Since 1870, the Signet Society has been a gathering place at Harvard for creative thinkers and their mentors.
What is the Signet?
The Signet is Harvard's arts and letters society, housed in the yellow building at 46 Dunster Street. The Signet's membership spans many disciplines and artistic interests: theater, music, film, visual art, literature, journalism, criticism, dance, architecture, and more. Though the Society is primarily an undergraduate group, you can find alumni, faculty, and Boston-area artists around the House as well.
An average week at the Signet includes lunches Wednesday through Friday and a handful of events organized by members and open to the wider community. These events might be teas, open mics, writing workshops, or giant knitting circles — the schedule changes as the goals and needs of the membership do.
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Our Beginning
In 1870, a small group of Harvard undergraduates banded together and decided to form a new society. As far as we know, the members of the Signet as early as 1881 met on Friday evenings “for a cup of chocolate and an hour or two of conversation,” and elected undergraduates who distinguished themselves by their academic achievement.
“It was and still is a perfect place to connect.”
— Liz Walker ’11
By December of 1970, the Crimson described the Signet as “a luncheon club where faculty and students meet to discuss the fine arts and humanities.” In the over fifty years since then, the Signet has reinvented itself dozens of times over. Signet members today tend to create art as well as discuss it, write poetry as well as dissect it, and direct plays as well as attend them. They drink more coffee than hot chocolate. They are as likely to sing at Open Mic Nights as they are to invite distinguished literary talents to speak at Library Dinner – which is to say, they do both. They create art and live it.
Our Mission
We are a small group of artists within a larger associated artistic community. Our members are multigenerational: students, alumni, and faculty; scholars, writers, and artists. Hailing from a wide array of disciplines, we come together to celebrate the arts and letters. Outside of the Signet, we uphold our shared appreciation by contributing to and supporting the arts.
153
years of coffee and conversation
2
former presidents of the United States
2000+
living alumni—thinking, writing, and creating
Signet Life
The Signet Society is the place at Harvard where students and faculty who are interested in the arts can meet over lunch, often joined by renowned artists, writers, actors, and scholars visiting Cambridge. Members and visitors can read, relax, play the piano, and entertain each other. Special events such as readings, talks, screenings, shows, and receptions reflect the interests of undergraduates, graduate, and affiliate members alike: literature, the performing arts, the fine arts, the social sciences, politics, and culture. The Signet serves as a welcoming community center for the arts and letters in the heart of Harvard Square.
Support the Signet
We believe in the importance of this space and this community for the arts and letters, and every gift from you—our friends, our associates, and our graduates—reaffirms that shared belief. Your contributions help us keep the lights on and the coffee brewing.