This month in Harvard history

• Oct. 12, 1942 – Lt. Gen. Hsiung Shih-sei, of the Chinese Military Mission to the United States, visits Harvard with other Chinese officers and diplomats. Although the University is officially closed because of Columbus Day, he tours the Yard and examines the Glass Flowers at the Botanical Museum.

• Oct. 22, 1942 – Jan Quen, operator of a Chinese laundry in Boston’s Jamaica Plain section, personally delivers a letter, $25 (unrestricted), and six pounds of Chinese ginger (boxed and wrapped in a laundry bill) to the Massachusetts Hall office of Corporation Secretary Jerome D. Greene, Class of 1896. Hailing Jan’s gesture as “a very gratifying recognition of the usefulness of unrestricted gifts,” Greene speculates that the gift symbolizes Jan’s appreciation for Harvard’s varied activities on behalf of Chinese culture.

• Oct. 7, 1944 – The Harvard Alumni Bulletin tally of Harvard men known to have served in World War II reaches 23,400.

• Oct. 21, 1952 – Driving through Harvard Square, Republican presidential candidate Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower receives an enthusiastic welcome.

– From the Harvard Historical Calendar, a database compiled by

Marvin Hightower