Yesterday's News

1922 Harvard Athletic Association members Fred W. Moore '93 and Frank S. Knapp purchase the capital stock of Leavitt & Peirce Inc., the...

Illustration by Mark Steele

1922

Harvard Athletic Association members Fred W. Moore '93 and Frank S. Knapp purchase the capital stock of Leavitt & Peirce Inc., the Cambridge smoke shop and pool and billiard parlor which for 39 years has been "the unofficial 'headquarters for Harvard men.'" The store will continue to allow football and baseball players free use of the pool tables during their respective seasonsand freshmen still won't be allowed to play billiards, by order of the upperclass clientele.


1952

Summer-school enrollment at Harvard and other universities slumps 20 to 30 percent, in part, suggests the Alumni Bulletin, because the Selective Service has ruled that nine months of schooling a year will maintain a student’s status for deferment purposes.


1957

The first joint commissioning ceremony of Harvard navy, army, and air force ROTC units occurs in Sever Quadrangle.


1962

The Bulletin reprints an excerpt from a letter in the recent Yale Alumni Magazine criticizing that university for honoring John F. Kennedy ’40: “My Yale degree can no longer call forth my full pride, now that a similar honor is held, unearned, by a pathetic product of Harvard who regards individual human freedoms in this nation as mere hindrances to his determined experiments toward a planned socialist state.”


1967

Institute of Politics scholars studying the draft system recommend higher pay for draftees and enlistees, abolition of special deferments for students and teachers, and a lottery to determine "who should serve when not all serve."


1972

Women for the first time top the winners' lists in alumni election results. Marina von Neumann Whitman '56 joins the Board of Overseers with 23,652 votes. Muriel Sutherland Snowden '38 becomes an Alumni Association director with 24,034 votes, the most ever cast for a nominee in either race.


1997

In accordance with Harvard's nondiscrimination policy, the University's Board of Ministry recommends that same-sex blessing or commitment ceremonies be permitted in Memorial Church.

Most popular

Harvard’s Class of 2029 Reflects Shifts in Racial Makeup After Affirmative Action Ends

International students continue to enroll amid political uncertainty; mandatory SATs lead to a drop in applications.

What Trump Means for John Roberts’s Legacy

Executive power is on the docket at the Supreme Court.

Harvard’s Endowment, Donations Rise—but the University Runs a Deficit

The annual financial report signals severe challenges to come.

Explore More From Current Issue

An illustrative portrait of Justice Roberts in a black robe, resting his chin on his hand.

What Trump Means for John Roberts’s Legacy

Executive power is on the docket at the Supreme Court.

Two small cast iron pans with berry-topped desserts, dusted with powdered sugar, alongside lemon slices.

Shopping for New England-made gifts this Holiday Season

Ways to support regional artists, designers, and manufacturers 

Three book covers arranged in a row on a beige background with a red border.

Must-Read Harvard Books Winter 2025

From aphorisms to art heists to democracy’s necessary conditions