The Presidential Inauguration of
Claudine Gay

Plan Your Visit

Accommodations | Accessibility | Parking and Shuttles | Registration | 
Event Map | Activities and Experiences | Helpful Links 

ACCOMMODATIONS

We encourage you to book your accommodations soon if you plan to stay in Cambridge during the Inauguration festivities.

Accessibility

There will be a reserved and accessible seating section available for individuals with disabilities in Tercentenary Theatre on Inauguration Day.

Please inform us of any accessibility needs by contacting our help desk. 

Access to Harvard Yard will be limited to only between 11:00 p.m., Thursday, September 28, and 7:00 p.m., Friday, September 29. On Friday, ticket holders may enter the Yard beginning at 1:00 p.m. Only individuals with a Harvard ID or designated Inauguration credentials will be admitted before 1:00 p.m. Entry will be through Meyer, Sever, Solomon (Lamont), Straus, Wadsworth, or Widener gates only (Boylston and Johnston gates will be closed to pedestrians).

Please avoid bringing bags into Harvard Yard if possible. Any bags coming into the Yard are subject to screening. If you are attending the Inauguration Ceremony, we ask that you please plan accordingly and allow extra time.

Parking and Shuttles

Parking: Complimentary parking will be offered at Soldiers Field Park Garage (111 Western Ave., Boston (Allston). Please notify the attendant that you are on campus for the Inauguration. Alternatively, paid parking is available in Harvard Square.

Shuttle Services: Shuttle buses will be available between 10:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. to transport attendees from Soldiers Field Park Garage to the JFK Street stop in Harvard Square. Return services will run from 4:15 to 7:00 p.m., leaving from Quincy Street—Solomon (Lamont) Gate.

Registration

Check in at Farkas Hall between 10:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. to receive your ticket(s) and program materials. Please note that these credentials are required for entry to Harvard Yard and all Inauguration events.

Activities and Experiences

Official Harvard Historical Tour
Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Campus Center
75 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge
Visit the Tours web page for tour schedule

The official Harvard tour departs from the Harvard Information Center in the Smith Campus Center. The tour is student led and comprises an outdoor walk (please dress accordingly) through Harvard Yard, providing a history of the University, general information, and a unique view of the individual student experience. The tour takes about one hour and is completely free of charge.

Please note that tours will not be available on September 29 due to Inauguration activities.

Harvard Art Museums
32 Quincy Street, Cambridge
Plan your visit on the HAM website for hours and admission information

The Harvard Art Museums are comprised of three separate museums—the Fogg Museum, Busch-Reisinger Museum, and Arthur M. Sackler Museum—each with a different history, collection, guiding philosophy, and identity. The Museums’ recent renovation and expansion builds on the legacies of these three museums and unites their remarkable collections under one roof.

Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge
Plan your visit on the Peabody website for hours and admission information

From towering Native American totem poles and large Maya sculptures to precious artifacts of the ancient world, the Peabody Museum is among the oldest anthropology museums in the world. Founded in 1866 by George Peabody, the museum has one of the finest collections of human cultural history found anywhere.

Harvard Museum of Natural History
26 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Plan your visit on the HMNH website for hours and admission information

The Harvard Museum of Natural History was established in 1998 as the public face of three research museums: the Museum of Comparative Zoology, the Harvard University Herbaria, and the Mineralogical & Geological Museum. Presenting these incomparable collections and the research of scientists across the University, the Harvard Museum of Natural History’s mission is to enhance public understanding and appreciation of the natural world and the human place in it, sparking curiosity and a spirit of discovery in people of all ages.

Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East
6 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge
Plan your visit on the HMANE website for hours and admission information

By housing ancient Near Eastern exhibitions, the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East explores the rich history of cultures connected by the family of Semitic languages. Exhibitions include a full-scale replica of an ancient Israelite home, life-sized casts of famous Mesopotamian monuments, authentic mummy coffins, and tablets containing the earliest forms of writing. Like the artifacts it displays, the museum itself has a rich and nuanced history.

Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments
1 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Plan your visit on the CHSI website for hours and admission information

Since its inception in 1948, various Harvard departments and private benefactors have added material to the original nucleus of the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, which now contains over 20,000 objects dating from about 1400 to the present. A broad range of scientific disciplines are represented, including astronomy, navigation, horology, surveying, geology, calculating, physics, biology, medicine, psychology, electricity, and communication. Significant instruments, made obsolete by new technologies, continue to be incorporated. Many of the documents detailing the purchase and use of the instruments have been preserved, and are available for research in the collection's adjunct library.

The Cooper Gallery
102 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge
Plan your visit on the Cooper Gallery website for hours and admission information

Opened in the fall of 2014, the Ethelbert Cooper Gallery features contemporary and historical exhibitions and installations of African and African American art organized by the gallery. It often features guest curators, faculty, artists, students, and distinguished visiting scholars. The gallery hosts a wide range of dynamic workshops, artist talks, symposia, lectures, and performances that engage audiences with diverse art archives and cultural traditions from all over the world.

Pusey Library/Harvard University Archives
Harvard Yard, Cambridge
Plan your visit on the Archives website for hours and admission information

The Harvard University Archives is the oldest and one of the largest institutional academic archives in the nation. The Archives collects, organizes, preserves, and provides access to a comprehensive record of more than 375 years of life at Harvard. From 17th- and 18th-century diaries and scientific observations to 21st-century websites, the Harvard University Archives’ collections comprise over 51,000 feet of University records and related historical materials.

Houghton Library
Harvard Yard, Cambridge
Plan your visit on the Houghton website for hours and admission information

As Harvard’s principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, literary and performing arts archives, and more, Houghton Library is a destination for students and scholars on campus and around the world.

Helpful Links

City of Boston Visitors Guide
Greater Boston Visitors Guide
Harvard Square Visitors Guide
Cambridge Office for Tourism
Visit Harvard
Harvard Events