Harvard+University

=**An Atmosphere of Learning** = The 17th century was a period where people were searching for higher education. In England there were only two universities that could award an educational degree under Parliament. Cambrigde and Oxford had the authority to give the "Bachlor of Arts" degree which was viewed as a symol of acheivement and higher education. In the American colonies it was more convieniant and less expensive to reach this education. The New England colonies focused more on the creation of universities to teach Christianity and the classical languages of Latin and Greek because of their strong Purtian beliefs. There were three colleges established in America before 1645, the first being Harvard. After the Great Awakening, with a new found enthusiasm for religion and the prosperity of the economy, more colleges were built as more people were sent to college. =History of Harvard = Harvard was the first college founded in America in 1636 in the beautiful city of Cambridge, Massachussets. The General Courts of Massachusetts gave four hundred pounds to go "towards a schoale or college" without regulations set on its legal structure or the authority it would have. Harvard found itself in a legal haze, without the legal authority to grant degrees. Although Harvard awarded its first degrees in 1642, it still had not recieved the legal right to give them, even through the charter the college finally recieved from the Massachusetts General Court in 1650. Some questions regarding Harvard remain unsolved, even in the 20th century, such as the legal foundations, right to grant degrees, and whether Harvard is a properly a "college" or "university".

 **First President:Henry Dunster** After the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony had fined and dismissed the first leader at Harvard, Master Nathaniel Eaton for the mistreatment of students, Harvard simply shut down. Three weeks after Henry Dunster's arrival to Boston in 1641, he was asked to be the first president and allowed the institute to reopen. Under Dunster's administration, the first campus structures were built and "Veritas" became the unofficial three mottoes. He also came up with the first student rules of conduct. His greatess accomplishment was the drafting of the College's papers of incorporation in 1650. The General Court quickly approved the "Charter of 1650", which established to Harvard Corporation (also known as the President and Fellows of Harvard College), the institutes secong governing body and the oldest in the Western Hemisphere. Under Dunster's rule the Corporation adopted a new rule stating that student would have to attend college for four years to recieve their undergraduate degree. Since Dunster did not approve of baptizng infants or children until there adult years, he resigned from office in 1654. Do to the harsh dissapprovement from the community and the church he exiled himseld to Scituate, Massachusetts. Henry Dunster died in exile in 1658.

=**First African-American Graduate** = ﻿Richard Theodore Greener was the first African-American Graduate from Harvard in 1870. In his early life, his father left the family to seek work in the mining industry in California. After his father's death, Richard's mom moved the family to Boston and then tho Cambridge to seek educational opportunities. Greener quit school at the age of 14 to help his mom in paying the bills. He worked numerous jobs to support his family and still managed to pursue his educational goals.

After graduating from Oberlin College with honors, Richard would persue his life-long dream in attending Harvard College. He entered Harvard in 1865 at the age of 21 and in his sophomore year, recieved the Bowdoin Prize. After graduating, he became the principal for the Male Department at Philadelphia's Instituted of Colored Youth, which later became the first historical black college, Cheyney College.

He continued his education in recieving his law degree for the University of South Carolina in 1876. He then became the Dean of the Howard Law School and opened his own private practice. He also served in the Supreme Court of South Carolina and was involved in the elections of Roosevelt and Mckinley.

=Early Student Life = Student enrollment was small in the early years of Harvard, with about 200 boys. It was an all male school with some students as young as eleven. The curriculum was advanced, but there was poor teaching instruction. By the 1750's Harvard had adopted their curriculum to more modern subjects, including more widely spoken languages. Students at Harvard were very disciplined due to strictly enforced rules, often through physical punishment.



=Famous Harvard Graduates and Administration =


 * __Presidents and other Governmental Offices__**
 * Theodore Roosevelt- President of the United States[[image:us2.jpg align="right" caption="Barack Obama"]]
 * Barack Obama- Current President of the United States and graduate from Harvard Law School
 * Henry Cabot Lodge- Graduate in 1871 President of pro tempore of the United States Senate
 * Samuel Adams- Organizer of the Boston Tea Party and Govenor of Massachusetts
 * John Adams- 2nd president of the Unites States and one of the Founding fathers of the United States

__**Business/ Computers**__
 * Stanley Marcus- CEO of Neiman Marcus Department stores[[image:us1.jpeg align="right" caption="Mark Zuckerberg"]]
 * Robert Tappan Morris- founder of the first computer worm and current professor at MIT
 * Steve Ballmar-President and CEO of Microsoft
 * Bill Gates- founder of the computer software Microsoft
 * Mark Zuckerberg- founder and CEO of the social network Facebook




 * __Art and Literature__**
 * T.S. Elliot- Writer and Nobel Peace Prize in Literature winner in 1948
 * E.E. Cummings- famous poet and graduate of class of 1916
 * Ralph Waldo Emerson- poet and authur from the class of 1821
 * Henry David Thoreau- famous philosopher and author of //Walden and Civil Disobedience//
 * Yo-Yo MA- Famous composer and musician


 * Citations **
 * Boorstin, Daniel. // The Americas: The Colonial Experience //. New York: CIntage, 1958. Print.
 * "Figures in Black History: Richard Greener: Harvard's First African American Graduate." //Essortment Articles: Free Online Articles on Health, Science, Education & More..// Web. 26 Oct. 2010. [].
 * "Henry Dunster - History." //Office of the President - Harvard University//. Web. 26 Oct. 2010. [].
 * Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey. // The American Pageant //. 13th ed. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. Print.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px;"> "List of Harvard University People." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 26 Oct. 2010. [].
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px;">Photograph. // World Architectural Images- Memorial Hall, Harvard University //. Society of Architectural Historians. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. [].