Conferences, 1821-1825

A handwritten list of the conference subjects delivered on Commencement and Exhibition Days between 1821 and 1825.

Disputations, 1812-1825

A handwritten list of disputations delivered on Commencement and Exhibition Days between 1820 and 1825 and a two-page list of "Philosophical disputations, deliberative discussions, &c." delivered between 1812 and 1820.

Dissertations, 1811; 1823-1825

A handwritten list of the subjects of "Dissertations &c." delivered on Commencement and Exhibition Days in 1823 and 1824, and the titles of "Additional Diss. &c." delivered in 1811.

Latin orations, 1811-1825

A handwritten list of the Latin oration subjects delivered on Commencement and Exhibition Days between 1811 and 1825.

Draft of an exhibition program, [1825]

Handwritten draft of an exhibition program with the names of the student orators from the Harvard Classes of 1825 and 1826.

Diplomas from Harvard College and Yale University, 1750

The diplomas are accompanied by a silver case in which the documents were stored.

[Grants of the General Court for 1737 and 1750 to President Holyoke], undated

One folio-sized leaf containing a handwritten list of grants received by President Holyoke from the Massachusetts General Court between 1737 and 1750, presumably copied from a record book cited as "M.S. No. II," pages 26-56.

College Book 7, 1750-1778

This volume contains a fair copy of minutes from Corporation meetings held from Sept. 17, 1750 through April 23, 1778. It begins with an alphabetical index and contains entries related to a wide range of topics, including the challenges of operating the Charlestown ferry (due to the river freezing, fear of smallpox, and other issues); increases in "pecuniary mulcts" (fines) for breaches of specific College laws; the establishment of the Dudleian lecture; the selection and financial support of missionaries to various Indian tribes; honorary degrees awarded to Benjamin Franklin and George Washington; gifts to the library as it was rebuilt in the wake of the fire of 1764 (many entries provide the title and author of books donated); the management of land and property belonging to Harvard; Treasurers' reports and other financial accounts; changes in the College laws; gifts to the College, ranging from two Egyptian mummies to a solar microscope; the construction of the First Parish Meeting House in Cambridge and the use of adjacent College property by parishoners; rules of endowed professorships; salaries and appointments; closures due to the threat of smallpox; rules governing Commons and the College Library; reports of various Visiting Committees; class schedules, according to subject; student disorders; the establishment of a designated museum space to display "Curiosities"; the effects of the Revolutionary War on Harvard, including repeated requests to the General Court after the war for compensation for damage to College buildings; the cost of various foods and changes in what was served at Commons; and the danger of the chapel's roof, built of too-heavy slate, falling in. Also of interest are minutes from a May 5, 1761 meeting, which note that the General Court voted to pay for Hollis Professor John Winthrop to travel to Newfoundland to observe the transit of Venus "over the Suns disc."

XI. Harvard College Papers, 1st series, Volume 11, 1824-1825

The eleventh volume of College Papers contains original documents from 1824 to 1825, spanning the tenures of president John Thornton Kirkland and treasurer John Davis. Much of the volume consists of general administrative correspondence exchanged between Kirkland and Davis, as well as correspondence between Davis and Steward Stephen Higginson.