Headlines from Harvard’s history

Cooking for the culinarily challenged…and other headlines from Harvard’s history

Illustration by Mark Steele

1919

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences, “a pioneer without being precipitate,” votes to establish general examinations for the A.B. in all departments, consonant with President Lowell’s view that no mere aggregation of credits merits a degree unless the student can also prove that he knows “some one thing well.”

1929

The Student Council reports “a real and urgent need of advice” for undergraduates choosing vocations and urges establishment of an office to provide it.

1934

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration announces a special fund to help needy students finish the academic year, but Harvard College says it has money enough for its own students and will not apply for an allotment.

1959

Harvard and MIT establish a Joint Center for Urban Studies to search out the basic facts in the tangled problems of big-city growth.

1964

From President Pusey to undergraduates, Harvardians rally against a Metropolitan District Commission plan to build a 400-foot underpass at the junction of Memorial Drive and Boylston [now Kennedy] Street, near the Larz Anderson Bridge.

1999

On the same day a large student rally against sweatshop labor in clothing manufacturing occurs in the Yard, Harvard endorses a policy of “full disclosure” obligating manufacturers of licensed apparel to reveal the location of their factories.

Harvard Dining Services’ executive chef, Michael Miller, has developed a five-session, $25 course, “Cooking for the Culinarily Challenged,” to help students survive once they leave the Yard.

2004

The University launches the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, engaging seven of its schools and six affiliated hospitals in both research and clinical efforts focused on using stem cells to correct organ failure.

On April 1, for the first time in Harvard history, more women (1,016) than men (1,013) are offered admission to the College.

Related topics

You might also like

Wadsworth House Nears 300

The building is a microcosm of Harvard’s history—and the history of the United States.

Highlights from Harvard’s Past

The rise of Cambridge cyclists, a lettuce boycott, and Julia Child’s cookbooks

In Sermon, Garber Urges Harvard Community to ‘Defend and Protect’ Institutions

Harvard’s president uses traditional Memorial Church address to encourage divergent views.

Most popular

Five Questions with Michèle Duguay

Harvard scholar of music theory on how streaming services have changed the experience of music.

What Trump Means for John Roberts’s Legacy

Executive power is on the docket at the Supreme Court.

Explore More From Current Issue

Map showing Uralic populations in Eurasia, highlighting regional distribution and historical sites.

The Origins of Europe’s Most Mysterious Languages

A small group of Siberian hunter-gatherers changed the way millions of Europeans speak today.

A man in a gray suit sits confidently in a vintage armchair, holding a glass.

The Life of a Harvard Spy

Richard Skeffington Welch’s illustrious—and clandestine—career in the CIA