Headlines from Harvard history, July-August 1930-1970

From the pages of the Harvard Alumni Bulletin and Harvard Magazine

 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

Yesterday’s News

How a book on fighting the “Devill World” survived Harvard’s historic fire.

At Harvard’s Beck-Warren House, Ghosts Speak Many Languages

The quirky 1833 home now hosts Celtic scholars.

A Forgotten Harvard Anthem

Published the year the Titanic sank, “Harvard’s Best” is a quizzical ode to the University.

Most popular

Why Men Are Falling Behind in Education, Employment, and Health

Can new approaches to education address a growing gender gap?

Martin Nowak Placed on Leave a Second Time

Further links to Jeffrey Epstein surface in newly released files

The True Cost of Grade Inflation at Harvard

How an abundance of A’s created “the most stressed-out world of all.”

Explore More From Current Issue

A diverse group of individuals standing on stage, wearing matching shirts and smiling.

How a Harvard and Lesley Group Broke Choir Singing Wide Open

Cambridge Common Voices draws on principles of universal design. 

Three climbers seated on a snowy summit, surrounded by clouds, appearing contemplative.

These Harvard Mountaineers Braved Denali’s Wall of Ice

John Graham’s Denali Diary documents a dangerous and historic climb.

A close-up of a beetle on the textured surface of a cycad cone and cycad cones seen in infrared silhouette.

Research in Brief

Cutting-edge discoveries, distilled