Clergy in support of gays, Left-right: Rev. C. Edward Egan Jr., Rev. Roy Birchard, Rev. Robert E. Carter S.J., Rev. Gerad Lee, O.F.M., Rev. John D. Carnwale, O.F.M.

General note: Title and date provided by Bettye Lane.

Payment order for Robert Williams on behalf of William Bradford, 1757 August 16

Handwritten order to John Sale to pay scholarship funds to Robert Williams on behalf of his nephew William Bradford (Harvard AB 1760), signed by Thomas Foxcroft, Charles Chauncey, Thomas Waite, Jonathan Williams, and Daniel Marsh.

Receipt signed by Robert Williams, 1757 December 14

Handwritten receipt signed by Robert Williams acknowledging payment by John Sale of scholarship funds.

Payment order for Robert Williams, 1758 September 25

Handwritten order to John Sale to pay scholarship funds Robert Williams, signed by Thomas Foxcroft, Charles Chauncey, Thomas Waite, Jonathan Williams, and Daniel Marsh.

Payment order for Ezra Ripley, 1801 July 13

Handwritten order to John Sale to pay scholarship funds to Ezra Ripley for use by his son Samuel Ripley (Harvard AB 1804), signed by William Emerson, David Tilden, and James Morrill.

[Letter from William Emerson to John Sale], 1819 December 3

Letter signed by William Emerson requesting John Sale pay the scholarship funds. The author of the letter is likely the son of the Reverend William Emerson, who died in 1811. William Emerson (1801-1868) received an AB from Harvard in 1818; his brother Ralph Waldo Emerson (Harvard AB 1821) received the Penn Scholarship from 1817 to 1820.

Subjects suggested by John Farrar, ca. 1820s

A handwritten letter to President John Thornton Kirkland with five suggested subjects from John Farrar, the Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy from 1807 until 1836.

Letter from Charles Lowell to Delia Tudor, May 8, 1801

In this letter to John Henry Tudor's mother, Delia Tudor, Charles Lowell (Tudor's classmate in the Harvard College class of 1800) writes of his friendship and compassion for her son, and his hope that his health concerns will be resolved.

[Salary and Treasury calculations and accounts], 1801

Three leaves with handwritten calculations and account information related to faculty salaries, the assignments on delinquents, rents, and repairs. One leaf is inscribed "R. Hallowell Feb. 28 1801" and likely refers to Robert Hallowell (later Gardiner), a member of the Harvard Class of 1801.

Commonplace book of Hector Orr, 1789-1804

Hector Orr began recording entries in this commonplace book during his first year as a student at Harvard and continued writing in the volume sporadically until 1804. The entries written while he was a student, from 1789 to 1792, include themes written on the following topics: Time, Discontent, Patriotism, Virtue, Conscience, Patience, Avarice, Compassion, Mortality, Self-knowledge, Benevolence, Morning, Anger, Profanity, Bribery, Autumn and Winter, Hermitage, Conscience and Anticipation. He also wrote detailed entries about the forensic disputations in which he and his classmates participated, explaining both the affirmative and negative positions. One of these disputations involved discussion of the Stamp Act, which was then quite recent history. Orr's entries about the disputations list the names of students involved and specify their position in the argument.

John Winthrop's proposal respecting electrical globes and jars, ca. 1758

In this proposal, John Winthrop explains the need to replace damaged "electric globes" used in the College's collection of scientific apparatus. He states that Benjamin Franklin, at the time residing in London, was willing to seek replacement globes for the College's collection. Winthrop then proceeds to assert that the College should acquire "square bottles, of a moderate size, fitted in a wooden box, like what they call case bottles for spirits" instead of the large jars included in the scientific apparatus, because those jars cracked frequently.

Letter from John Belknap to William Tudor,

One letter in which Belknap declines Tudor’s offer to partner in business speculation.

Letter from John Carter to William Tudor,

One letter regarding a bill for various sundries from Thomas Vantandeloe.

Letter from John H. Rogers & Co. to William Tudor,

One letter regarding a remittance to Thomas Dickason.