Photograph album of Grenville Lindall Winthrop, approximately 1886

Grenville Lindall Winthrop, lawyer and art collector, was born in New York, N.Y. on February 11, 1864. He received his A.B. from Harvard College in 1886 and his LL.B., a two year degree, from Harvard Law School in 1888. Winthrop resided in Beck Hall at Harvard from 1883 to 1886 and from 1887 to 1888 as both an undergraduate and a law student. In 1892, Winthrop married Mary Tallmadge Turner (d. Dec. 1, 1900) of Yonkers, N.Y; the couple had two children. He later became a member of the law firm Ludlow, Phillips & Winthrop. Winthrop was also a prolific art collector. In Forty Prints from Forty Friends, published in 1990 by the Harvard Alumni Association for its 150th anniversary, Winthrop is described as being one of the most important donors of art to Harvard. Upon his death on January 19, 1943 in Lenox, Mass., Winthrop bequeathed nearly 4,000 Asian, European, and American works of art to Harvard; many of these works are currently held by Harvard’s Fogg Museum.

Beck Hall was one of Harvard’s “Gold Coast” residence halls. It was a private dormitory that housed wealthy Harvard students from prominent families, including Theodore Roosevelt (Harvard class of 1909), son of President Roosevelt, J. P. Morgan (Harvard class of 1889), and John Jacob Astor IV (Harvard class of 1888). Among Beck Hall’s noteworthy features were its elaborate furnishings and décor, which included high ceilings, chandeliers, marble mantles, ash trim, and oak paneling, as well as a ‘steam heating apparatus.’

Never owned by Harvard, Beck Hall was nonetheless located close to the University on a trapezoidal lot formed of Harvard Street, Bow Street, and Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge (approximately 1201 Massachusetts Avenue). Built in 1876, Beck Hall, was known for a time as “Centennial Hall.” It was originally owned by Mrs. Anna Möring, who was the daughter of Charles Beck (1798-1866), a professor of Latin at Harvard from 1832-1850. C. C. Stellman (Harvard class of 1898) was the last in a series of Harvard alumni to own Beck Hall. He died in 1927. In 1926, a year before Stellman’s death, the Beck Hall Trust was created by a group of Harvard alumni in an attempt to retain Beck Hall's affiliation with the Harvard community. In 1930, despite the Trust’s efforts, Beck Hall was sold at auction to James T. Thurman of Boston, a businessman in the wool industry. Beck Hall was later demolished, and a Gulf gasoline service station built in its place. As of 2011, the Inn at Harvard stands on the site.