Headlines From Harvard History

From the pages of the Harvard Alumni Bulletin and Harvard Magazine

Babar receives an honorary degree from Harvard

Illustration by Mark Steele
With fond admiration to Jean and Laurent de Brunhoff

1916

William Stanislaus Murphy, Class of 1885, leaves all his money to establish scholarships at the College for young men with his last name.

1926

The first movie theater in Cambridge is about to open across the street from the Yard.

Harvard Crimson staffers journey to New Haven to leave copies of an issue containing an article fiercely opposed to compulsory chapel at Yale on the doorsteps of Yale Daily News recipients. Yale’s president states that “any contribution from Harvard would not in any way influence the committee in charge of the matter.”

1941

Reginald H. Phelps ’30, assistant dean in charge of records, reports that, between 1920 and 1940, the number of undergraduates making the dean’s list has risen from 19.8 to 30.7 percent, while the list of those whose connection with the University was “severed” has shrunk from 7.4 to 4.4 percent. Both 1940 figures set new records.

1956

A letter from Venezuela to the president’s office brings a reminder of the Thayer Transmittendum, a small award, started in 1848, dedicated to purchasing winter coats for deserving freshmen of little means. Of the seven recipients in the award’s 118 years, the most recent, Gilbert Slocum ’49, has sent the original parchment of the Thayer Transmittendum, plus $75 (to cover inflation since his own receipt of $50), back to the College to pay for the coat of the next recipient.

1966

The Bulletin salutes the publication of Babar Comes to America, in which the famous elephant visits Harvard, receives an honorary doctorate of letters, and hangs out at the Lampoon.

1981

“To enhance the quality of our common life,” a student-faculty committee unanimously recommends establishing a foundation to improve relations among racial and ethnic groups on campus.

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

Two Years of Doxxing at Harvard

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

A New Narrative of Civil Rights

Political philosopher Brandon Terry’s vision of racial progress

Paolo Pasco and the Art of Making Crosswords

Paolo Pasco and the art of making crosswords

Explore More From Current Issue

People sit in lawn chairs near a rustic barn at Cider Garden in New Salem on a sunny day.

Ciderdays Festival Celebrates All Things Apple

Visiting small-batch cideries and orchards in Massachusetts

Public health dean Andrea Baccarelli wearing a white collared shirt and glasses.

The School of Public Health, Facing a Financial Reckoning, Seizes the Chance to Reinvent Itself

Dean Andrea Baccarelli plans for a smaller, more impactful Chan School of 2030.

Colorful illustration of woman multitasking with laptop, baby bottle, toy, and checklist.

Motherhood and Ambition in a Pronatalist World

Gen Z is confronting the age-old question of balance—with a new twist.