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

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

Until the 1950s, professionals cleaned up after students in the dorms.

Nobel Prize recipient Joseph E. Murray dedicated much of his career to organ transplant surgery.

Most popular

An animal’s journey from grief to love shows how much humans need each other, too.

He was Harvard’s quintessential people person

The Secrets of Haiti’s Living Dead

 A Harvard botanist investigates mystic potions, voodoo rites, and the making of zombies.

Explore More From Current Issue

Label showing the anatomy of a worker bee, featuring a detailed illustration.

Science and art capture the microscopic natural world.

Singer performing on stage with a guitar, wearing a hat, and surrounded by band instruments.

Singer Elisa Smith’s whiskey-soaked voice and subversive feminism is part of the genre’s urban shift.

Colorful abstract design resembling an octopus with intricate swirls and patterns.

Growing liver implants, mapping the sense of smell, and journalism at risk