Retrospection
On Harvard Time: When Harvard Sold the Time
The year was 1839. William Cranch Bond was a clockmaker and astronomer living in Dorchester, Mass. Bond had been commissioned by the United States government under Captain Charles Wilkes to conduct measurements of longitude and “other scientific purposes” for the Navy’s Exploring Expedition of the Pacific Ocean.
Putnam Gallery Clocks
Some of the original collection of Bond chronometers, clocks, and other chronographs are on display at the Putnam Gallery.
The Proud Tradition of Toilet Scrubbing
These maids, alternatively monikered “sweeps,” “biddies,” (a diminutive for the name Bridget that became a colloquial name for a maid) and “goodies,” were considered a staple of the Harvard College experience. In late 1950, university officials anticipated that the maids would soon demand higher wages and proposed the more economical Student Porter Program.
'Ladies Armed with Clubs'
Field hockey in the United States began with Constance Applebee, an Englishwoman who taught Harvard students the game—and called them "one-legged turnips."
A Moist and Oystery Twinkle: Charles Dickens at Harvard
Charles J. H. Dickens loved three things about Boston: its literature, its oysters, and its Harvard men.
'Consumer Guide to MIT Men'
FM takes a look back at the 1977 "Consumer Guide to MIT Men," a sexually explicit ranking of male MIT students.
Norse Code
It was Harvard professor Eben Norton Horsford who commissioned all 40 feet of the tower to be built and wrote the immense plaque commemorating the Viking fort of Norumbega.
The Boys in Crimson: Boston's Police Strikebreakers
The fall semester had not yet started, but in response to Boston Police Department strike, University President A. Lawrence Lowell, Class of 1877, encouraged students to volunteer as replacement officers.
1964 Anti-Goldwater speakers
From The Harvard Crimson's October 31, 1964 issue: "A sparse but enthusiastic crowd cheered anti-Goldwater speakers yesterday."
Echoes of '64: Harvard & Barry Goldwater
Still, certain voters found both Johnson and Goldwater equally unappealing. Their complaints bear a striking similarity to negative perceptions of Hillary Clinton and her Republican opponent.
Hillary in Harvard Square
Nancy Gertner spent many nights chatting over steaming cups of tea in Hillary Rodham's small apartment in Watertown, Mass., in 1973.
1964 Crowd
From The Harvard Crimson's October 7, 1964 issue: "An emotion-charged crowd awaited President Johnson at the Burlington, Vermont airport. The youthful group changed 'Hey, hey, what o you say; All the way with LBJ,' as if at a football rally, while the President shook hands along the fence".
Retrospection: The UC's First Steps
“We, the undergraduates of Harvard College, are an important part of the University community, and are therefore entitled to an active role in deciding its policies and priorities,” it begins.
1964 President Johnson
A series of photographs of President Johnson published in The Crimson's October 7, 1964 issue.
1964 headline
A headline from The Crimson's October 30, 1964 issue: "HYRC Backs Goldwater After Raucous Meeting."