About the Massey Lectures



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The William E. Massey, Sr., Lectures in the History of American Civilization at Harvard University have been endowed by an anonymous donor to honor Mr. Massey, the Virginia businessman and philanthropist. Mr. Massey was born in Ansted, West Virginia, in 1909 and attended the University of Richmond. At the age of twenty he began to work for the A.T. Massey Coal Company, and before his retirement in 1977 he served as chief executive officer of the company and chairman of the board. Mr. Massey was president of the Massey Foundation, a private philanthropic organization that supports cultural and educational institutions. He died on February 10, 1987.

Recent Massey Lecturers

Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, Architects delivered the Spring 2003 Massey Lectures, "Toward a Mannerist Architecture for Today,"
on May 5, 7, and 8, 2003.

Monday, May 5, 2003: "Architecture as Communication and Activities as Patterns"
Wednesday, May 7, 2003: "Patterns and Signs Combined”
Thursday, May 8, 2003: "Conclusions for a Mannerist Architecture Today"

The Spring 2002 Massey Lectures entitled Circles and Lines: The Shaping of Human Experience in the American Past were delivered by John Demos, Professor of History and American Studies at Yale University.

Monday, May 6, 2002, "The Traditional World, and the Logic of Circularity"
Wednesday, May 8, 2002, "The Transitional World, and the Power of Novelty"
Thursday, May 9, 2002, "The Modern World, and the Triumph of the Linear"