Selected Documents from

the Papers of Harvard

Presidents, 1654-1885

The Harvard University Archives collects the papers of tenured faculty and senior administrators, including presidents. The documents in this exhibition reflect the personal and professional interests of eighteen Harvard presidents. They highlight an ongoing Archives project to describe all presidents’ papers in HOLLIS, accompanied by detailed on-line inventories. Below are some of the documents available for viewing in the Archives' exhibit case in Pusey Library.

Quinquennial Catalogue: click for larger view

Leonard Hoar (ca. 1630-1675)
Term of office: 1672-1675
Education: Harvard College (A.B. 1650; A.M. 1653);
Cambridge University, England (M.D. 1671).

Quinquennial Catalogue
(Papers of Leonard Hoar, UAI 15.852)

Leonard Hoar established the tradition of issuing a list of Harvard College graduates. This catalogue, later published as the Quinquennial Catalogue of the Officers and Graduates of Harvard University, has evolved into today's Alumni Directory.

Increase Mather (1639-1723)
Term of office: Acting President, 1685-1686; Rector (a unique title), 1686-1692; President, 1692-1701
Education: Harvard College (A.B. 1656); Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland (A.M. 1658).

Queries Worthy of Consideration, 1700
(Papers of Increase Mather, UAI 15.860)

Queries Worthy of Consideration, 1700: click for larger view

Increase Mather wrote his Queries Worthy of Consideration to support the insertion of a religious test into the College Charter of 1700. This document contains a list of five questions testifying to the religious character of the College.

Perpetual calendar, [1885?]: click for larger view

Thomas Hill (1818-1891)
Term of office: 1862-1868.
Education: Harvard College (A.B. 1843; A.M. 1846).

A working model of Hill's perpetual calendar, [1885?]
(Papers of Thomas Hill, UAI 15.892)

Thomas Hill was noted for his interests in mathematics and invention.

Papers of Harvard Presidents: Finding Aids

Benjamin Wadsworth

Edward Holyoke

Samuel Locke

Samuel Langdon