Boston College

Boston College is a private university located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts in the New England region of the United States. Its historic campus, one of the earliest examples of Collegiate Gothic architecture in North America, is set on a hilltop six miles (10 km) west of downtown Boston. Although chartered as a university by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1863, Boston College's name reflects its early history as a liberal arts college and preparatory school in Boston's South End. It was the first institution of higher education established in the city of Boston, though it moved from the South End to then-rural Chestnut Hill as a result of rapid growth and urbanization in the late 19th century. Boston College is one of the oldest Jesuit universities in the United States and the flagship of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities.

The campus

Landscape & architecture

Set on a hilltop overlooking the Chestnut Hill Reservoir and the distant Boston skyline (see live webcam), Boston College's 175 acre (700,000 m²) Chestnut Hill campus includes over 120 buildings in addition to athletic fields, rolling hills, wooded areas, three formal gardens, an orchard, and over 100 species of trees. The campus creates an almost rural setting, only 6 miles west of downtown Boston. A Boston College "T"-station, located at St Ignatius Gate, is the western terminus of the MBTA Green Line's B-branch (also known as the "Boston College" line) and provides rapid transit to the city center. Travel time is approximately 30-45 minutes.

Related Topics:
Boston College "T"-station - St Ignatius Gate - MBTA - Rapid transit - City center

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Due largely to its location and architecture, the Boston College campus is known affectionately as the "Heights," the "Crowned Hilltop" and "Oxford in America." This last moniker was the title of the original campus master plan and was confirmed by a visiting British journalist in 1915 who famously wrote, "Even in embryo, it is Oxford and Cambridge without their grime."

Related Topics:
Oxford - Cambridge

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"The Crowned Hilltop"

Designed by Charles Donagh Maginnis and his firm, Maginnis & Walsh, in 1908, the Boston College campus is a seminal example of Collegiate Gothic architecture. Publication of its design in 1909 — and praise from influential American Gothicist Ralph Adams Cram — helped establish Collegiate Gothic as the prevailing architectural style on American university campuses for much of the 20th Century. Gasson Hall, BC's signature building, is credited for the typology of dominant Gothic towers in subsequent campus designs, including those at the Princeton University Graduate School (Cleveland Tower, 1913 to 1917), at Yale (Harkness Tower, 1917-1921), and at Duke (Chapel Tower, 1930-1935). Combining Gothic Revival architecture with principles of Beaux-Arts planning, Maginnis proposed a vast complex of academic buildings set in a cruciform plan. The design suggested an enormous outdoor cathedral, with a long entry drive at the "nave," the main quadrangle at the "apse" and secondary quadrangles at the "transepts." At the "crossing," Maginnis placed the university's main building, which he called "Recitation Hall." Using stone quarried on the site, the building was constructed at the highest point on Chestnut Hill, commanding a view of the surrounding landscape and the city to the east. Dominated by a soaring 200-foot bell tower, Recitation Hall was known simply as the "Tower Building" when it finally opened in 1913. Maginnis' design broke from the traditional Oxbridge models that had inspired it — and that had till then characterized Gothic architecture on American campuses. In its unprecedented scale, Gasson Tower was conceived not as the belfry of a singular building, but as the crowning campanile of Maginnis' new "city upon a hill."

Related Topics:
Maginnis & Walsh - Collegiate Gothic - Gothicist - Ralph Adams Cram - Typology - Princeton University - Yale - Harkness Tower - Duke - Gothic Revival - Beaux-Arts - Cruciform - Cathedral - Nave - Quadrangle - Apse - Transepts - Crossing - Quarried - Oxbridge - Belfry - Campanile - City upon a hill

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Image:Oconnellhouse.jpg|Upper campus in summer

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Image:BClowercampusfall.jpg|Lower campus in autumn

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Image:Dustbowlsnow.jpg|The Dustbowl in winter

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Image:BCrosegardenspring.jpg|The Rose Garden in spring

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Expansion & eclecticism

Though Maginnis' ambitious Gothic project never saw full completion, its central portion was built according to plan and forms the core of what is now BC's iconic middle campus. Among these, the Bapst Library has been called the "finest example of Collegiate Gothic architecture in America" and Devlin Hall won the Harleston Parker Medal for "most beautiful building in Boston." Subsequent campus expansions exceeded even President Gasson's vision and brought with them a new set of architectural vocabulary: Georgian, Neoclassical, Richardsonian Romanesque, and others. The 1895 Liggett Estate was developed into a Tudor style upper campus, while an architecturally eclectic lower campus took shape on land acquired by filling in part of the Chestnut Hill Reservoir. Around this time, a Seattle newspaper ranked Boston College #2 in a list of "America's Most Beautiful Campuses" (the University of Washington ranked first). Notions of "beauty" meanwhile were challenged by the advent of modernism. The 1940 design for St Ignatius Church is an important hybrid of this period and is an example of what has been called "Modern Gothic." Modernism had an enormous impact on development after the 1940s, though most modernist buildings at BC maintained decidedly un-modern rough stone facades in keeping with Maginnis' original designs. By the 1960s, BC's severe space demands and poor financial health began to leave their mark, as evidenced by the construction of prefabricated modular apartments on the lower campus. Originally intended as temporary housing, the "Mods" have survived in large part because of their popularity among upperclassmen. Indeed, their quadrangles are ideally suited for barbecues, whiffleball and other social events. Other legacies of this era include the hyperbolic-roofed Flynn Recreation Complex, constructed using laminated wood beams, and the later International Style O'Neill Library, designed by The Architects Collaborative. More recent campus development signals a return to Maginnis & Walsh's Collegiate Gothic designs, as reflected in the renovations of Fulton Hall (1997) and Higgins Hall (2002), and in the construction of Campanella Hall (2003) and the St. Ignatius Gate Residence Hall (2004).

Related Topics:
Iconic - Harleston Parker Medal - Georgian - Neoclassical - Richardsonian - Romanesque - Tudor style - University of Washington - Modernism - Hyperbolic - International Style - Fulton Hall - Higgins Hall

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In June 2004, Boston College acquired 43 acres of land from the Archdiocese of Boston http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/stories5/042104_sale.htm|1, http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/stories5/042104_statement.htm|2. The new grounds, adjacent to the main campus (on the opposite side of Commonwealth Avenue), include the historic mansion that served as the Cardinal's residence until 2002.

Related Topics:
Archdiocese of Boston - Cardinal

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Other BC properties

In addition to the main campus at Chestnut Hill, BC's 40 acre (160,000 m²) Newton Campus is located 1 mile (2 km) to the west and houses the law school and housing for roughly half the freshman class. Other BC properties include a 20 acre (80,000 m²) seismology research observatory and field station in Weston, Massachusetts; an 80 acre (320,000 m²) retreat center in Dover, Massachusetts; a sea-side estate in Cohasset, Massachusetts designed by Henry Hobson Richardson; and a campus on St Stephen's Green in Dublin, Ireland.

Related Topics:
Weston, Massachusetts - Dover, Massachusetts - Cohasset, Massachusetts - Henry Hobson Richardson - St Stephen's Green - Dublin, Ireland

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Libraries & museums

Boston College was the first institution in the 400-year history of Jesuit education to construct a building dedicated solely as a library. Today, Boston College's eight research libraries contain over twelve million printed volumes, manuscripts, journals, government documents and microform items, ranging from ancient papyrus scrolls to digital databases. Together with the university's museums, they include original manuscripts and prints by Galileo, Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier as well as world renowned collections in Jesuitana, Irish literature, sixteenth century Flemish tapestries, ancient Greek pottery, Caribbean folk art and literature, Japanese prints, US government documents, Congressional Archives, and paintings that span the history of art from Europe, Asia and the Americas.

Related Topics:
Library - Galileo - Ignatius of Loyola - Francis Xavier - Jesuitana - Irish - Flemish - Greek - Caribbean - Japanese prints - Congressional - Europe - Asia - The Americas

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O'Neill Library

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BC's central research library, the Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr. Library is named for the legendary former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, a member of the Boston College Class of 1936. Opened in 1984, it houses approximately two million volumes in the humanities, the natural sciences and the social sciences. It also contains US government documents, administrative offices of the Boston College Libraries, and a museum dedicated to "Tip" O'Neill, whose papers are housed in the Burns Library (see below). The O'Neill Library was among the first libraries in the world to digitize its card catalog. A glass-enclosed atrium on the library's fourth and fifth floors offers sweeping views of the Boston skyline.

Related Topics:
Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr. - Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives - Humanities - Card catalog - Atrium

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Bapst Library

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When it opened in 1922, Bapst Library was the only designated library building in Jesuit history. Named for the first president of Boston College (Johannes Bapst, SJ, 1815-1887), it was one of the few structures built according to Charles Donagh Maginnis' original "Oxford in America" master plan and served as the university's main library until 1984. It has been widely praised as the "finest example of Collegiate Gothic architecture in America." In 1987, it reopened after a two-year, multimillion dollar restoration and now houses the university's fine arts collection. Designed as a "cathedral to learning," it is the most elaborate of the original Collegiate Gothic buildings on campus with extensive stained glass windows, vaulted ceilings and carved wood paneling. Gargan Hall, the soaring reading room on the library's upper floor, has been named the most beautiful room in Boston. Also on the upper floor are the Chancellor's office and the Lonergan Institute. The reading room on the ground floor features a gold-leaf and wood-beamed ceiling that was carefully restored with funds from the Kresge Foundation. A guide to the building's famous staned glass windows is available online.

Related Topics:
Johannes Bapst, SJ - Fine arts - Cathedral - Stained glass - Chancellor - Lonergan - Kresge Foundation

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Burns Library

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The Burns Library of Rare Books and Special Collections is home to more than 150,000 volumes, some 15 million manuscripts and other important works, including a world-renowned collection of Irish literature. A rare facsimile of the Book of Kells is on public display in the library's Irish Room, and each day one page of the illuminated manuscript is turned. Other significant holdings include original works by Samuel Beckett, T.S. Eliot, Graham Greene, Seamus Heaney, Gerard Manley Hopkins, James Joyce, Francis Thompson, George Bernard Shaw, and William Butler Yeats, among others. It also houses the papers of prominent Boston College alumni, including House Speaker Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill, Jr.; legal scholar and former US Congressman Robert F. Drinan, SJ; US Representative Edward P. Boland; and Margaret Heckler, Congresswoman, United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, and US Ambassador to Ireland. The library is named after the Honorable John. J. Burns (1901 to 1957), Massachusetts Superior Court Justice and a member of the Boston College Class of 1921. The library's lofty Ford Memorial Tower is considerably more elaborate than Gasson Tower, though not as tall. Inside, the Thompson Room features a magnificent oriel window depicting epic poetry, while the Trustee Room includes stained glass depictions of 54 Jesuit armorial crests. Exhibits are held frequently on the library's main level and guided tours are available on request.

Related Topics:
Book of Kells - Illuminated manuscript - Samuel Beckett - T.S. Eliot - Graham Greene - Seamus Heaney - Gerard Manley Hopkins - James Joyce - Francis Thompson - George Bernard Shaw - William Butler Yeats - Alumni - House - Speaker - Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill, Jr. - US Congressman - Robert F. Drinan, SJ - US Representative - Edward P. Boland - Margaret Heckler - United States Secretary of Health and Human Services - Ireland - Gasson Tower - Oriel window - Armorial crests

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Law Library

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Opened in 1996, the Law Library is located on the law school campus and contains approximately 500,000 volumes covering all major areas of American law and primary legal materials from the federal government, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United Nations, and the European Union. The library also features a substantial treatise and periodical collection and a growing collection of international and comparative law material. The library's Coquillette Rare Book Room houses works from the fifteenth through nineteenth centuries, including works by and about Saint Thomas More.

Related Topics:
Canada - United Kingdom - United Nations - European Union - Saint Thomas More

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McMullen Museum of Art

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Located in Devlin Hall, the McMullen Museum of Art houses a prominent permanent collection and organizes exhibits from all periods and cultures of art history. Recent exhibits and acquisitions, including works by Edvard Munch, Amedeo Modigliani, Frank Stella, Françoise Gilot, and John LaFarge, have widened both the scope of the collection and its audience. Saints and Sinners, a 1999 exhibition on the work of Caravaggio, attracted the largest audience of any university museum up to that time. Related museum activities include musical and theatrical performances, films, gallery talks, symposia, lectures, readings, and receptions that draw students, faculty, alumni and visitors from around the world. Admission to the Museum is free and open to the general public.

Related Topics:
Art history - Edvard Munch - Amedeo Modigliani - Frank Stella - Françoise Gilot - John LaFarge - Caravaggio

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Other libraries & museums

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Other BC libraries include dedicated facilities for the schools social work and education, an undergraduate library on the Newton Campus (nicknamed "the morgue" both because of its absolute silence and its location in the former crypt of Trinity Chapel), and a geophysics library at the Weston Observatory. Additional exhbition spaces include a student art gallery on the Bapst Library's mezzanine level as well as exhibition space in the Robsham Theater and Campanella Hall. Items related to BC history and athletics are on display at the Hall of Fame in Conte Forum and the BC Football Museum in the Yawkey Athletics Center.

Related Topics:
Morgue - Crypt - Conte Forum

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