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Yesterday's News
From the pages of the Harvard Alumni Bulletin and Harvard
Magazine
1916 The military preparedness movement engulfs Harvard, as hundreds of
students participate in various training regimens.
1926 A $10,000 grant from the Studebaker Corporation allows Harvard to establish
the Albert Russell Erskine Bureau for Street Traffic Research, headquartered
on the top floor of Widener Library.
1931 Adams, Eliot, Kirkland, Leverett, and Winthrop Houses open their doors
to upperclassmen as the House plan goes into full operation. For the first
time in the College's history, all of the dormitories in Harvard Yard will
be occupied by freshmen.
1936 Harvard concludes its Tercentenary celebration with a week of festivities;
highlights include an address by President Franklin D. Roosevelt '04. In
the midst of the Depression, enrollment in the economics department has
increased substantially. A political poll in the Crimson reveals student
support for Republican presidential candidate Alfred P. Landon exceeding
support for Roosevelt by a slim margin.
1941 On the eve of America's entrance into World War II, enrollment is down
10 percent. An opinion poll of undergraduates conducted by the Bulletin
finds that 56 percent of students believe they should be exempted from military
service until graduation.
1946 A record 11,700 students are enrolled in the University, 75 percent
of whom are veterans.
1951 Three Harvard professors are named by a colleague as Communist sympathizers
in testimony before the Senate Internal Security subcommittee.
1956 A fire severely damages the tower and roof of Memorial Hall during
renovations.
1966 Radcliffe freshmen register alongside their Harvard counterparts for
the first time. Holyoke Center is completed, and planning is under way for
several new buildings, including the Science Center and a tenth undergraduate
House, later to be named Mather. Students object to the computation of class
rankings, which are to be made available to draft boards. Harvard's School
of Public Administration is renamed the John F. Kennedy School of Government.
1971 Derek Bok is installed as Harvard's twenty-fifth president, as Radcliffe
searches for a successor to President Mary Ingraham Bunting. The Bulletin
reports that the class of 1946, in its reunion survey, has named pollution
the most serious problem facing the country.
1976 The Harvard-Radcliffe class of 1980 is admitted under a gender-blind
admissions process, resulting in the lowest male:female ratio to date-1.9:1.