This month in Harvard history

March 6, 2003 1 min read

March 27, 1828 – Corporation Fellow Nathaniel Bowditch lambastes President John Thornton Kirkland, who has in practice ignored many recent cost-saving measures that Bowditch had set in motion. To everyone’s surprise, Kirkland submits his resignation on March 28. The Corporation accepts. Students register shock and indignation over the loss of one of Harvard’s most beloved presidents, and seniors write him an eloquent farewell: “We thank you for the honors which your award has made more sweet, and we thank you for the reproof, which has been tempered with love. [. . .] We thank you, sir, for all the little, nameless, unremembered acts of your kindness and authority. [. . .]”
March 20, 1834 – Charles William Eliot, Harvard’s future 21st President, is born in Boston.
March 1852 – Eighty-five of the 88 members of the Class of 1852 decide to have daguerreotypes taken in Boston for what becomes the first Harvard class album (forerunner of today’s yearbook). – From the Harvard Historical Calendar, a database compiled by Marvin Hightower

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