The Queens Head Pub (closed)

At the heart of Harvard’s campus sits Memorial Hall, dedicated in 1878 as a monument to Harvard’s dutiful and courageous role in the preservation of the American Union. The building’s Gothic form links back to the ideological roots of the University as Harvard itself was founded in the British academic tradition, an American revision of the medieval universities of the Old Country. Throughout its life the building has taken on attributes that render it a timeless expression of the Harvard spirit, modeled in brick, as the events that take place within its halls contribute to its growing legacy.

The creation of the Cambridge Queen’s Head in the bowels of the monument is the latest chapter in the building’s history. From the time of Memorial Hall’s completion in 1876, and for more than six decades after, the lower level’s use was limited to storage and mechanical space. Completed in 1996 and funded generously by Katherine Bogdanovich Loker, the most recent incarnation of the space was Loker Commons, a flexible, multi-use area that included various food services and a large, open “commons” space.