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

Derek Bok donated his car for a good cause.

In 1954, Gregory Corso moved into Eliot House. How he stayed there is a literary legend.

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

Most popular

Harvard Weathers a Year of Turmoil

The federal government has launched unprecedented actions against the University. Here’s a guide.

Lafayette’s Unexpected Gift to George Washington: Pheasants

The two birds will be on display at Harvard this summer.

All That’s Unseen charts the Harvard graduate’s uneasy journey from Appalachia to Cambridge and back.  

Explore More From Current Issue

A vase of yellow flowers on a table next to an orange and a glass.

Harvard Art Museums restores a rare glimpse of an American master.

A football player in a white jersey evades a defender in a green uniform on the field.

Despite personnel losses, Crimson captain Xaviah Bascon is upbeat about the 2026 season.

Three hands hold smartphones displaying social media profiles with likes and hearts.

Tell us about how social media impacts your daily life.