Harvard College Papers, 1st series

The first series of College Papers comprise eleven volumes of historical and administrative records relating to the history of the College and College affairs dating from 1651 to 1825 (as well as an 1831 document from the tenure of President Josiah Quincy). The collection chiefly consists of correspondence between College administrators (including the president, treasurer, steward, and librarian), professors, and tutors. The Papers also contain reports of committees and departments; copies of official memorials and petitions to the Harvard Corporation and Board of Overseers, as well as to the General Court of Massachusetts; copies of Harvard charters; financial records; plans of property; copies of votes by the Harvard Corporation and Board of Overseers; memoranda; bills of lading for goods shipped to the College; building estimates; and subscription papers for funds. Half of the collection dates from the tenures of president John Thornton Kirkland (1810-1828) and treasurer John Davis (1810-1827).

The Papers offer thorough documentation of many aspects of College affairs. Topics covered in the correspondence include finances; curriculum; appointments and resignations of faculty (including those who declined appointment); the establishment and duties of professorships; bequests and legacies; student discipline and disorder; construction and repairs to College buildings and houses occupied by faculty members; donations to the library; appointments to the Boylston Medical Committee and the awarding of the Boylston prizes; responsibilities of the Steward including commons and the procurement of wood, as well as routine maintenance of the College including the cleaning of student rooms and sweeping chimneys; and special events including commencement and inaugurations. Other topics of note include in the establishment of the Harvard Medical School in 1782, the Harvard Divinity School in 1816, and the Harvard Law School in 1817, as well as changes in the organization of the Board of Overseers and the Corporation.

The Papers also provide evidence of Harvard’s relationship with the immediate community and beyond. Included is documentation of the Charlestown Ferry, the West Boston Bridge, and the Cambridge and Concord Turnpike, as well as records of community members (including women) who rented or purchased land or property from the College. The relationship between Harvard and the state government is revealed through copies of official memorials and petitions to the General Court (most often requesting additional grants or aid from the Court). Correspondence from administrators at other colleges and universities throughout the United States include introductions for scholars and faculty, requests for recommendations of faculty for open positions, and notifications of student disorders. Correspondence from Harvard faculty and alumni describe travel in England, Germany, Scotland, and Sweden. Of particular note are letters from four United States presidents, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Quincy Adams, as well as politicians Henry Clay and Daniel Webster.

Throughout the volumes can be found evidence of Harvard’s support of ministry to and education of Native Americans in the correspondence of missionaries Gideon Hawley (1727-1807) and Phineas Fish (1785-1854) at Mashpee (or Marshpee), Massachusetts; Samuel Kirkland (1741-1808) at Oneida, New York; John Sergeant, Jr. (1747-1824) at Stockbridge, Massachusetts (and later New York); and Frederick Baylies (1774-1836) among the Chappaquiddick Indians on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Early missionary activities were funded by the Company for Propagation of the Gospel in New England, an English organization whose funds were administered by Harvard, and the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge. The collection chiefly documents the work of the New England organization the Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians and Others in North America, which was founded in 1787. While the correspondence primarily concerns financial topics, it includes some reports of mission and school activities, as well as some details of individual Native Americans and African Americans. The collection also includes a report from a member of the Narragansett Tribe, Council Clerk Tobias Ross, detailing the status of Native American schools on Martha’s Vineyard.

Topics tangentially reflected within the Papers include the First Great Awakening, Shay’s Rebellion, efforts in the late 1790s to determine the St. Croix river boundary between the United States and British Canada, the War of 1812, the 1819 Supreme Court case of the Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward, and General Lafayette’s attendance at Harvard’s commencement in 1824. There is little direct documentation of the American Revolution, although evidence of the effects of the Revolution, such as damages to Harvard buildings occupied by troops, the proposed occupation of Harvard buildings by General Burgoyne’s surrendered army, and the depreciation of currency, is included.