Exhortation read to 27 of the Sophomore class, 1797 July 1

9-page handwritten copy of an address by Eliphalet Pearson read to twenty-seven members of the sophomore class after an incident on June 27, 1797 in which "in direct violation of College law a majority of the sophomore class repaired to the house of Richard Boardman in this town; that they did then & there indulge to a free use of wine" that incited them to drunkenly parade through town and disturb the evening church services of the College.

[Address made to the class of Freshman], 1805 March 8

4-page handwritten copy of an address by Eliphalet Pearson to "my young Friends & Pupils," made to the Freshmen class on March 8, 1805 "the day, oh which Adams 2, a Senior Sophister, was interred at Londonderry." The address focuses on the "unbecoming noise" made by students going to class and mentions "this mark of inconsideration" in the context of "this day of sorrow, which commits to the tomb another of your number."

Valedictory poem delivered in the Chapel of Harvard University on the 21 June 1796: in the presence of the President Proffers & Tutors & the four classes of understudents at the request of the class who completed their college studies on that day

Handwritten draft of the Charles P. Sumner’s valedictory poem to the Harvard class of 1796, in a 19th century hardcover binding beginning “The youth by adverse fortune forced to roam…”. The poem mentions John Russell, a member of the Class of 1796 who died in November 1795. The copy includes edits and struck-out words.

[Calculation of student exercises by class, 1790]

One leaf containing unidentified handwritten calculations arranged by class, and for the senior class noting differences in quarters according to "vote" or "regulation." Presumably the calculations reflect the number of academic exercises required of each class.

Address to the students, 1791 September 17

5-page handwritten copy of an address by Eliphalet Pearson made to Harvard students Bowman, Flagg, McKean, and Shaw reprimanding them for their "abusive treatment of the Junior class." The students are likely Thomas Bowman, Samuel Aldridge Flagg, and Joseph McKean, members of the Class of 1794, and Philander Shaw, member of the Class of 1792.

Address to the Freshmen, 1796 September 30

6-page handwritten copy of an address by Eliphalet Pearson to the freshman class regarding "the misdemeanors & rudeness, of which some of you were the last friday guilty, while sitting in this room, while retiring from it, & immediately after in the College yard."

Records of the Geographical Society, ca. 1796

This small blue-covered paper notebook contains four leaves with the handwritten records of the Geographical Society, an undergraduate organization at Harvard in the late 1790s. The records consist of ten handwritten "Laws of the Geographical Society" and a short list of fines dispensed on October 7th. A list of six student surnames is written on a scrap of paper and attached with pins to the notebook's inside front cover. The surnames likely correspond to six members of the Harvard Class of 1798: John Abbot (1777-1854), Isaac Adams (d. 1807), Francis Brigham (d. November 14, 1796), Humphrey Devereux (1779-1867), Joseph Emerson (1777-1833), and Artemas Sawyer (d. 1826). The notebook is undated but was presumably kept in 1795 or 1796 around the time of Brigham's death on November 14, 1796. While Brigham's surname appears in the list of fines, it is crossed out on the inside front cover.

Manuscript copy of the book of Harvard, 1767

The pamphlet-sized manuscript includes "The Book of Harvard" signed "Joseph Cummings, scriptis, Janr 7th 1767," an untitled two-page essay beginning, "Wisdom is ye Crown of life" and ending "Draught of Knowledge, let us with a laudable ambition, strive to excel each other in an ardent pursuit of Learning, then shall we raise to ourselves a monument of honest fame, which shall perish only in ye general wreak of nature," and on the last page, "An Accrostick" beginning "Jangling & Discord are thy Souls delight" and spelling out JAMES MITCHEL VARNUM dated July 3, 1767 and signed "The 3d edition revised & improved by Gove & Fogg."

Copies of papers relating to the resignation of President Kirkland of Harvard University,

This folder contains a notebook that includes handwritten copies of Kirkland's letter of resignation addressed to the Corporation of Harvard University, March 28, 1828; an address of President Kirkland to the students, delivered in the College Chapel after morning prayers, April 1, 1828; a letter from Francis C. Gray accompanied by a vote of the Corporation, April 2, 1828; a letter from Mr. Gray and vote of the Corporation, April 4, 1828; President Kirkland's reply to Mr. Gray, April 5, 1828; the address of the senior class to the President, presented to him the morning after he took leave of the College, April 2, 1828; and an address of the immediate government to Kirkland, April 2, 1828.