Headlines from Harvard history, July-August 1930-1970

From the pages of the Harvard Alumni Bulletin and Harvard Magazine

Illustration by Mark Steele

Illustration by Mark Steele

 1930

The Peabody Museum has sponsored two summer expeditions: the first will make a thorough archaeological survey of a large portion of Utah; the second will continue archaeological explorations in Czechoslovakia and the Balkans.

 

 1930

Dunster and Lowell, the first two Houses to be built with funds provided by Edward Harkness, are under construction, as are new biology and physics labs, a faculty club, and Dillon Field House.

 

 1935 

Two Alumni Association representatives travel to the Wedgwood Potteries in England to oversee the final stage in the production of commemorative Harvard Tercentenary chinaware.

 

 1935 

Massachusetts governor James Michael Curley, addressing the Alumni Association on Commencement Day afternoon, stresses the obligation of universities to solve pressing economic problems; their failure to answer the question of work and wages, he declares, “constitute[s] an indictment of our edu­ca­tion­­al system.” 

 

 1945

World War II ends on August 14 with more than 2,800 undergraduates on leave of absence for war service and only 400 attending a special summer session in Cambridge. 


 1950 

The “nation’s oldest summer school” proudly reports a first: students in attendance from all 48 states and the District of Columbia, as well as representatives of 46 foreign countries, from Austria to Venezuela.

 

 1960 

Three cooperative houses, “the first units of contemporary design to be built at Radcliffe,” are under construction, thanks in large part to a gift from Susan Morse Hilles.

 

 1970

The University switches to a Centrex telephone system, installed during a two-year period at a cost of $10.5 million, that allows incoming and outgoing calls to be dialed direct.

 *     *     *   

Five hardy and hearty members of the College class of 1900—the “Naughty-naughts”—celebrate the first seventieth reunion.

Related topics

You might also like

Derek Bok donated his car for a good cause.

In 1954, Gregory Corso moved into Eliot House. How he stayed there is a literary legend.

A theatrical reenactment explores a 1976 clash between science and democracy.

Most popular

All That’s Unseen charts the Harvard graduate’s uneasy journey from Appalachia to Cambridge and back.  

After a final round of layoffs, University leaders say 165 staff jobs were eliminated across the division.

Harvard Weathers a Year of Turmoil

The federal government has launched unprecedented actions against the University. Here’s a guide.

Explore More From Current Issue

University Hall with steps and the John Harvard statue, surrounded by trees and a grassy lawn.

Long-discussed reorganization includes layoffs and the end of the Dudley Community.

A football player in a white jersey evades a defender in a green uniform on the field.

Despite personnel losses, Crimson captain Xaviah Bascon is upbeat about the 2026 season.

Smiling woman stands beside a large skull in a display cabinet.

From competing in youth gymnastics to studying tetrapods, the Harvard curator has always chased her curiosity.