Headlines from Harvard history

Headlines from Harvard history

1914

A $50,000 budget deficit (due partly to construction expenses) for the 1913-14 fiscal year prompts a proposal to raise College tuition from $150 to $200, the first increase since 1870.

 

1924

The editors note that although a violent reaction against the lecture system is occurring nationwide, Harvard intends to retain the tried and true teaching method. The editors suggest that “the best method of instruction is neither lecture system nor the discussion method, but a combination of the two.”

 

1934

The Harvard Psychological Laboratory announces, after a pioneer investigation of the field, that radio has a somewhat dulling effect on the higher mental processes of its listeners.

 

1939

The Student Employment Office has added baby-tending to its regular list of jobs. Those undergraduates who wish to sign up must first pass a course in essential techniques, offered by the superintendent of Stillman Infirmary, and will then earn 20 cents an hour, plus carfare.

 

1964

Radcliffe students may now go from Lamont Library’s rear entrance to the classrooms on the sixth floor but not into the rest of the building.

 

1969

Harvard deans agree it would be wrong to speak for their schools on public issues, yet some demand the right to act as individuals and protest the war in Vietnam. Dean of the Medical School Robert H. Ebert is one of 600 medical men involved in a streetcorner campaign of talking to passers-by about the war and handing out cards of protest to be signed and sent to President Nixon.

 

1974

Associate professor of the history of science Barbara Gutmann Rosenkrantz ’44 becomes the first woman appointed master of a House—Currier. Her husband is named co-master.

 

1989

The University plans to begin a trademark licensing program, controlling the use of the Harvard name on “insignia goods,” such as clothing, mugs, glasses, watches, and pens. Royalties from the program will be directed to a fund for student aid.

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.

Free Speech, the Bomb—and Donald Trump

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

Snapshots of Harvard History | Summer 2025

Including profundity and pretzels

Most popular

How MAGA Went Mainstream at Harvard

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

Harvard art historian Jennifer Roberts teaches the value of immersive attention

Teaching students the value of deceleration and immersive attention

Shakespeare’s Greatest Rival

Without Christopher Marlowe, there might not have been a Bard.

Explore More From Current Issue

Johnston Gate

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

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

Illustration of scientists injecting large syringe with mitochondria into human heart.

Do Mitochondria Hold the Power to Heal?

From Alzheimer’s to cancer, this tiny organelle might expand treatment options. 

Man in gray sweater standing in hallway with colorful abstract art on wall.

How Do Single-Celled Organisms Learn and Remember?

A Harvard neuroscientist’s quest to model memory