Guide to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Walker Memorial Gymnasium Committee Ledgers, 1899-1918
AC.0367

Summary Information

Repository
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute Archives and Special Collections
Creator
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Walker Memorial Gymnasium Committee
Title
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Walker Memorial Gymnasium Committee Ledgers
ID
AC.0367
Date [inclusive]
1899-1918
Extent
0.4 cubic feet (1 legal manuscript box)
Location
Materials are stored off-site. Advance notice is required for use.
Language
English
Abstract
The Walker Memorial Gymnasium Committee was appointed in 1899 to secure subscriptions from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) alumni and local representatives for a new memorial gymnasium on the Boston campus, to be built as a tribute to the late MIT president Francis Amasa Walker. The committee also sought to garner support for the gymnasium from the MIT Corporation, faculty, and undergraduates. The collection includes four account ledger books maintained by the Walker Memorial Gymnasium Committee, spanning the years 1899-1918.

Citation

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Walker Memorial Gymnasium Committee Ledgers, AC 367. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Institute Archives and Special Collections, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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Historical note

The Walker Memorial Gymnasium Committee was appointed in 1899 to secure subscriptions from MIT alumni and local society representatives for a new memorial gymnasium on the Boston campus. The committee also sought to garner support for the gymnasium from the MIT Corporation, faculty, and undergraduates. The need for a new gymnasium arose when the Institute’s lease on the grounds of the old gymnasium on Exeter Street in Back Bay expired. Rather than simply move the gymnasium, members of the committee believed that the Institute was in need not only of a new gymnasium, but also of a fitting tribute to the late President Walker, who had died two years earlier in 1897. Walker had promoted physical exercise, and the gymnasium that the committee envisioned was well-rounded, providing space for running, rowing, swimming, and games.

The new gymnasium was completed in December of 1905 and stood on Garrison Street in Back Bay, Boston. In 1916, when MIT’s campus moved from Back Bay to its present-day location in Cambridge, the gymnasium moved along with it to its new home in the newly-erected Walker Memorial Building (Building 50) at 142 Memorial Drive.

Members of the Walker Memorial Gymnasium Committee were appointed by the Executive Committee of the Alumni Association. The members of the 1899 committee were Robert H. Richards (Class of 1868 and first Alumni Association president), Thomas Hibbard (Class of 1875), Harry W. Tyler, Everett Morss (Class of 1885), William B. Thurber (Class of 1889), Edward Cunningham (Class of 1891), Albert F. Bemis (Class of 1893), and Benjamin Hurd (Class of 1896).

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute Archives and Special Collections

MIT Libraries
Building 14N-118
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139-4307
617.253.5690
mithistory@mit.edu

Revision Description

  2011

Access note

This collection is open for research.

Intellectual Property Rights

Access to collections in the Institute Archives is not authorization to publish. Separate application for permission to publish must be made to the Institute Archives and Special Collections, MIT Libraries.

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Related Materials

Related Materials

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Gymnasium Committee Records, 1874-1880 (AC 2)

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Controlled Access Headings

Corporate Name(s)

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Walker Memorial Gymnasium Committee

Subject(s)

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology--History.
  • Student Life.

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Collection Inventory

Box

Account ledger book, Walker Memorial Gymnasium Committee 1899-1901 

 1

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Account ledger book, Walker Memorial Gymnasium Committee 1901-1903 

 1

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Account ledger book, Walker Memorial Gymnasium Committee 1903-1916 

 1

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Account ledger book, Walker Memorial Gymnasium Committee 1916-1918 

 1

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