This month in Harvard history

June 5, 2003 1 min read

June 1890 – Thirty-one-year-old Clement Garnett Morgan, Class of 1890, makes national headlines as the first black person chosen to deliver a Harvard senior class oration. Three years later, Morgan earns his LL.B. and becomes the first black person with degrees from the College and the Law School.
June 12, 1968 – During Harvard College Class Day Exercises (forced into Sanders Theatre because of rain), FAS Dean Franklin L. Ford speaks to seniors about student unrest on campuses nationwide.The principal speaker is Coretta Scott King, widow of recently slain civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (whom the Senior Class Committee had originally invited). This Class Day is the first for which the senior class independently invites its own speaker.
June 1970 – Five members of the Class of 1900-Frank W. Buxton, Philip Putnam Chase, Arthur Drinkwater, William Paine Everts, and George Harris Wilder – return for the first 70th Reunion in Harvard history.
June 15, 1971 – In the Memorial Church, President Nathan Marsh Pusey delivers his final Baccalaureate Address. The occasion also marks the first joint Baccalaureate for Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges.
– From the Harvard Historical Calendar, a database compiled by Marvin Hightower

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