News
Take a look at what others said about our first century in Cambridge! Explore features, announcements, and general coverage of the Institute's spring-long celebration right here.
Have something you'd like to contribute? Members of the MIT community are invited to submit stories to MIT News with the tag Century in Cambridge.
News
Through the spring, MIT is celebrating a momentous milestone—the move a century ago from cramped Back Bay buildings to a new, space campus in Cambridge where the design of the buildings would reflect a philosophy of the Institute—the value of interdisciplinary collaboration and community. The series of events—from symposia to a Crossing Day procession to Moving Day festivities—is titled MIT 2016: Celebrating a Century in Cambridge. And you are invited.
It was a grand gala event in 1916 when MIT, just over a half-century old, moved from a series of scattered buildings in Boston to a newly designed campus on a large parcel of freshly-created filled land in Cambridge. The celebratory events included a water parade across the river to symbolize the move, led by an elaborate replica of a Venetian grand barge that was built for the occasion.
The Boston Globe delved deep into the archives for the original coverage of MIT’s move to Cambridge in 1916!
“MIT, the revered institution and key part of Cambridge’s history, is hosting a parade and celebration in May to commemorate its first century in Cambridge.”
“In 1916, alumni from as far away as India and Australia joined students and faculty along the Charles River to witness what the Boston Daily Globe called an ‘impressive goodbye,’ a celebration of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s move from a jumble of buildings near Copley Square to its new campus in Cambridge...On the cusp of the centennial of the parade, MIT officials have launched a competition...recapturing the spirit of the momentous move.”