Copley Square: History Through Architecture

Copley Square is one of Boston’s most architecturally significant and instantly recognizable public locations. This urban square is home to Trinity Church, the Boston Public Library, Old South Church and the Hancock Tower, among other important landmarks. The square defines the city, as well as the evolution of American architecture and urban design, from colony toward the sophistication of global European squares, moving creatively from Beaux-Arts style to International Style and Modernism. Architectural historian Leslie Humm Cormier, PhD, explores this contemporary place from its origins as an estuary to its vital significance as a stylistic link between old-world style and new-world design.