 History
of Mission Park
In the late 1960's, Harvard University bought the wood frame
and brick houses along Francis, Fenwood, St. Alban's, Kempton Streets, and part of Huntington Avenue, and announced plans to evict the families living there and to
demolish the buildings. Neighborhood residents, with the help of striking Harvard students Doug Levinson, Jeane
Neville, and Hayden Duggan, then organized the Roxbury Tenants of Harvard Association which began meeting
with Harvard officials to negotiate a way to preserve the residential neighborhood.
By 1970, Harvard agreed to retain some of the buildings as permanent housing and to reorient their rental,
management, and maintenance policies so the RTH neighborhood would remain attractive for family living. At the time,
Harvard also agreed to provide suitable replacement housing for any of the older homes which would later have to
come down to allow for future institutional needs.
After RTH plans to rehabilitate the bowfront brick houses along Kempton Street were halted by President Nixon's
impoundment of rehab monies, RTH secured Harvard's agreement to assist the Tenants' Association in developing
new housing on the Harvard-owned vacant land formerly occupied by the House of the Good Shepherd. RTH
selected John Sharratt Associates as the architects to design Mission Park because of Mr. Sharratt's longstanding
commitment to providing technical assistance to RTH in its efforts to preserve the residential neighborhood and
because of his sound achievements in the design of attractive family and elderly housing in Boston. RTH formed
a partnership with the George Macomber Company, builders, and H. Ralph Taylor. a housing developer, to jointly
build and develop Mission Park.
At the time when new housing construction was at its lowest level since the great Depression. Harvard University
agreed to provide many of the financial commitments necessary for Mission Park to obtain both mortgage and
equity funds, thus becoming a major stockholder in the Mission Park Corporation which
owned the housing.
After lengthy discussion and negotiation with RTH, Harvard agreed to provide relocation benefits, beyond those
required by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, for the 102 families who had to move for construction of
Mission Park to take place. Madge DiNitto Associates administered the relocation of these families, approximately
half of whom returned to Mission Park and another twelve of whom chose to relocate permanently within other
existing parts of the RTH neighborhood.
Groundbreaking for construction took place on October 17, 1975. RTH and Harvard jointly elected the Cornu
Corporation to handle the initial rent-up of the apartments. The Cornu Corporation became the managing agent
for Mission Park on December 1, 1978.
In 2000, RTH became the owner of the property.
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