This month in Harvard history

Feb. 5, 1954 – At the winter meeting of the Massachusetts Bar Association in Springfield, Law School Dean Erwin Griswold discusses the soundness and landmark significance of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which has lately gained much attention during congressional investigations of domestic Communist activity. The talk is broadcast over New England commercial radio stations and rebroadcast over WGBH-FM.

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.

February 1963 – Randall Hall (1899), home of the University Printing Office since 1916, falls to the wrecker’s ball to make way for William James Hall.

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