Entrées: Rich selections for the most hearty appetites:
Early records of the Steward, 1649-1812 The Harvard Steward was elected by the Corporation to manage the residential operations of the College. The Steward purchased the College's food provisions and fuel, and supervised the Butler and kitchen staff. The collection documents the activities of the Harvard Steward in the 17th and 18th centuries through a financial prism; it also documents changing commodity prices, payment methods, the costs, quantities, and types of supplies needed to maintain the institution, and the names of laborers and merchants who conducted business with the Steward.
Harvard Commons records, 1686-1829 Following the English tradition, students at Harvard College dined in commons, eating at least one daily meal together in a dining hall along with tutors and graduate students. This practice continued at Harvard into the middle of the 19th century. The collection documents the maintenance and development of commons at Harvard College in the 18th and early 19th centuries and the Steward's role in overseeing those commons.
Records of the Butler, 1722-1799 The College Butler, a position that lasted from the mid-seventeenth century through the end of the eighteenth century, was responsible for supplying and managing the Buttery, a commissary where students could purchase food and minor necessities. The Butler's purchases, recorded in quarterly account books, provide a valuable resource for researching the types of food available to the Harvard community in the 18th century.
Records of the Harvard Dining Association, 1874-1925 and 1961-1962 Housed in Memorial Hall, the Harvard Dining Association was founded by the University in 1874. The Records of the Harvard Dining Association document the first student-run cooperative dining association at Harvard University and provide a record of fifty years of food and dining at Harvard. The bulk of the records consist of twenty volumes of invoices, which provide extensive documentation of the items purchased by the Association during the first twenty-five years of its existence.
Records of the Department of Food Services, 1940-1966 The records consists of menus and recipes, chef and waitress instructions, cost itemization, and other records relating to meals in several Harvard houses. The records also relate to parties and functions held in private dining rooms, dinners for special groups, including the overseers, dances and other social events, and food and dining requirements for Commencement.
Records of the Harvard Faculty Club, 1929- and Records of the Faculty Club, 1933-1955 (inclusive) The Faculty Club of Harvard University was founded in 1929. The Club succeeded the Old Colonial Club, which ceded its property to the University on the understanding that the Faculty Club would continue to include members from the Cambridge Community. Records include general information, articles of association, yearbook, correspondence, annual reports of the managing board, menus, and publications about the club.
Report on Study of the General Feeding Operations of Harvard University Dining Halls, 1957 November
Report on Harkness Commons and Vanderbilt Hall Dining Room, 1959 January