The oldest alumni

Rose Downes Arnold ’36 and George Barner ’29 led the alumni procession.

The oldest graduates of Harvard and Radcliffe present on Commencement day were Rose Downes Arnold ’36, 90, of Arlington, Massachusetts, and George Barner ’29, Ed. ’32, L ’33, 101, of Kennebunk, Maine. Both were recognized at the afternoon ceremony by HAA president Teresita Alvarez-Bjelland ’76, M.B.A. ’79. Arnold was accompanied by her brother, J. Edward Downes ’35, of Weston, Massachusetts. In chatting about the days when they and their two siblings, Thomas Downes ’34 and Philip Downes ’40, now deceased, attended Radcliffe and Harvard, they recalled that tuition was $400 per year. Even so, they reported, a fair number of their classmates had to drop out because of financial hardships during the Great Depression. “It was terrible,” Edward Downes noted. “There was no help at all with tuition--or anything.” A generation earlier, their mother had been accepted at Radcliffe, but chose to attend Boston University instead because it was $25 cheaper than Radcliffe’s annual tuition of $150. “Her family just did not have the extra $25,” Rose Arnold reported. “That’s what times were like.”

According to University records, the oldest alumni include: M. Louise Macnair ’25, 107, of Cambridge; Halford J. Pope ’25, M.B.A. ’27, 106, of Hilton Head, South Carolina; Rose Depoyan ’26, 104, of Brockton, Massachusetts; Edith M. Van Saun ’29, 103, of Sykesville, Maryland; Priscilla Bartol Grace ’58, 103, of Woods Hole, Massachusetts; George H. O’Sullivan ’30, 102, of Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts; J. Mack Swigert ’30, 102, of Cincinnati; Ruth Leavitt Fergenson ’28, 102, of Rockville, Maryland; Mary Horgan Spicer ’30, 102, of Grafton, Massachusetts; and Dorothy P. Collins ’30, 102, of Hyde Park, Massachusetts. 

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

How MAGA Went Mainstream at Harvard

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

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?

Explore More From Current Issue

James Muller in white lab coat leaning on railing in hospital hallway.

Free Speech, the Bomb—and Donald Trump

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

Renaissance portrait of young man thought to be Christoper Marlowe with light beard, wearing ornate black coat with gold buttons and red patterns.

Shakespeare’s Greatest Rival

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

David McCord in suit reading a book at cluttered wooden desk in office filled with framed art and shelves.

The Pump Celebrates Its 85th Birthday

Giving Harvard traditions their due