hidden Spaces is part of a series about lesser-known spaces at Harvard. Framed black-and-white photographs, spanning well over a century, encircle the second-floor walls of Harvard’s Newell Boathouse. They are mostly group shots of each varsity rowing team, right up to the present. But the space for 1917 contains a photo of rowers on the Charles River, instead of the standard staged group picture. The caption reads: “Varsity Crew 1917. Rowing stopped on account of war.” In the earliest photos, men wear muttonchop whiskers, handlebar mustaches, and center parts in their hair. One team is wearing suits instead of uniforms, and the 1912 men are bare-chested. Turtlenecked uniforms, leggings, and laced shoes have all evolved in the intervening years. But today’s do-rag caps appear to have debuted in the 1870s. The one constant in the photos is that the coxswain sits on the floor in front of the rest of the team,...