Yesterday’s News

Headlines from Harvard’s history

Mark Steele illustration of Lowell House’s bells being rung for the first time by a giant hand stretching from a cloud to swing the detached belfry.

Illustration by Mark Steele

1911

The Corporation proposes that needy boys entering the College from Cambridge high schools be exempted from paying tuition during their first year, and that summer-school fees be substantially reduced for Cambridge public-school teachers.

1926

In response to grumbles from alumni that the modern Harvard student is “too self-conscious to enjoy tomfoolery, too sophisticated to do anything that isn’t done,” the Bulletin shares a string of recent undergraduate antics, including a student who ate 45 eggs in 43 minutes.

1931

The Russian bells at Lowell House are rung for the first time, on Easter.

1936

Musing that much Harvard news turns up in daily newspapers, a Bulletin editorialist examines a Boston paper on an average winter day and finds “the ‘Harvard angle’ ” covered 13 times. Items include a Cambridge city councilor’s suggestion that the University make the city a tercentenary gift of $300,000—“on the grounds that ‘Harvard receives many benefits from the city and gives little in return’ ”—and the alleged infestation of the Yard by bookies who tempt students to “Back Ponies Freely.”

1941

In an effort to “ease the costs” of a Harvard education, the University has reduced room rates in the Houses, is applying to the National Youth Administration for funds for a student work-program, and has set up two committees to explore the possibilities of instituting a self-service system in House dining halls to cut board rates.

1966

To protest new Radcliffe policies that require most women to live on campus, a junior runs a prank classified in the Crimson: “One-year marriage? Seems to be the only way for a Cliffie to get out of the dorm.” Many men, taking her seriously, flood the Crimson with letters.

1991

More than 1,200 people attend a day-long symposium on the medical significance of meditation practices co-sponsored by the Mind/Body Institute of New England Deaconess Hospital and Harvard. The Dalai Lama delivers the keynote address.

2011

President Drew Faust and U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus Jr., J.D. ’75, sign an agreement clearing the way for the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps to return to Harvard once the congressional repeal (enacted three months earlier) of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” takes effect.

You might also like

Tips of the Hat(s)

On regalia, a Jack-of-all-trades retirement, and a Bok’s office bon mot.

An Original Magna Carta, Hidden in Plain Sight

A rare original surfaces at Harvard at an “almost providential” moment. 

We Were Students Once...

Young love: the poem, plus enduring lessons from a public-health pioneer

Most popular

The Professor Who Quantified Democracy

Erica Chenoweth’s data shows how—and when—authoritarians fall.

Remembering Tom Lehrer

The mathematician and satirist kept Harvard in his thoughts—and lyrics

Harvard Layoffs Continue, with More to Come

In the wake of federal government actions, several Harvard schools and institutes are cutting costs.

Explore More From Current Issue

Four 2025 Centennial Medal recipients standing outdoors in a row, smiling, with greenery and a brick building behind them.

Four alumni of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences are honored.

David Leo Rice

David Leo Rice explores the strange, unseen forces shaping our world.

Illustration of Donald Trump and Alan Garber wearing boxing gloves, facing off beneath the quote: “The stakes are so high that we have no choice.”

Introducing a guide to the issues, players, and stakes.