This month in Harvard history

February 1950 – A capacity Sanders Theatre crowd hears Eleanor Roosevelt discuss “The World Struggle for Human Rights,” as guest of Harvard’s United Nations Council. She urges the U.S. to ratify the U.N. Covenant of Human Rights, the legal underpinning to the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights.

Ca. February 1957 – The Divinity School successfully completes a five-year, $5 million endowment drive, led by John Lord O’Brian, Class of 1896. More than 800 individuals and several foundations contributed to the effort.

Feb. 21, 1958 – Before an overflow crowd in Emerson Hall D, “Arkansas Gazette” Editor and former Nieman Fellow Harry S. Ashmore gives the first of three lectures marking the 20th anniversary of Harvard’s Nieman Fellowships for journalists. His topic – “When the Editor’s Chair is Hot” – focuses on the recent integration of Little Rock’s Central High School.

– From the Harvard Historical Calendar, a database compiled by Marvin Hightower