Headlines from Harvard’s history

Headlines from Harvard’s history

Illustration of Cambridge in deep snow, not cleaned up

Illustration by Mark Steele

1913

The Alumni Bulletin welcomes news of the founding of the Harvard University Press as an “eminently appropriate [way to] powerfully advance the general cause of learning.”

1918

To save coal for the war effort, the University closes various buildings on selected days and cuts off heat to student dormitories after 9 p.m.

1923

President Lowell’s refusal to let the son of a black alumnus live in the freshmen dormitories, as other freshmen are compelled to, creates a furor in the letters section of the Alumni Bulletin and in the public press.

1928

The Board of Overseers approves the creation of President Lowell’s long-cherished project, the Society of Fellows.

1938

After 40 and 13 years, respectively, on the research staff of the Harvard Observatory, astronomers Annie Jump Canon and Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin receive Corporation appointments.

1943

The presidents of Harvard, Princeton, and Yale issue a joint statement agreeing to forgo “athletics as usual” for the duration of the war.

1953

An admissions office pamphlet gives the estimated cost of a year at the College as $1,800, including tuition, room, board, fees, and personal expenses.

 In Boston when it snows at night,/ They clean it up by candle-light./ In Cambridge, quite the other way—/ It snows and there they leave it lay.

1963

The Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, the first North American structure by Le Corbusier, opens its doors.

2008

The magazine reported on the prior December 1 ceremony at which Senator Edward M. Kennedy ’54, in treatment for brain cancer, received an honorary LL.D. ’08—attended by, among others, Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden.

2013

The Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching has underwritten digital technology, including a “video-capture studio” in Widener Library, to promote faculty experimentation with online teaching and the novel use of visual materials in classrooms.

Related topics

You might also like

250 Years Ago, Harvard Was Home to a Revolution

A look at the sights, sounds, and characters that put the University on the frontlines of history

The Costly Choice Native Americans Faced

How the Revolution reshaped indigenous New England

When the Revolution Hit Cambridge, Harvard Moved to Concord

College students broke hearts and windows during their year in exile.

Most popular

Harvard Graduate Student Workers Strike

Union demands higher pay, protections for non-citizen members, and changes to the harassment complaint process.

At Harvard Talk, Retired Supreme Court Justice Breyer Defends Shadow Docket

The current law professor also spoke about affirmative action, partisanship, and the limits of “bright-line rules.”

Harvard Alumni Honored for University Service

The 2026 Harvard Medal recipients will be honored on June 5.

Explore More From Current Issue

Alene Anello smiling surrounded by four chickens in a natural outdoor setting.

Harvard-trained Lawyer Fights for the Rights of Chickens

Alene Anello wants to apply animal cruelty laws to birds raised for meat.

Four stylized magnifying glasses arranged in a gradient background with abstract patterns.

AI Hunts For Stolen Harvard Coins

A museum curator and a computer scientist track down ancient coins taken in a legendary heist.

Woman in historical dress standing in front of green foliage, smiling brightly.

This Harvard Graduate Brings Women of the Revolution to Life

Historical reenactor Lauren Shear reveals tricks of the trade for playing Tory loyalists, Revolutionary poets, and more.