Yesterday's News

Headlines from Harvard history

1923

Ninety-six women with degrees from the School of Education have been listed in the new Harvard Alumni Directory. “To publish their names,” the Bulletin points out, “is simply an unavoidable recognition of their standing…it does not invite them to attend meetings of the Associated Harvard Clubs nor necessitate a ladies’ dining room in the Harvard Club of New York or Boston…there is no reason to assume the admission of women to a professional school is the ‘entering wedge’ of coeducation throughout the institution.”

1958

An informal survey of drugstores in and around Harvard Square the morning following The Game finds them entirely out of aspirin.

1963

Dean of students Robert Watson criticizes lax undergraduate attitudes toward parietal rules, insisting that Harvard “must be concerned that its students do not set an example for the relaxation of morals among youth…fornication must also be understood as an offense punishable by the University on the same grounds as thievery, cheating, and lying.”

1973

In response to the energy crisis, a new University-wide energy-conservation program lowers the temperature in all Harvard offices and student rooms from 75 degrees to 68 degrees.

1983

Forty coin-operated word processors have been loaned to Harvard in a trial; if enough students demonstrate interest, “additional word processors and possibly computer equipment will be installed on the same basis.” An hour of operation costs $2.

1988

Harvard drops its objections to the conduct of the preceding spring’s union election (the victory margin was 44 votes), clearing the way for the National Labor Relations Board to certify the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers as the collective bargaining agent for more than 3,000 support-staff members after a 13-year struggle.

1993

The Yard is wired to 2.7 million feet of fiber-optic cable, prompting the editors to note that the class of 1997 is “the first in Harvard history to be bonded electronically….Many students correspond daily by E-mail.” (The Quad and Lowell House are to be hooked up by midyear, the river Houses in the spring.)

You might also like

In Sermon, Garber Urges Harvard Community to ‘Defend and Protect’ Institutions

Harvard’s president uses traditional Memorial Church address to encourage divergent views.

Highlights from Harvard’s Past

The Medical School goes coed, University poet wins Nobel Prize. 

Free Speech, the Bomb—and Donald Trump

A Harvard cardiologist on the unlikely alliances that shaped a global movement to prevent nuclear war

Most popular

Is the Constitution Broken?

Harvard legal scholars debate the state of our founding national document.

Two Years of Doxxing at Harvard

What happens when students are publicly named and shamed for their views?

How MAGA Went Mainstream at Harvard

Trump, TikTok, and the pandemic are reshaping Gen Z politics.

Explore More From Current Issue

Illustration of college students running under a large red "MAGA" hat while others look on with some skeptisim.

How MAGA Went Mainstream at Harvard

Trump, TikTok, and the pandemic are reshaping Gen Z politics.

Man splashing water on his face at outdoor fountain beside woman holding cup near stone building.

Why Heat Waves Make You Miserable

Scientists are studying how much heat and humidity the human body can take.

Johnston Gate

Your Views on Harvard’s Standoff, Antisemitism, and More

Readers comment on the controversial July-August cover, authoritarianism, and scientific research.