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."

Harvard College Master of Arts diploma of Samuel Mather, 1701 July 3

This diploma was awarded to Samuel Mather on July 3, 1701, when he received an A.M. from Harvard College. It is signed by Increase Mather (then-President of Harvard), Samuel Willard, Henry Flynt, Jabez Fitch, and Nathaniel Saltonstall.

Letters from William Tudor to Thomas Handasyd Perkins,

Four letters on topics including the capture of an American ship, the General Carrington, at Callao, Peru, and the loss and damage incurred; the movements of Simón Bolívar and the state of the conflicts with Spain; the impact of the war on trade, with details on prices and speculation in goods like foodstuffs and domestic quicksilver; and the "deteriorating" condition of American merchant seamen.

Letters from William Tudor to Thomas Handasyd Perkins,

Four letters on topics including the political upheaval in South America and movements of the respective combatants, and the prices of foodstuffs and the effects of the war on commerce in the region. Tudor also addresses his efforts to become involved in mining silver in Peru.

[Letter from Andrew Eliot to "My Dear Sir," 14 September 1774]

Two-page letter to an unknown recipient discussing the effects of the Revolutionary War on Boston ("at present it's situation is melancholy"). The letter acknowledges the work of the Continental Congress and that its decisions "will be Law to America," and thanks the "munificence of our Friends in the Southern Colonies." In local news, Eliot mentions that Dr. Samuel Langdon will likely be appointed Harvard's next President, and notes the death of Thomas Hollis, a Harvard benefactor.

Letter from Benjamin Colman to Edward Wigglesworth about John Leverett, 1728 March 4

Benjamin Colman wrote this letter to Edward Wigglesworth on March 4, 1728; it was sent from Colman, in Boston, to Wigglesworth, in Cambridge. The letter concerns their mutual friend, John Leverett, who had died several years before. It appears that Wigglesworth was charged with writing an epitaph for Leverett and had solicited input from Colman. Colman writes of his great admiration for Leverett, praising his "virtue & piety, wisdom & gravity [...] majesty & authority [...] eye & voice, goodness & courtesie."

Anti-war protest at I.T.T. building on Park Avenue

General note: Title and date provided by Bettye Lane.

Anti-war demonstrators sit in street in front of ITT on Park Avenue

General note: Title and date provided by Bettye Lane.