Part of the reason I’ve been so immersed in the Cohen House Papers recently is that one of my colleagues has been working on an exhibit about George Cohen. I’ve also been struggling, though, to figure out the answer to one of those nasty little puzzles that present themselves from time to time.

This one has to do with something in this photo–the rectangular area delineated in the lawn by the square tiles:

When did they arrive and when did they disappear? There’s note on the back side of this picture that suggests it was installed in 1928 but I can’t find anything to confirm that. This can be a maddening business—every image I’ve found so far is either unclear, undated or has the lawn just barely out of sight.

However, all this digging has turned up quite a few other interesting things, notably a rose garden off to the side of the faculty club. It’s encircled by a thick and carefully trimmed hedge, rather a curious design choice although definitely a striking one. Here it is, intriguingly, with the already established hedge but new rose plantings:

And here’s a nice view of it at a later date:

I looked at it a half dozen times before I noticed the woman.

Bonus: This left me puzzled for a couple of moments too.