Harvard College (1780- ). Class of 2006

The early 19th century was a time of student unrest at Harvard. Perhaps in reaction to the disturbances and protest of previous classes, Faculty Records vol. IX tell that President Kirkland announced early on in the Class of 1822's college years that no students were to have any meeting for the purpose of eating or drinking in college. Although the Class of 1822 is a serene one as compared with its generation, many of the students of the Class of 1822 received public admonishments as a result of participating in the Porcellian Club. The Porcellian Club members assembled to play or listen to music, dine, drink, and socialize. Although discipline for socializing is not mentioned in the Class Book of 1822, the faculty records contain numerous mentions of students being admonished for participating in the club.

From the description of Class book, 1822-1852. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 77070851

This volume is part of a series of Harvard class albums, which may be considered the nineteenth-century counterpart to yearbooks.  Individual students compiled their own albums.

From the guide to the Class album, 1867., (Harvard University Archives)

The Class of 1848 was a typical group of Harvard men. In adherence to tradition, the class maintained contacts as alumni, which included class meetings and class suppers that coincided with Harvard's commencement activities from 1865 onward. They appointed a Class Secretary to organize and to assemble the record of their activities. The role was filled by seven men.

From the description of Class book, 1848-1899. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 77071343

Joseph Waite Merriam earned his Harvard AB 1856 and Harvard MD 1862. He died in 1900.

From the description of Class Album, Class of 1856. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 77067586

Members of the Class of 1852 fought on both sides in the Civil War and most lived to witness the rise of Harvard from a semi-rural college to a national institution. Their college years were marked by relative order and tranquility, partly effected by the abolition of the disorderly college dining commons in 1849. With eighty-eight members, the Class of 1852 was the largest graduated to date, and also the first to be photographed to mark the occasion. Although Harvard had recently begun to grant S.B. degrees, only one class member expressed his intention to become an engineer, while almost two-thirds of those graduating saw themselves as destined for the traditional fields of law, medicine, and ministry. In all, some twenty-nine class members served in the Civil War, twenty-three in the Union army and six in the Confederate.

From the description of Class book, 1852-1908. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 77071342

Scrapbook was compiled by Natacha Farley as a child. She is the daughter of Charles Judd Farley, who was a member of the Class of 1913 (attended Harvard from 1909-1911 but did not receive an AB)

From the description of Harvard College Class of 1913 25th reunion scrapbook, 1938. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 228509886

This volume is part of a series of Harvard class books, which may be considered the nineteenth-century counterpart to yearbooks in general or the published works known as Harvard Class Reports in the 20th century.  Harvard classes began compiling Class Books in about 1800 and discontinued the practice around 1900.  For the most part the class books lack photographs; however, the Class Secretary for the Class of 1828 appears to have acquired photographs of the alumni from his year ca. 1870.

From the guide to the Class book, ca. 1828-ca. 1870?, (Harvard University Archives)

Ashtrays belonged to Bernard Coffin Weld who was a member of the Class of 1889.

From the description of Harvard Class of 1889 reunion commemorative ashtrays, 1904 and 1915. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 77067004

From the description of Harvard Class of 1889 reunion commemorative ashtrays, 1904 and 1915. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 249202900

Each class has photographic portraits of its members included in the class anniversary report; these are the images that appear in the published work.

From the description of 50th anniversary report photographs. 1996. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 77063034

From the description of 50th anniversary report photographs. 1996. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 249200970

The Harvard College Class of 1837 included notable authors Henry David Thoreau and Richard Henry Dana. This volume was maintained the Class Secretary, Henry Williams. Photography had yet to be invented when the compilation of this volume began; thus, the Class Book did not initially contain photographs.

This volume is part of a series of Harvard class books, which may be considered the nineteenth-century counterpart to yearbooks in general or the published works known as "Harvard Class Reports" in the 20th century. Harvard classes began compiling Class Books in about 1800 and discontinued the practice around 1900. For the most part the class books lack photographs, so they are complemented in the later years of the 19th century by another series, the class albums. Unlike class books, class albums typically were compiled by individual students, not the class secretary. Therefore, many class albums may exist for a single class year. Class albums typically include a student's selection of photographs of students, faculty, staff, the campus, and buildings. Class albums exist for classes of the mid-20th to early 21st century.

From the description of Class book, 1837-1900. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 77068123

Harvard class albums of this era were not mass-produced, but instead contained their owner's selection of photographs. Albums would typically include photographs of campus, students, faculty and a few other people or places of significance to the compiler of the album.

Gerard Curtis Tobey was born in 1836 in Massachusetts, attended Harvard College and Harvard Law School (LL.B. 1860), was a Civil War veteran, and worked in banking and business in Massachusetts until his death in 1911.

From the description of Class album : class of 1858. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 228509499

The Harvard College Class of 1837 included notable authors Henry David Thoreau and Richard Henry Dana. This volume was maintained the Class Secretary, Henry W. Williams.

This volume is part of a series of Harvard class books, which may be considered the nineteenth-century counterpart to yearbooks in general or the published works known as "Harvard Class Reports" in the 20th century. Harvard classes began compiling Class Books in about 1800 and discontinued the practice around 1900.

For the most part the class books lack photographs, so they are complemented in the later years of the 19th century by another series, the class albums. Unlike class books, class albums typically were compiled by individual students, not the class secretary. Therefore, many class albums may exist for a single class year. Class albums typically include a student's selection of photographs of students, faculty, staff, the campus, and buildings. Class albums exist for classes of the mid-20th to early 21st century.

Photography had yet to be invented when the compilation of this volume began; thus, the Class Book did not initially contain photographs. After 1850, as paper printing processes became widely available, Class Secretary Henry Williams solicited portraits of each member of the Class from the graduates or their heirs and subsequently pasted those he received into the volume.

From the guide to the Class Book, 1837-1900., (Harvard University Archives)

The Harvard classes began compiling class books in about 1800. These documents capture what college life was like from freshman to senior year. They were typically written by an elected class secretary and were often maintained for many years following commencement.

Each class book is titled according to a specific class's graduating year, but it really includes information about the entire college and post-college group experience, from freshman to senior year, often documenting class reunions, significant events in each alumnus's life, and finally including obituary notices. Harvard classes discontinued the practice of compiling class books around 1900.

Class books for the earliest years pre-date photography. They therefore do not contain photographs, unless the class members took the trouble to include alumni photographs. The class books are complemented in the later years of the nineteenth century by another series, the class albums. Unlike class books, class albums were usually compiled by individual students, not the class secretary. Therefore, many class albums may exist for only a single class year. Class albums typically include a student's selection of photographs of students, faculty, staff, the campus, and buildings. Class albums exist for classes of the mid-20th to early 21st-century.

The early 19th century was a time of student unrest at Harvard. Perhaps in reaction to the disturbances and protest of previous classes, Faculty Records vol. IX tell that President Kirkland announced early on in the Class of 1822's college years that no students were to have any meeting for the purpose of eating or drinking in college. Although the Class of 1822 is a serene one as compared with its generation, many of the students of the Class of 1822 received public admonishments as a result of participating in the Porcellian Club. The Porcellian Club members assembled to play or listen to music, dine, drink, and socialize. Although discipline for socializing is not mentioned in the Class Book of 1822, the faculty records contain numerous mentions of students being admonished for participating in the club.

From the guide to the Class Book, 1822., (Harvard University Archives)

The Harvard classes began compiling class books in about 1800. These documents were typically written or compiled by an elected class secretary and were often maintained for many years following commencement. Each class book is devoted to the members of a class graduating in a specific year and includes information about individual members of the class both pre- and post-commencement as well as documentation of class reunions, meetings, and significant events. Harvard classes discontinued the practice of compiling class books around 1900.

In the mid-nineteenth to early twenty-first century, class albums of photographs were created as a complementary series to the class books. Unlike class books, class albums were usually compiled by individual students rather than the class secretary , so many albums may exist for a single year. Class albums typically include photographs of students, faculty, staff, and the campus.

The Class of 1843 saw most of its graduates proceed into lives as businessmen, ministers, lawyers, and politicians. Josiah Quincy was president of Harvard during their days, and although he was an unpopular president (to such a degree that he was hanged in effigy in the Yard in 1834 or so), the members of the Class of 1843 seem to have found their time in Cambridge largely enjoyable, and one went on to become president himself (Thomas Hill, president from 1862-1868).

Clubs and traditions were prominent in the rituals of college life. Class Day was a celebration of extreme importance at that time, and subsequent meetings of the class, at which members came together for a dinner and meeting to discuss class business and enjoy each other?s company, were often held on its anniversary. The Class of 1843 elected members into the Navy Club, a society reserved for those who for reason of their grades were not awarded roles in Class Day oratories; officers included Lord High Admiral, the ?jolliest of all jolly blades in the class? according to Samuel Eliot Morison?s Three Centuries of Harvard, 1636-1936 ; Vice Admiral, the poorest classmate; Rear-Admiral, the laziest; Chaplain, the most profane; Boatswain, the most obscene; and so forth (pages 398-399 of the Class Book include the list). Traditions such as awarding a ?class cradle? to the first member of the class to become a father were followed and celebrated (pages 398, 408, 415-416, 418-419); less happily, members of the class gathered to make resolutions on the early deaths of a few of their number, most notably John Abbot Emery , who died before commencement, much lamented by his classmates.

Several members of the Class of 1843 were commissioned officers in the Civil War after graduation, but the biographical notes in the Class Book regarding their roles are limited. Similarly, biographical notes indicate the membership of some alumni of 1843 in the Free Soil Party, but both this and the slavery issue in general receive scant mention in the pages of the Class Book.

Notable members of the class include Thomas Hill , president of Harvard University from 1862-1868 ; William A. Richardson , Secretary of the Treasury from 1873-1874 and Chief Justice of the U.S. Court of Claims from 1885-1896; and Octavius Brooks Frothingham , writer and clergyman. Unfortunately, the greater part of the entries in the Class Book involving these three men was removed by Richardson. Others of note include Arthur Buckminster Fuller , Unitarian Universalist minister; Horace Binney Sargent , Lieutenant Colonel of the First Mass. Cavalry, Fifth Army Corps; and Alexander Wheelock Thayer , music historian.

From the guide to the Class Book, 1843., (Harvard University Archives)

The Harvard classes began compiling class books in about 1800. These documents capture what college life was like from freshman to senior year. They were typically written by an elected class secretary and were often maintained for many years following commencement.

Each class book is titled according to a specific class's graduating year, but it sometimes includes information about the entire college and post-college group experience, from freshman to senior year, often documenting class reunions, significant events in each alumnus's life, and finally including obituary notices. Harvard classes discontinued the practice of compiling class books around 1900.

Class books for the earliest years pre-date photography. They therefore do not contain photographs, unless the class members took the trouble to include alumni photographs. The class books are complemented in the later years of the nineteenth century by another series, the class albums. Unlike class books, class albums were usually compiled by individual students, not the class secretary. Therefore, many class albums may exist for only a single class year. Class albums typically include a student's selection of photographs of students, faculty, staff, the campus, and buildings. Class albums exist for classes of the mid-20th to early 21st-century.

The early 19th century was a time of student unrest at Harvard, but by the end of Josiah Quincy's presidency, in 1845, the disturbances started to decrease and many academic and social changes were introduced. Quincy resigned and was succeeded by Edward Everett, former Congressman and Governor of Massachusetts. The students returned to their traditional misbehavior. The year 1848 itself, however, was a quiet year, notably there was only one expulsion.

The Class of 1848 was a typical group of Harvard men. Their most prominent member, Eugene A. Hoffman, followed the traditional path of many Harvard graduates, theology.

Also in adherence to tradition, the class maintained contacts as alumni, which included class meetings and class suppers that coincided with Harvard's commencement activities from 1865 onward. During the meeting of 1866, a new class fund was raised for the purpose of securing an income to pay the expenses of the class supper so that no member should feel deprived from being present on the account of the expense. The year 1873 marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the class, and a special effort was made to reach each member with an invitation. Fourteen of the class met at Parker House and a roll of the class was printed listing the surviving and dead members of the class.

On the fortieth anniversary, the class had dinner at the Parker House. Each classmate gave a short talk narrating in brief his life's experiences, and each surviving member of the class was requested to send the class secretary his photograph taken that year to be preserved among class archives.

Following the prevailing tradition, the Class of 1848 appointed a Class Secretary to organize and to assemble the record of their activities. The role was filled by seven men. This volume was maintained by the following Class Secretaries: Alexander Hale, 1848-1850, Charles Smith Weyman, Edwin Davenport, 1851-1853, Charles Greenly Loring, 1858-1864, Henry Savage Chase, 1864-1884, Thomas Henderson Chandler, 1885-1891, and David Whitney.

From the guide to the Class Book, 1848-1899, (Harvard University Archives)

The Harvard classes began compiling class books in about 1800. They were typically written by an elected class secretary and were often maintained for many years following commencement.

Each class book is titled according to a specific class's graduating year, but it really includes information about the entire college experience, starting from freshman year to senior year, and often even documenting class reunions, significant events in each alumni's life, and finally obituary notices. Harvard discontinued the practice around 1900.

Generally the earlier class books do not contain photographs, so they are complemented in the later years of the nineteenth century by another series, the class albums. Unlike class books, class albums were usually compiled by individual students, not the class secretary. Therefore, many class albums may exist for only a single class year. Class albums typically include a student's selection of photographs of students, faculty, staff, the campus, and buildings. Class albums exist for classes of the mid-19th to early 21st century.

Members of the Class of 1852 fought on both sides in the Civil War and most lived to witness the rise of Harvard from a semi-rural college to a national institution. Both academically and in the world beyond Harvard, this class saw the beginnings of technological change, but held fast to traditions that seem quaint by 21st-century standards.

Theirs was the first graduating class to be photographed, yet they still clung to the old graduation customs of dancing on the green and awarding a jack-knife to their ugliest classmate. The Lawrence Scientific School opened its doors in 1847, and Harvard granted its first S.B. degrees in 1851, but almost two-thirds present at the Class Supper still saw themselves as destined for the traditional fields of law, medicine, and ministry. Only one graduate vowed his ambition to become an engineer as the class bottle of Madeira was passed around. With eighty-eight members, the Class of 1852 was the largest graduated to date, and all but three had their daguerreotypes taken to mark the occasion.

Their college years were largely passed under the presidency of Jared Sparks, the second of six short-term presidents who led the University between the longer eras of Quincy and Eliot. Sparks's tenure was marked by order and tranquility, partly effected by the abolition of the college "commons" in 1849, which eliminated dining hall disorders.

While Southern enrollment surged under Sparks, it came too late to profoundly affect the makeup of this class. But the human drama of those few classmates who joined the Confederate army can be read between the lines of the class records in the early 1860s. In all, some twenty-nine class members served in the Civil War, twenty-three in blue and six in gray.

Among the notable members of this class were: Horatio Alger, prolific novelist of the rag-to-riches genre, Addison Brown, jurist and botanist (co-author of the Illustrated Flora of North America ), Rufus Choate, lawyer and diplomat; Ephraim Whitney Gurney, first Dean of the Faculty of Harvard College, James Bradley Thayer, Harvard Law School professor and pioneer of the case method, and William Robert Ware, architect (with Henry Van Brunt) of Memorial Hall, and founder of the schools of architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Columbia.

From the guide to the Class Book, 1852-1908., (Harvard University Archives)