University Hall (Harvard University) University Hall (Harvard University) University Hall is a white granite building designed by the great early American architect Charles Bulfinch and built by the noted early engineer Loammi Baldwin, Jr. It is located in Harvard Yard on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970 for its architectural significance. The hall was designed by Bulfinch, class of 1781, and built between 1813–1815 of white Chelmsford granite, probably using rock cut to size at the Charlestown Prison. It consists of a partial basement story, plus three full stories raised above ground as
Academic regalia of Harvard University matching waistcoat. Members of the University Council, not doctors, or holding no degree from this University, are authorized to wear the doctor's gown with double crow's-foot of the color of the department to which they belong. All graduates' hoods are black lined with crimson silk, and are cut in the Edinburgh simple shape. Unlike most other United States universities, there is no velvet trim. Rank is indicated by the hood length: master's hoods are 42", doctors 48". Harvard bachelors do not wear hoods. The hood was actually the same hood of the Oxford MA that became fossilized in Harvard before