This month in Harvard history

Oct. 7, 1642 – By order of the Great and General Court, a reorganized Board of Overseers becomes a permanent part of College governance.

Oct. 7, 1915 – Librarians finish moving books into the new Widener Library. In the 14 weeks since Widener’s formal opening on Commencement Day, staff have reshelved 645,000 volumes taken from temporary storage in Randall Hall (which stood on the site of today’s William James Hall) and 13 other depositories.

October 1942 – Figures from the President’s Office show that 400 faculty (about 20 percent of the teaching staff) have left the University or are on full or part-time leave for war service. The Medical School accounts for 180 such individuals, many of them serving in overseas base hospitals from Northern Ireland to Australia.

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.

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