John Harvard (1607-1638), was an English Puritan minister in New England who left his libary and half his estate for promotion of a college Massachusetts had founded two years previously. The colony was so grateful they decided to rename the institution “Harvard Colledge” (sic). There are no drawings or paintings of John Harvard, so the sculptor, Daniel Chester French, modelled it after a student who graduated in the class of 1882.

Google Maps told me the subway would stop at Harvard Square which sounded good to me. However, I couldn’t seem to find it. The very nice man in the Harvard Square information centre explained that Harvard SQUARE is not a square at all. It’s a corner. Meet Harvard Square. 😉

The Harvard campus is absolutely idyllic. I felt like I was on a movie set, viewing the picture perfect walks and buildings. Remember Love Story (😭), and Elle attending Law School in Legally Blonde?

My unexpected treat was meeting up with two friends I hadn’t seen since 2012. Carol saw my Food Tour post and reached out to me.

We met on my first blogging trip to India in 2012. Val and Carol were so kind to me on that trip. As I was on my own, they “adopted” me and I have been grateful ever since. It was wonderful to catch up. They haven’t changed at all – see photo to the left. ☺️

We ate lunch at the Fogg Museum where there is an exhibition entitled “The Way We Never Were.” It consists of photos taken after World War II and are part of the American Professional Photographers Collection. In the 1950s, most professional photographers worked for magazines or corporations that commissioned photos of a happy, white middle class country. Think Father Knows Best. These photographs do not show the racial divisions growing in the US that would explode in the 1960s. Here are photos of six of the images on exhibition. Click on the right arrow to see them all.

On my way back to my hotel, I had to change subway lines and was surprised at the momentary lack of other riders along the way. The second photo below is more typical. I was part of the UP traffic, sandwiched between two DOWN lines. The UP escalator next to the stairs was “down,” ha ha. Nevertheless I find the subway system excellent and easy to use.

I hope you’ll stay tuned for my last day in Boston, tomorrow. See you then!