Harvard History Roundup

Headlines from Harvard’s history

Illustration of Harvard fencer competing in Paris Olympics 1924

Illustration by Mark Steele

1919 

Indignant alumni write the Bulletin protesting the unsportsmanlike conduct of Harvard spectators at the annual Harvard-Yale baseball game, including an “organized attempt to rattle the Yale pitcher by means of howling voices and beating drums.” Yale won, 10-8.

1924

Burke Boyce ’22, an instructor in English and former captain of the fencing team, is a member of the U.S. squad at the Paris Olympics, but does not medal.

1944 

President James Bryant Conant offers Harvard’s Dumbarton Oaks estate in Washington, D.C., for a conference of delegates from Britain, Russia, and the United States to plan for the preservation of peace in the postwar world.

1969 

Sixteen students have been required to leave Harvard because of their actions during the occupation of University Hall on April 9-10. Twenty others have been given a suspended requirement to withdraw, while 102 more have been placed under warning.

1974 

Newsweek reports that B is the average grade in American colleges. Harvard reports that the average grade for the College as a whole is B+.

1979 

Despite a June ruling by the Supreme Court that colleges can require “reasonable physical qualifications” of their applicants, Harvard will abide by its plan to make all buildings accessible to disabled persons by 1980 by installing ramps and elevators.

2004 

Following the legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, professor of comparative religion and Indian studies Diana Eck and University chaplain Dorothy Austin, the heads of Lowell House, take their vows in Memorial Church on July 4.

2009 

As the result of “an unfortunate set of circumstances” (as described in an official statement), Fletcher University Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. is arrested by a Cambridge police officer; ensuing controversies eventually lead to a “beer summit” at the White House.

Related topics

You might also like

Harvard Releases Database of 1,613 People Enslaved by University Affiliates

Research continues to track down living descendants.

The Framer Who Refused to Sign the Constitution

Harvard’s Elbridge Gerry helped draft the U.S. Constitution, but worried it might create a new monarch.

How the American Revolution Freed a Future Abolitionist

Darby Vassall, an enslaved child freed after the Battle of Bunker Hill, dedicated his life to fighting for liberty.

Most popular

Harvard Discloses Top Earners’ Compensation

The University files its annual report for tax-exempt organizations.

Harvard Stem Cell Institute Names New Faculty Co-Director

Biology professor Lee Rubin is a leading expert on neurogenerative diseases.

AI Outperforms Doctors in Emergency Room Tasks, New Harvard Study Shows

Researchers say the technology could help physicians with triage, diagnosis.

Explore More From Current Issue

A colorful hummingbird hovering by vibrant flowers.

Discoveries

Short takes on cutting-edge research

A woman in glasses gestures while speaking to two attentive listeners at a table.

How to Cook with Wild Plants

From wild greens spanakopita to rose petal panna cotta, forager and chef Ellen Zachos makes one-of-a-kind meals.

Colorful illustrated map of Colonial Cambridge and the Harvard College campus featuring buildings of the campus, houses, Cambridge Common, and the Charles River

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