This subject guide is an introduction to the wide variety of collections
and materials which document the many aspects of the University's
administrative, academic, and student life in the years leading up to, during,
and immediately following the Second World War (1937-1949). In addition to the
holdings listed below, relevant information may be found in other collections
of personal papers and departmental records located in the University Archives
and at Harvard's numerous other special collections and archival
repositories.
A good place to start your research is with the following published
sources, which provide an overall view of Harvard during World War II:
- Bethell, John T. Harvard Observed: An Illustrated History of the
University in the Twentieth Century. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University
Press, 1998.
- Conant, James B. My Several Lives: Memoirs of a Social
Inventor. New York: Harper and Row, 1970.
- Keller, Morton and Phyllis. Making Harvard Modern: The Rise of
America's University. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
- Harvard University. .
Annual Reports of the
President and the Departments of Harvard University
These published sources, as well as numerous others, are available in
the Archives' reading room and may also be found in research and public
libraries. For more information, please consult with your local librarian.
University Administration
UAI xx and UAII
xx - Includes records of the Governing Boards (which consist of the Harvard
Corporation (President and Fellows) and the Board of Overseers), Harvard
Presidents, and Treasurers.
See online guide to
Records of the Governing Boards for more information.
- Corporation Minutes and Votes (UAI 5.xx)
Provides a record of the votes and action of the Corporation which enabled
Harvard University to devote its academic and physical resources to meeting the
government's military instruction and research needs.
- Corporation Committees and Boards (UAI 10.xx)
Includes records of wartime committees including the Committee on Civilian
Defense, Committee to Promote the Sale of Defense Securities, Committee on war
Speakers, and Committee on Relations with Wartime Personnel
- Corporation Routine Records (UAI 15.xx)
Arranged by subject, and thereunder chronologically. Include records relating
to wartime construction of buildings, laboratories, and visitors
- Corporation Chronological Miscellany (UAI 20.xx)
Includes records relating to the air raid warden course, civilian defense,
foreign students, Underwater Sound Laboratory, military training, selective
service registration, war activities of Harvard professors, staff, and
students, refugee scholarships, the 1941 Oxford Convocation at Harvard, the
1943 visit of Winston Churchill, and veterans' placement. Also includes the
Papers of Sterling Dow (UAI 20.946.6), who served as the War Archivist
- Secretary to the Corporation (UAII 100)
Includes records relating to the Oxford Convocation at Harvard, the production
of the film Harvard Goes to War and information about efforts to promote
awareness of Harvard's participation in the war effort, veterans' guidance, and
recognition of Harvard alumni who received medals for distinguished service
during WWII. See
online inventory for more information..
- Board of Overseers (UAII 10.xx)
Visiting
Committee Reports document the state of the University and all its parts during
the war years. See
online inventory for more information..
- President of Harvard University, James Bryant Conant,
1933-1955 (UAI 5.168.xx)
Records document President Conant's
administration of Harvard University in the years leading up to, during, and
following World War II.
See online inventory
for more information.
See also: the Papers of James Bryant Conant
(UAI 15.898) for Conant's speeches and writings on WWII, his role as spokesman
for U.S. intervention in the War, and his work with the National Defense
Research Committee. See online inventory for
more information.
- Secretary to the University (UAI 5.186.x)
Includes military rosters of officers in training at Harvard
- Assistant to the President (formerly office of Special
Adviser to the President) (UAI 5.192.x)
- Treasurer (UAI 50.xx)
Includes wartime
correspondence, audits, and financial records relating to military training
programs and research contracts
- Comptroller (UAI 65.xx)
Records relating to
departmental reorganization and war adjustments, military training programs,
war bonds, government contracts, and veterans' housing
- Bursar (UAI 70.xx)
Includes wartime
correspondence and military training programs account ledgers.
Faculty of Arts and Sciences
UAIII 5.xx - UAIII
20.xx Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS)
- FAS Minutes, Reports, and Papers (UAIII 5.15.xx and
UAIII 5.25.xx)
Documents wartime activities of the faculty and academic
reorganization of the University to serve the war effort
- FAS Committees (UAIII 10.xx)
Includes records
of wartime committees concerned with such topics as war service credit,
concentration in war service sciences, Red Cross funds, admissions and
scholarships for refugee students, and post-war academic credit for work done
in the armed forces
- FAS Chronological Miscellany (UAIII 20.xx)
Includes record relating to selective service registration, deferments,
military training programs, post-war academic credit for work done in the armed
forces, and plans for post-war education of veterans
- Dean of FAS (UAIII 5.55.xx)
Includes materials
relating deferments and wartime activities of faculty, government research
contracts, and military training programs. For related records, please see the
records of the Secretary of FAS (UAIII 5.63.xx) and the Assistant to the Dean
of FAS (UAIII 5.65.xx)
- Dean of Harvard College (UAIII 5.33)
Includes
materials relating to the reorganization of the College to serve the war
effort, the Army Specialized Training and Navy V-12 programs, the Dean's role
on the Armed Forces Institute Committee, post-war planning, and the return,
guidance, and placement of veterans.
See online inventory
for more information.
For additional materials relating to military training programs,
please consult the records of the Dean of Freshmen (UAIII 5.35.xx), Assistant
Deans of Harvard College (UAIII 5.36.xx), and Assistant Dean in Charge of
Records (UAIII 5.36.10.xx).
- Associate Dean of Harvard College in Charge of Alumni
Placement and Student Employment (UAIII 5.76)
Includes records
relating to the administration of scholarships for German refugees and United
States Army Air Corps intelligence officer placement. :
See online inventory
for more information. For addition records relating to refugee
scholarships, please consult the records of the Dean of Special Students (UAIII
5.75.xx)
- Dean of Students [formerly Associate Dean of Harvard
College] (UAIII 5.34.100)
Consists of materials relating to
student organizations and activities, including such organizations as the
Harvard Anti-War Committee, Harvard Peace Society, Harvard Peace Strike
Committee, and Harvard Committee Against Military Intervention.
See online inventory
for more information.
- Office of Admissions and Financial Aids (UAIII
5.36.1.xx)
Includes records relating to veterans' admissions and
assistance.
Library
Library (UAIII
50.xx)
Includes military related book order records, correspondence from
library staff serving in the armed forces, and materials relating to the
memorial exhibition for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Schools, Departments, and Laboratories
UAV
xx, HUE xx, HUF xx Schools, Departments, and Laboratories - includes records
documenting wartime changes, wartime programs and research, and post-war
plans
- Advisor for Harvard Wives [originally Advisor for Veterans'
Wives] (UAV 124.xx) - Includes correspondence, annual reports,
publicity, reports, and statistics
- Air Raid Precautions School (HUF 129.xx)
- Alumni Records Office (UAV 716.292) - Alumni
activities in support of the war effort
- Army Air Forces Statistical School (UAV
157.xxx)
- Army Air Forces War Adjustment Course (HUF
157.xx)
- Army Chaplain School (HUE 4.1xxx) See also UAV
605.442p for additional photographs
- Army Electronics Training Center (UAV 157.5xx, HUE
61.3145, & HUF 307.545)
- Army School of Soils Control (UAV 802.xx)
- Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) (HUE
4.3xxx)
- Army Specialized Training Unit (UAV 157.7xx &
HUF 158.xx)
- Army Supply Officers Training School (UAV 157.8xx
& HUE 4.5xxx)
- Arts and Sciences,Graduate School of (UAV
161.xx)
Records relating to veterans' policies
- Buildings and Grounds (UAV 246.xx) - Records
relating to construction, renovation, and reassignment of veterans' housing,
laboratories, and other University building for wartime use
- Business Administration, Graduate School of
(HUE 9.xxx)
Catalogues and publications relating to war training
programs
- Chemistry, Department of (UAV 275.xx)
Records
relating to draft deferment for students and instructors, government contracts,
and wartime research
- Civil Affairs Training School (UAV 285.xx & HUE
14.xx)
Established in 1943 as the Civilian Affairs Specialists Training
Program. Separate programs for the Mediterranean Area, Germany and Western
Europe, and the Far Eastern Area. Instruction was provided by the School for
Overseas Administration (UAV 663.xx)
- Cruft Laboratory (HUF 307.xx)
Includes
publications, general information by and about the Army Electronics Training
Center
- Dental Medicine, School of (HUE 17.xxx)
Includes materials relating to wartime programs and courses in military
medicine for the dental corps
- Divinity School (UAV 328.xx)
The Divinity
School maintains a separate archive. For more information about their holdings,
please consult their web site at:
http://www.hds.harvard.edu/library/index.html
- Education, Graduate School of (UAV 350.xx)
Includes admission and general records relating to the enrollment of
veterans.
- Electro-Acoustic Laboratory (HUF 358.xx)
During WWII, the laboratory was known as the Research on Sound Control Project,
which was associated with the Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory
- Engineering, Graduate School of (UAV 362.xx &
HUE 24.xxx)
Records relating to Army & Navy electronics and
communications training courses, Cruft Laboratory, radio engineering, direction
finding, and information for veterans. Includes a history of the Officers
Electronic Training Courses.
- Foreign Students, Office of the Counsellor for (UAV
403.xx & HUF 462.xx)
Includes enrollment lists and alien
registrations
- Harvard Forest (HUF 403.143.85)
Records
include a technical manual on "Using Cut Foliage for Camouflage"
- Hygiene, Department of (UAV 458.xx)
Records
relating to the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) and a study of "The
Disabled Veterans of World War II: Analysis of 600 cases examined at Harvard
University" (HUF 458.548)
- Information Office (UAV 460.xx)
Records
relating to the Army Specialized Training and Navy V-12 Programs
- Law School (UAV 512.xx & HUE 48.xxx)
Publications relating to wartime changes in curriculum, post-war plans for the
school, and promotional materials prepared for men still in the service. The
Law School also maintains a separate archive. For more information about their
holdings, please consult their web site at:
http://www.law.harvard.edu/library/special/index.htm
- Mathematics, Department of (UAV 561.xx)
Records relating to military training courses
- Medical School (HUE 54.xxx)
Includes
publications relating to wartime changes in curriculum. Please note that the
Harvard Medical School maintains a separate archive. For more information about
their holdings, please consult their web site at:
http://www.countway.med.harvard.edu/rarebooks/
- Military Science Department (UAV 570.xx)
- Naval R.O.T.C. (HUE 58.xx)
Includes published
lists of students, memoranda, histories, newspaper clippings, and reports
- Naval Training School (UAV 599.xx & HUE 61.xxx)
Records relating to radio engineering, pre-radar, enrollment, naval
communications, officer training, and student life. See also Naval Radio School
(UAV 596.xx)
- Navy Industrial Accounting Officers School (HUE
62.3)
- Navy Supply Corps School (UAV 600.xx & HUE
62.3xx)
- Navy V-12 Unit (UAV 602.xx & HUE 63.xxx)
- Office of News and Public Affairs [formerly Harvard News
Office] (UAV 605 & UAV 605.442p)
Includes publicity
photographs documenting President Conant's role during World War II,
photographs of the Army and Navy programs on campus, and images documenting
University memorial services. For more information, please
consult the online
inventory.
- Nieman Foundation (UAV 607.xx, HUC 1607.xx, HUD
3608, & HUF 607.xx)
Records relating to the Harvard War Institute
- Overseas Administration, School for (UAV 663.xx
& HUE 67.xxx)
Established by the Harvard Corporation in 1943.
The Civil Affairs Training School administered training for Mediterranean Area,
Germany, Western and Eastern Europe. The Army Specialized Training program
administered training for Central Europe and the Far East. See also Civil
Affairs Training School UAV 285.xx.
- Personnel Office (UAV 683.xx)
Records relating
to employment on war research
- Phillips Brooks House Association (UAV 688.xx)
Records relating to volunteers, war stamps, bond drives, Red Cross, lectures,
and war service committee. Includes wartime personnel and program records
- Physics, Department of (UAV 691)
Records
relating to pre-war cyclotron, laboratories, government contracts, wartime
research, reorganization of the department, and physics instruction
- Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory (UAV 713.9xx, HUF
115.xx, & HUF 713.7xx)
Records relating to the U.S. Navy Underwater
Sound Laboratory, government research contracts, interference reduction,
apparatus, equipment, laboratory data, and personnel
- Quartermaster Reserve Office Training Corps (HUE
73.xx)
- Radio Board, University (HUF 725.xx)
Transcripts of wartime broadcasts and programs
- Radio Research Laboratory (HUF 726.xx)
Information by and about the electronics warfare program
- Reserve Officers Training Corps (HUE 75.xxx)
- Systems Research Laboratory (HUF 817.145)
Information by and about wartime organization of lab
- Underwater Sound Laboratory (UAV 859.xx & HUF
859.xx)
Records relating to sonar development. Consists of photographs,
blueprints, correspondence, memoranda, personnel records, project reports, and
publications such as The Lab Echo
- Veterans Administration Guidance Center (UAV 867.xx
& HUF 867.xx)
- Veterans, Counsellor for (UAV 866.xx & HUF
868.xx)
Includes enrollment, admissions, student, statistics, veterans'
affairs, housing, and war service credit records. Also includes publications,
newsletters, and studies relating to veterans' families
- War Records Office (UAV 874.xx)
Correspondence, forms, personal reports (includes lists of employees and
conscientious objectors), index to classes
- War Service Information Bureau (HUF 874.xx)
Publications and Official Registers
HU
xx Publications and Official Registers
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General Harvard History
Harvard
General History (HUA 9xx)
Includes general information about all
aspects of the University prior, during, and after the war years. Of particular
interest are materials relating to military training programs and current
events. Consists of newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, leaflets, notices,
addresses, and speeches. Organized in chronological order.
Plant and Property
Buildings (HUB 1xxx)
These records document wartime and
post-war construction of new facilities, such as laboratories and dormitories,
as well as the re-use and re-configuration of existing buildings to support the
war effort. Organized alphabetically by building name.
Academic Activities
Commencement,
Class Day, and Exhibitions - (HUC 69.xx.xx)
These records
document wartime and military Commencement activities. Includes photographs,
Commencement programs, addresses and speeches, accounts of exercises, and
materials relating to alumni events.
- Curriculum - (HUC 89.xx.xx)
Records document
wartime curriculum and the reorganization of departments to support war effort.
Materials include syllabi, course outlines, handbooks, laboratory manuals,
reading lists, courses of instruction, student notes, student papers, and
examination books.
Student Life and Activities
Class Publications and Records - (HUD 3xx.xx)
Of
particular interest are the Class Anniversary Reports and questionnaires,
Freshman Red Books, Class Albums (Yearbooks), and Class Secretaries'
correspondence.
Expenses (HUD 19xx.x)
Information about wartime
housing costs, financial aid, and University fees. Arranged in chronological
order.
Societies (HUD 3xxx) - Records of student, alumni, and
faculty organizations, arranged alphabetically by organization name. Examples
of relevant groups:
- Committee against Military Intervention
- American Defense, Harvard Group
- American Red Cross, Harvard Unit
- American Student Defense League, Harvard Chapter
- American Veterans Committee, Harvard Chapter
- Associated Harvard Clubs
- Communist Party at Harvard, Student Branch
- Council on Post-War Problems
- Declared War, Harvard League for a
- Harvard Food Relief Committee
- Harvard Foreign Relations Club
- German Student Refugees, Harvard Committee to Aid
- John Harvard Society
- Liberal Union
- Pacifist Association
- Phillips Brooks House
- Political Science Club
- Student Council
- Student Volunteer Committee
- War Institute, Harvard
Religious Services (HUD 59xx)
Includes wartime
sermons and records relating to services of commemoration in honor of Harvard
dead. Arranged in chronological order.
Student and Alumni Periodicals - a resource
for news and views on campus, national, and international current events,
including pre-war and wartime activities. Articles often include photographs of
faculty and alumni in the service and document the campus life during wartime.
Publications also include obituaries of men killed in action.
The Harvard Advocate (HUK 118)
Harvard
Alumni Bulletin (HUK 137)
The Crimson (HUK 305)
Available online at http://www.thecrimson.com/
The Harvard Lampoon (HUK 510)
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Biography and Faculty Papers -HUG &
HUGFP
- Biographical folders (HUG 300)
Consists
primarily of newspaper clippings, as well as some manuscript materials,
relating to Harvard alumni, faculty, administrators, and staff
- Special Collected Biography: WWII (HUG 3880.5xx)
Consists of materials relating to alumni and faculty service in the armed
forces and memorials to Harvard war dead. Records include correspondence,
newspaper clippings, and photographs
- Papers of Ralph Beatley (HUGFP 111.xx)
Associate professor of education and a tutor in the Dept. of Mathematics.
Includes materials relating to Beatley's direction of the mathematics program
for the Armed Services Training Program and V-12 units at Harvard during World
War II.
- Papers of Francis Birch (HUGFP 132.xx)
Professor of geology. Includes materials relating to Birch's participation in
the Manhattan Project during World War II.
See online inventory
for more information.
- Papers of Percy Williams Bridgman (HUG4234.xx)
Professor of physics. Includes materials relating to Bridgman's work for the
Los Alamos National Laboratory
- Papers of Emory Leon Chaffee (HUG 4274.xx)
Professor of physics. Includes materials relating to his research work during
World War II and special training programs at Harvard
- Papers of William Yandell Elliott (HUG 4360.xx)
Professor of government and history. Includes material relating to his
involvement in the War Production Board
- Papers of Merle Fainsod (HUG 4382.xx)
Professor of government. Includes materials relating to World War II
organizations and societies
- Papers of Alvin Harvey Hansen (HUGFP 3.xx)
Professor of political economy, Includes materials relating to Hansen's
government work with government in planning the post-World War II economy
- Papers of Bruce Campbell Hopper (HUGFP 27.xx)
Associate professor of government. Includes diaries documenting flights over
Germany, assessing the impact of Allied bombing
- Papers of Charles Louis Kuhn (HUGB K 859.xx)
Professor fine arts and curator of the Busch-Reisinger. Includes correspondence
documenting Kuhn's military service, which involved an assignment to rescue art
in Europe
- Papers of William Leonard Langer (HUGFP 19.xx)
Professor of history. Includes papers about OSS and CIA Activities. Also
includes correspondence with European refugees
- Papers of Donald Howard Menzel (HUG 4567.xx)
Professor of astronomy and director of the Harvard College Observatory.
Includes materials relating to his teaching of cryptanalysis, government
research, military training programs, and his service in the U.S. Navy
- Papers of André Morize (HUG 4582.xx)
Professor of military science and French literature. Includes correspondence
and memorabilia from World War II
- Papers of Francis T. Spaulding (HUG 4800.xx)
Professor of education, and served as Dean of the Graduate School of Education.
Includes papers relating to military service in World War II
- Papers of Hans Ludwig Staehle (HUGB S819.xx)
Professor of economics. Includes personal correspondence reflecting his
difficulties in leaving Europe during outbreak of World War II, and efforts by
colleagues to accommodate him in the United States
- Papers of Samuel Andrew Stouffer (HUGFP 31.xx)
Professor of sociology, and served as director of the Laboratory of Social
Relations at Harvard. Includes papers relating to wartime research for U.S.
Army
- Papers of Fletcher Watson (HUG 4874.xx)
Professor of education. Includes materials relating to his service in the U.S.
Navy and his work on the development of the Long Range Navigation (LORAN)
system.
- Papers of Edgar Bright Wilson, Jr. (HUG 4878.xx)
Professor of chemistry. Includes wartime correspondence documenting his
work on the improvement of underwater explosives at Woods Hole,
Massachusetts.
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In addition to the materials listed below, please note that departmental
and office records often include photographs of staff, students, facilities,
and apparatus. Of particular interest is the photograph collection of the
Harvard University News Office (UAV 605 & UAV 605.442p).
Please consult the
online inventory for more information. University and alumni publications
also are an invaluable resource for visual materials. Please consult these
collections as well.
Subjects - examples of relevant photograph
subject files (HUP-SF)
- Businessmen's Military, Instruction Camp, Harvard Delegation
- Commencement (during War years)
- Laboratories
- Naval Radio School
- NROTC
- Physics
- ROTC
- Sound Experiments
- World War II
Portraits
Portrait Index -
(HUP)
Alphabetically arranged guide to portraits of faculty, staff,
students, alumni, and University guests.
Views
Chronological Views -
(HUV 2xxx)
Includes wartime views of the Harvard campuses, buildings, and
environs.
Films
- Harvard Goes to War [ca. 1942] (MPF42.2)
Produced by the Harvard Film Service, the film documents Harvard's contribution
to the war effort during World War II
- Harvard Highlights, 1934-1944 (MPF 48.1)
Includes footage of physical training, service school ceremonies, and
Commencements.
- Commencement June 29, 1944 (MPF51.1)
- To the age that is waiting [1958?] (MPF177.2)
A public relations film made by Harvard in support of its fund raising campaign
"Program for Harvard College." Film includes historical footage documenting
Harvard's role in World War II.
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Winston Churchill speaking on the steps of Harvard Memorial Church
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