Richard Mott Gummere, new Chairman of the Committee on Admissions and lecturer in Latin, will move into the famous Palmer House at the Southeast corner of the Yard sometime during mid-year examinations this February, it was announced yesterday by Aldrich Durant, Business Manager of Harvard.
Repairs and alterations are being made in the house, and they will be completed before the end of December. The house is being connected with the central heating system of the University, the old furnaces are being removed, and a large part of the interior is being redecorated.
The palatial colonial house, home of the late George Herbert Palmer '64, Alford Professor of Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy, and Civil Polity, Emeritus, who died on May 7, 1933, has been unoccupied for more than a year.
Some rumors had it that the house was to be torn down to make room for a new building which would be used for holding classes. Other reports indicated that it would be given over to the Department of English as an office for English A-1, now nearly crowded out of Warren House.
Professor Palmer, last living philosopher of the William James and Royce era in Harvard history, was, for several years before his death, the oldest living Harvard professor, and his stooped figure and hesitating walk were familiar sights in the Yard. He was born on March 19, 1842, in Boston, and after attending Phillips Exeter Academy for two years, entered Harvard in 1860. After his graduation in 1864, he went to the Salem High School as under-master, but was forced to stop teaching after two years and travel for his health.
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