CrossingGlobal Borders Literature • A.O. • Life Scott Lessons at the • UnsungMovies •Suffragist Free Speech NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2019 • $4.95 Sex, Gender,1969 Science Sarah Richardson’s critique Reprinted from Harvard Magazine. For more information, contact Harvard Magazine, Inc. at 617-495-5746 INVEST IN YOUR CLASSMATES. WE DO. We are a private venture capital fund exclusively for Harvard alums. Our fund invests in a diversified portfolio of venture-backed companies founded or led by fellow alumni. If you are an accredited investor and looking for a smart, simple way to add VC to your portfolio, join us. This year’s fund — The Yard Ventures 4 — is now open to new investors. LEARN MORE Visit www.theyardventures.com/alumni Email [email protected] Call 877-299-4538 The manager of The Yard Ventures 4 is Launch Angels Management Company, LLC, dba Alumni Ventures Group (AVG). AVG is a venture capital firm and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Harvard University. For informational purposes only; offers of securities are made only to accredited investors pursuant to the fund’s offering documents, which describe the risks and other information that should be considered before investing. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Contact Michael Madden at [email protected] or [email protected] for additional information. Reprinted from Harvard Magazine. For more information, contact Harvard Magazine, Inc. at 617-495-5746 19111Harvard.indd 1 919 15 M NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2019, VOLUME 122, NUMBER 2 FEATURES 34 The Science of Sex | by Bennett McIntosh Historian of science Sarah Richardson questions scholarly assumptions about sex and gender 40 Vita: William Monroe Trotter | by Kerri K. Greenidge Brief life of a black radical: 1872-1934 p. 32 42 Made Visible | by Marina N. Bolotnikova An exhibition on migration and borders 48 The Way of the Critic | by Craig Lambert A.O. Scott watches, and reviews, lots of movies JOHN HARVARD’S JOURNAL 18 Community discourse and free speech, a mapper of “social geography,” the College’s admissions policies upheld, more moderate endowment investment returns, how Memorial Church’s bell is rung, handling sexual harassment and other news, new University Health Services director and public-service personnel, the Undergraduate undertakes sensitive research, and football kicks off p. 48 DEPARTMENTS 2 Cambridge 02138 | Letters from our readers—and observations about athletics 3 The View from Mass Hall 12 Right Now | The setting for successful teaching, analyzing liberal political philosophy, local zoning and climate change 16A Harvard2 | Autumn events, ballet photos, jazz in Boston and beyond—and a jazz docu- mentarian, Nigerian conceptual art, Latin-Caribbean food, a Somerville market, and more ROBERT ADAM FUND MAYER; FOR THE ACQUISITION 58 Montage | From magic to stand-up, Jimmy Hoffa, a book warehouse, traditional Pakistani music, splendid seaweed, law and forgiveness, and more 68 Alumni | Colin Cabot renews old New England crafts, alumni interviewers and THE HARVARD CRIMSON; HARVARD THE honorands, and more 72 The College Pump | Life lessons circa the 1860s, the 1960s, and now 88 Treasure | Beautiful Byzantine textiles, in a new context p. 42 FROM TOP TIM RIGHT: O’MEARA/ OF PHOTOGRAPHS, 2019.80. © LILI ALMOG, COURTESY OF THE ARTIST, HARVARD ART MUSEUMS/FOGG MUSEUM 73 Crimson Classifieds On the cover: Photograph by Stu Rosner www.harvardmagazine.com Reprinted from Harvard Magazine. For more information, contact Harvard Magazine, Inc. at 617-495-5746 LETTERS EDITOR: John S. Rosenberg SENIOR EDITOR: Jean Martin Cambridge MANAGING EDITOR: Jonathan S. Shaw Angela Davis, Bureau of Study Counsel, climate change ART DIRECTOR: Jennifer Carling ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Marina N. Bolotnikova, Lydialyle Gibson STAFF WRITER/EDITOR: Jacob J. Sweet CRIME AND executive director, often INCARCERATION speaks with me about ASSISTANT EDITOR/SPECIAL SECTIONS MANAGER: Nell Porter Brown The article about how education dramati- Elizabeth Hinton (“Col- cally changed his life BERTA GREENWALD LEDECKY or and Incarceration,” by during his 24 years of in- UNDERGRADUATE FELLOWS Lydialyle Gibson, Sep- carceration in a Califor- Julie Chung, Drew Pendergrass tember-October, page nia prison. I applaud and 40) included an observa- second Hinton’s call for CONTRIBUTING EDITORS tion by Hinton when she Harvard to invest in pris- John T. Bethell, Lincoln Caplan, visited a loved one inside on education. Education Dick Friedman, Adam Goodheart, a California prison and is and will continue to be Elizabeth Gudrais, Jim Harrison, saw “all these black and critical in developing the Courtney Humphries, Christopher S. brown families.” I work leadership of those most Johnson, Adam Kirsch, Colleen Lannon, for the Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC), impacted by our justice system. As an alum, I Spencer Lee Lenfield, Stu Rosner, dedicated to helping incarcerated men and would love to see Harvard lead in this effort. Deborah Smullyan, Mark Steele women successfully transition back into so- Bikila Ochoa, Ph.D. ’09 HARVARD MAGAZINE INC. ciety and reform our criminal justice system. Los Angeles PRESIDENT: Margaret H. Marshall, Ed.M. I have walked into numerous prisons in Cal- ’69. DIRECTORS: Ann M. Blair ’84, Peter K. ifornia, which has one of the world’s largest Hinton’s critique of our criminal justice Bol, Scott V. Edwards, Ann Marie Lipinski, prison systems. Each time I step into one of system, and her call for policy reform, are NF ’90, Philip W. Lovejoy, Susan Morris these institutions, my breath is taken away compelling and convincing. But aside from Novick ’85, John P. Reardon Jr. ’60, by the image of a sea of black and brown a few casual references, the article ignores Bryan E. Simmons ’83 bodies in oversized blue prison uniforms, an essential dimension of the story: the vic- slowly pacing these prison yards in a fog of tims. It is as if none of the incarcerated had BOARD OF INCORPORATORS hopelessness. committed an offense graver than posses- This magazine, at first called the Harvard Bulletin, was I’ve also seen how education can help sion of recreational drugs. Yet in many if not founded in 1898. Its Board of Incorporators was char- break through this fog. Sam Lewis, ARC’s most cases, the victims of crime are from tered in 1924 and remains active in the magazine’s governance. The membership is as follows: Stephen J. Bailey, AMP ’94; Jeffrey S. Behrens ’89, William I. Bennett ’62, M.D. ’69; John T. Bethell ’54; Peter K. Bol; Helping Hands Fox Butterfield ’61, A.M. ’64; Sewell Chan ’98; Jona- than S. Cohn ’91; Philip M. Cronin ’53, J.D. ’56; James We warmly thank readers who help support publication of Harvard Magazine. F. Dwinell III ’62; Anne Fadiman ’74; Benjamin M. Donors during the past year are recognized on pages 78 to 85. Your contributions Friedman ’66, Ph.D. ’71; Robert H. Giles, NF ’66; Rich- (and advertising revenues) underpin this nonprofit enterprise; the remaining operat- ard H. Gilman, M.B.A. ’83; Owen Gingerich, Ph.D. ’62; Adam K. Goodheart ’92; Philip C. Haughey ’57; Brian ing deficit is funded by a subvention from the Harvard president’s office. (The maga- R. Hecht ’92; Sarah Blaffer Hrdy ’68, Ph.D. ’75; Ellen zine’s finances are described further at harvardmagazine.com/why-donate.) Hume ’68; Alex S. Jones, NF ’82;Thomas F. Kelly, Ph.D. We hope that readers and others who are interested in ’73; William C. Kirby; Bill Kovach, NF ’89; Florence Ladd, BI ’72; Jennifer 8 Lee ’99; Randolph C. Lindel ’66; faculty members’ research will enjoy the new “Ask a Har- Ann Marie Lipinski, NF ’90; Scott Malkin ’80, J.D.- vard Professor” podcast. To learn more and to subscribe, M.B.A. ’83; Margaret H. Marshall, Ed.M. ’69, Ed ’77, L go to harvardmag.com/podcast. If the initial season, ’78; Lisa L. Martin, Ph.D. ’90; David McClintick ’62; Winthrop L. McCormack ’67; M. Lee Pelton, Ph.D. now under way, finds an audience (please spread the word!) ’84; John P. Reardon Jr. ’60; Harriet Ritvo ’68, Ph.D. ’75; and attracts support, we will make this effort a regular part Henry Rosovsky, JF ’57, Ph.D. ’59, LL.D. ’98; Barbara of our service on readers’—and listeners’—behalf. Rudolph ’77; Robert N. Shapiro ’72, J.D. ’78; Theda Skocpol, Ph.D. ’75; Peter A. Spiers ’76; Scott H. Stossel ~The Editors ’91; Sherry Turkle ’69, Ph.D. ’76; Robert H. Weiss ’54; Jan Ziolkowski. 2 November - December 2019 Reprinted from Harvard Magazine. For more information, contact Harvard Magazine, Inc. at 617-495-5746 THE VIEW FROM MASS HALL Allston in Focus ecently we dedicated the new ArtLab in Allston. Lo- cated on North Harvard Street between the Business School and Western Avenue, this jewel of a building is a microcosm of what I envision for Allston: a hive of Rcreativity and collaboration, where Harvard students and faculty join community members to do research, teach and learn, and—in the case of the ArtLab—create stunning art. The ArtLab is already holding classes, hosting exhibits and performances, and drawing visitors from both sides of the river. It is my hope that Allston will be a place where art, culture, en- gineering, science, and industry are part of the fabric of the com- munity. Just as Kendall Square has energized East Cambridge, we hope that the lively 24-hour neighborhood we are building in Allston will generate research, provide stellar teaching and learning oppor- tunities, and bring economic growth to the region. For many years, Allston was just an idea, a vision of the future, but that future is rapidly coming into focus. The i-Lab, the Launch Lab X, and the Pagliuca Harvard Life Lab attract countless Harvard opportunities for us to collaborate with industry and our neigh- students, faculty, and alumni each day.