Eliot House is one of twelve residential houses for upperclassmen at Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 and one of the seven original houses at the College. Opened in 1931, the house was named after Charles William Eliot

Charles William Eliot

Charles William Eliot was an American academic who was selected as Harvard's president in 1869. He transformed the provincial college into the preeminent American research university...

, who served as president of the university for forty years (1869–1909).

Traditions

Before Harvard opted to use a lottery system to assign residences to upperclassmen (beginning with the class of 1999), Eliot was known as a 'prep' house, providing accommodation to the university's social elite, and being known as "more Harvard than Harvard". Describing Eliot House in the late 1950s and early 1960s, author Alston Chase wrote, "[A]lthough most Harvard houses in those days reflected the values of Boston Brahmin society ... Eliot was more extreme. This house, noted a report of the Harvard Office of Research and Evaluation at about that time, 'has long been called
cold, snobbish, preppish, "the clubby house," and "the home of the pseudo-intellectual." All of these titles are, in a sense, true.' Indeed, most undergraduates themselves agreed with the verdict, the report added. Even Eliot House residents viewed it as 'aristocratic' and 'snobbish.'"
Vestiges of this remain in traditions like the spring formal (the Eliot Fête) and the house remains especially well-endowed, although Harvard no longer permits donors to fund individual houses.

Movie appearances

Eliot's prominent belltower is featured in many films, including two screen shots in Old School

Old School (film)

Old School is a 2003 American comedy film released by DreamWorks SKG and directed by Todd Phillips, director of the documentary Frat House. The story was written by Court Crandall, and the film was written by Phillips and Scot Armstrong...

; Legally Blonde

Legally Blonde

Legally Blonde is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Robert Luketic, written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, and produced by Marc E. Platt...

; Chasing Liberty

Chasing Liberty

Chasing Liberty is a 2004 American romantic comedy film directed by Andy Cadiff, and starring Mandy Moore and Matthew Goode.-Plot:Anna Foster is the daughter of President James Foster and First Lady Michelle Foster . After Secret Service agents ruin a first date, Anna demands some freedom...

; and Euro Trip, which features the tower at the end of the film, incorrectly identifying it as Oberlin College. Eliot House is also featured prominently in Love Story

Love Story (1970 film)

Love Story is a 1970 romantic drama film written by Erich Segal and based on his novel Love Story. It was directed by Arthur Hiller. The film, well known as a tragedy, is considered one of the most romantic of all time by the American Film Institute , and was followed by a sequel, Oliver's Story...

and The Social Network

The Social Network

The Social Network is a 2010 American drama film directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin. Adapted from Ben Mezrich's 2009 book The Accidental Billionaires, the film portrays the founding of social networking website Facebook and the resulting lawsuits...

.

Notable alumni

Notable former residents of the house include:

• Leonard Bernstein
  Leonard Bernstein
  Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
  
  
• Benazir Bhutto
  Benazir Bhutto
  Benazir Bhutto was a democratic socialist who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996....
  
  
• Ben Bradlee
• Archibald Cox
  Archibald Cox
  Archibald Cox, Jr., was an American lawyer and law professor who served as U.S. Solicitor General under President John F. Kennedy. He became known as the first special prosecutor for the Watergate scandal. During his career, he was a pioneering expert on labor law and also an authority on...
  
  
• John Harbison
  John Harbison
  John Harris Harbison is an American composer, best known for his operas and large choral works.-Life:...
  
  
• Rashida Jones
  Rashida Jones
  Rashida Leah Jones is an American film and television actress, comic book author, screenwriter and occasional singer. She played Louisa Fenn on Boston Public and Karen Filippelli on The Office as well as roles in the films I Love You, Man and The Social Network...
  
  
• Ted Kaczynski
• Jack Lemmon
  Jack Lemmon
  John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...
  
  
• Thomas Oliphant
  Thomas Oliphant
  Thomas "Tom" Oliphant is an American journalist who was the Washington correspondent and a columnist for the Boston Globe. - Life and career :...
  
  
• George Plimpton
  George Plimpton
  George Ames Plimpton was an American journalist, writer, editor, and actor. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found The Paris Review.-Early life:...
  
   and
• Jay Rockefeller
  Jay Rockefeller
  John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV is the senior United States Senator from West Virginia. He was first elected to the Senate in 1984, while in office as Governor of West Virginia, a position he held from 1977 to 1985...
  
  

In 1951, roommates of Eliot House A-12 included Paul Matisse

Paul Matisse

Paul Matisse is an artist and inventor. He is known especially for his public art installations, many of which are interactive. He is also inventor of the Kalliroscope....

, grandson of French impressionist Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...

, Stephen Joyce

Stephen Joyce

Stephen Joyce may refer to:*Stephen J. Joyce - the grandson and executor of James Joyce.*Stephen A. Joyce - the Police Chief for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1970-71.*Steven Joyce - New Zealand politician....

, grandson of novelist James Joyce

James Joyce

James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...

, and Sadruddin Aga Khan, lineal descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad

Muhammad

Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...

. This caused master John Finley to brag to the New York Times, "where else would you find, in one room, the grandson of Matisse, the grandson of Joyce, and the great-great-great-great-grandson of God?"

External links

• Eliot House official site