{"nrhp_refnum":"86001270","name":"Bertram Hall at Radcliffe College","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"53 Shepard St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cambridge","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.380704380000054,"lon":-71.12488084099994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-05-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story red brick Neo-Georgian dormitory at 53 Shepard Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on the southern side of the Radcliffe Quadrangle. Built in 1901 and designed by A. W. Longfellow, Jr.","why_significant":"It was the first and most elaborate dormitory built on the Radcliffe Quadrangle and is argued to embody the characteristics of the Colonial Revival style (Criterion C). It also marked a shift in Radcliffe's approach from placing students in private homes to communal dormitory living, which supports its significance under Criterion A.","narrative":"Bertram Hall is a four-story red brick dormitory at 53 Shepard Street in Cambridge, built in 1901 on the southern side of the Radcliffe Quadrangle. Architect A. W. Longfellow designed it in the Neo-Georgian manner, with projecting end pavilions, brick quoins, a slate hipped roof with six chimneys, marble window trim and a broken-pediment entrance on the Quadrangle side. It was the earliest and most elaborate dormitory on the Quadrangle, funded by gifts from the Class of 1895. Before this, Radcliffe students had been housed in private homes. The small hall, with its own dining and reception rooms and a matron in charge, housed twenty-five students and offered a communal living arrangement similar to the one Harvard was developing for its male students. It was recognized for its architecture, as a Colonial Revival work, and for its role in the development of Radcliffe College. It remains in residential use today.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"A. W. Longfellow, Jr.","architectural_style":"Neo-Georgian (described in the text as Colonial Revival)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Listed as present residential use; the form records no major alterations and states the building has not been moved.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:12:59.828769-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/48/7920/63792048/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/86001270.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001270/043a2360f4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001270/043a2360f4-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Daderot","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bertram_Hall,_Radcliffe_Quadrangle,_53_Shepard_Street,_Cambridge,_MA_-_pano.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Daderot</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bertram_Hall,_Radcliffe_Quadrangle,_53_Shepard_Street,_Cambridge,_MA_-_pano.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792048","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertram_Hall_(Radcliffe_College)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4895779"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/bertram-hall-at-radcliffe-college-86001270/"}