Headlines from Harvard's history

Headlines from Harvard’s history

Illustration by Mark Steele

1913

In response to a petition from the Woodrow Wilson Club of Harvard, a justice of the Supreme Judicial Court rules that college students may vote in Cambridge if they make the city their domicile, even though the parents who support them live elsewhere.

1928

The Harvard Club of Boston has introduced “the most novel of winter resorts”—a tanning salon. At 50 cents a sun bath, “over 300 men visit the beach regularly” to take their ease, clad only in goggles. Beginners are allowed two or three minutes a side; the “hardened” have 10 each way, and not a minute more.  

1933

Lampoon editors sneak into the Crimson building and publish a spoof “extra” announcing the selection of “Henry E. Clarke ’04… a [nonexistent] business Messiah” as Harvard’s new president.

1958

For the first time in its history, the Harvard Fund Campaign has garnered more than a million dollars in a single year.

The Phillips Brooks House Association has officially merged with the Radcliffe Voluntary Service Organization, following the pathbreaking coeducational initiatives of the College’s United Nations Council and the Harvard Dramatic Club.

1963

On the Peace Corps’ second anniversary, the 43 College alumni serving abroad place Harvard second only to Berkeley as a source of A.B.s in the Corps.

1978

At its March and April meetings, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences discusses the proposed “Core Program,” described by its chief proponent, Dean Henry Rosovsky, as not going “back to basics—I detest that phrase—but forward to modern liberal education.”

1993

About 50 students from the newly formed Minority Coalition for Diversity make an unscheduled appearance during the College’s Junior Parents Weekend to denounce “Harvard’s failure to realize institutional diversity.” 

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.

In a sea of red brick, the Science Center and Peabody Terrace make their mark.

Most popular

The former economics concentrator brings his talent for crunching numbers to netminding.

Pritzker Hall, designed for collaboration, should be complete in 2027.

Harvard will rename the building following a $100 million gift from Stuart Zimmer ’91.

Explore More From Current Issue

Two colorful octopuses swim among vibrant coral and sea life in a lively underwater scene.

New Harvard research finds octopuses go beyond sight and touch to find mates.

Star-filled night sky with the Milky Way arching over a rocky silhouette.

There’s a growing movement to curb light pollution. It starts on your front porch.

A woman with long hair stands confidently with crossed arms next to a pickup truck.

In her memoir All That's Unseen, Emilee Hackney explores religion, friendship, and home.