Harvard History

Stories that explore the institution’s rich history, from archival moments to evolving traditions.

Wadsworth House with green shutters and red brick chimneys, surrounded by trees and other buildings.

Wadsworth House Nears 300

The building is a microcosm of Harvard’s history—and the history of the United States.

by Primus VI

Harvard crew of 1926 rowing the icy water of the Charles River

Headlines from Harvard history

From the pages of the Harvard Alumni Bulletin and Harvard Magazine

Excerpt of a letter from John Quincy Adams

J.Q. Adams on patronage and rhetoric, and Daniel Merton Wegner on cats

J.Q. Adams on patronage and rhetoric, Daniel Merton Wegner on cats

The views of Charles William Eliot and Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (whose images follow) aided the descendants of immigrants in keeping out new immigrants, as depicted in Joseph Keppler’s 1893 political cartoon “Looking Backward,” from Puck.

Harvard's eugenics era

When academics embraced scientific racism, immigration restrictions, and the suppression of “the unfit”

by Adam S. Cohen

Henry Rosovsky: a tribute from Harvard Magazine

A tribute to Henry Rosovsky from Harvard Magazine

by John S. Rosenberg

Babar receives an honorary degree from Harvard

Headlines from Harvard history

From the pages of the Harvard Alumni Bulletin and Harvard Magazine

Portrait of Richard Henry Dana Jr. in 1842

Shaping Richard Henry Dana Jr.

How Richard  Henry Dana Jr. came to hate slavery and injustice

A grand chandelier at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre

In Sanders Theatre, a “constellation” of a chandelier

by Peter DeMarco

Headlines from Harvard history

From the pages of the Harvard Alumni Bulletin and Harvard Magazine

A long run in The Nutcracker, and the Blackout of '65

Nutcracker notes, and a memorable blackout

Brief life of Harvard astronomer William Cranch Bond, by Alan Hirshfeld

Brief life of Harvard's first astronomer: 1789-1859

by Alan Hirshfeld