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.

February-March 1957 — To mark the 150th anniversary of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s birth, Houghton Library mounts an exhibition of Longfellow manuscripts and first editions.

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.

Ca. February 1960 — The Biology Department announces a $1 million renovation and retooling of the Biological Laboratories, built in 1931. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences will provide up to $500,000 over the next two academic years, with the balance expected from federal agencies and private foundations.