The Harvard Crimson

The Harvard Crimson

During the '70-'71 academic year today's Harvard was beginning to emerge. Harvard broke ground on the Science Center, ROTC left campus, pets were banned in student dorms, and jocks mourned the loss of the physical training requirement. American college students were in the spotlight more than ever following the Kent State shootings and ratification of the 26th amendment, which extended voting rights to all 18-year-old citizens. Amidst the growing youth power movement, there was also worry that, among other concerns, motorcycles were driving young men crazy.

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The Harvard Crimson

Although George A. Miller, professor of psychology, might have been misguided in his claim that computers don't threaten to dominate society, plenty of changes were occurring during the '61-'62 school year.

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The Harvard Crimson

In the 1930-1931 school year, America was sinking deeper and deeper into a depression that would become the greatest in the country's history.

But from reading issues of The Crimson from that year, you might not be able to figure that out.

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The Harvard Crimson

Two artillery guns flanked the Widener Library steps, "in order that visitors of the College, new students and men contemplating the ROTC course" might gain some experience of Harvard's military department. It was September 25, 1920—less than two years after the end of World War I—and the military remained very much a part of the Harvard experience.

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The Harvard Crimson

A peek inside the bound volumes of The Crimson shows how a picture of life at Harvard in 1910 very different from the Harvard experience one hundred years later. Rising seniors, for example, applied for housing in Holworthy, Hollis, and Thayer for their final year at Harvard — and shortly afterwards, everyone's rooming assignments were posted on the front page of The Crimson. 

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The Harvard Crimson

As reunion week approaches at the College, thousands of alumni from dozens of different classes will flock to the Harvard campus. But it's a safe bet to say that no one will be around from the class of 1901.

Even without these would-be 130-year-old alumni, The Crimson archives are still here to offer us a brief window into the world of Harvard 110 years ago—the news, the coverage, and the quirks.

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Crimson file photo

Throughout the past week, we've been pulling snippets from The Crimson archives to commemorate the coming class reunions. This is the last installment of the series.

This year marks the 25th reunion of the class of 1985, a class that not only witnessed the original rise of side ponytails and leggings, but also contended with a newly raised drinking age, the possibility of censorship of the CUE guide, and the daunting challenges brought on by the new computing era.

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