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This month in Harvard history
- June 19, 1858 – At the Boston City Regatta, crimson finds its first use as a Harvard color when members of a Harvard boat club seek to distinguish themselves among the many entrants. At a store, Charles William Eliot (then a tutor, later President) and club captain B. W. Crowninshield pick six crimson China-silk handkerchiefs to tie around their heads (University Archives holds several of the originals). The team beats 6 others from Boston, New York, and St. John in a 3-mile race. On July 5, they beat 7 boats in a 6-miler. Crimson becomes Harvard’s rowing color and spreads to other teams. The Harvard Corporation officially adopts it in 1910.
- June 1907 – Future dramatist Edward B. Sheldon, Class of 1908, takes the first history and literature examinations. Also given for the first time are examinations for the undergraduate degree, “with Distinction,” in history, economics, and political science.
- June 1913 – Having proved itself during a five-year experimental period, the Business School emerges from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences to become an independent graduate school.
- June 21, 1927 – The Fogg Museum formally opens its new quarters on Quincy St. A large-scale special-loan exhibition features the College’s early silver collection, Maya art from the Peabody Museum, illuminated manuscripts, paintings, drawings, tapestries, furniture, ivories, enamels, and other objects.
- June 1940 – The Radcliffe Board of Trustees authorizes the use of Radcliffe dormitories for temporarily housing European refugee children.
– From the Harvard Historical Calendar, a database compiled by Marvin Hightower
