An Alfred Lord Tennyson quote, “The City Is Built to Music — Therefore Built Forever,” is carved in stone over the door to the amphitheater.
Title: “Greek Amphitheatre” (1928)
Artist: Walter Ratcliff Jr. (1881-1973)
Materials: Concrete
Size: 500 seats
Location: Oakland campus, behind Littlefield Concert Hall
About: Settled into a hillside behind the Music Building, the Greek Amphitheatre is an austere, impressive outdoor performance and gathering space.
Designed by architect Walter Ratcliff Jr. — who designed the Music Building and many other structures on Northeastern’s Oakland campus — the amphitheater was completed in 1928.
Directly behind the Music Building’s Littlefield Concert Hall, the amphitheater features a sunken stage with a central door leading into the concert hall. Carved in stone over the door is the Alfred Lord Tennyson quote, “The City Is Built to Music — Therefore Built Forever.”
In 1920, the photographer Imogen Cunningham moved into a home near the old Mills Campus with her husband, Roi Partridge, who had taken a teaching position at the college. Cunningham took many photographs of Mills College students, dance performances and campus architecture, including several of the Greek Amphitheatre.