Draft of law related to the settling of chambers after Commencement, 1742

One-page handwritten draft of a law created by the president and tutors requiring juniors to inform the Faculty of their intent to stay in dormitory rooms following Commencement. The document is undated and unsigned, but appears to be in the hand of President Edward Holyoke, and has a note in shorthand in the left margin. The text is included in College Book IV and was presented at a meeting of the Harvard Corporation on September 6, 1742.

Letter from David Phips to Colonel Jonathan Snelling regarding escort of Governor Hutchinson to Harvard Commencement, 1773 July 12

David Phips wrote this letter to Colonel Jonathan Snelling from Cambridge on July 12, 1773, to inform him that Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson had requested the accompaniment of guards during his travels from Milton to Cambridge on July 21, 1773, to attend the Harvard College Commencement exercises. In the letter, Phips informs Snelling that he has issued warrants to the guards, instructing them to congregate at the Sign of the Grey Hound in Roxbury, Massachusetts at eight o'clock on the morning of the 21st. He explains that twelve other men will march, under the command of Sub-Brigadier Sumner, to the Governor's home in Milton to escort him to Roxbury, where the larger party will assemble. These heightened security measures were certainly prompted by political unrest, although this is not stated explicitly in the letter. Phips concludes by saying: "I shall order a dinner for us at Bradish's, where I hope to have the pleasure to dine with you."

The report of the committee about Harvard Coledge: presented to the Generall Court held the 3 of (3) month, 1654

Two folio-sized leaves with a handwritten draft of the May 3, 1654 report of a General Court Committee authorized to investigate the financial state of Harvard College. The report responds directly to eight questions raised in the September 10, 1653 Order of the General Court that established the Committee. The report provides summaries of Harvard's income sources and disbursements, offers recommendations regarding the President's salary and the allowances for the academic Fellows, steward, butler, and cook, and indicates specific contributions from local towns.

Letter from Samuel Willard, Deerfield, Massachusetts, to Susanna Willard, Belchertown, Massachusetts, November 10, 1813

Willard discusses an issue regarding ordination procedures with the council at Greenfield: “I did not think it my duty to quit the ground, but defended my rights & told them with the utmost plainness, tho’ without anger, what I tho’t of their measures.”