Find topics and start your research by browsing the resources listed below and searching HOLLIS for archival and other material.
General Harvard histories
(Please note that Radcliffe College materials are mostly held by the Schlesinger Library).
- A Century to Celebrate: Radcliffe College, 1879-1979 by Dorothy Ella Howells.Cambridge: Radcliffe College, 1978.
- The Development of Harvard University Since the Inauguration of President Eliot, 1869-1929 (Find It @ Harvard) edited by Samuel Eliot Morison. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1930.
- The Founding of Harvard College (Find It @ Harvard) by Samuel Eliot Morison. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1935. (Reprint, with a new foreword by Hugh Hawkins, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1995.
- Harvard A to Z (Find It @ Harvard) by John T. Bethell, Richard M. Hunt and Robert Shenton. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2004.
- The Harvard Book: A Series of Historical, Biographical, and Descriptive Sketches... edited by Henry Clark and F.O. Vaille. Two volumes. Cambridge: Welch, Bigelow and Company, 1875.
- Harvard College in the Seventeenth Century (Find It @ Harvard) by Samuel Eliot Morison. Two volumes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1936.
- Harvard Observed: An Illustrated History of the University in the Twentieth Century (Find It @ Harvard) by John T. Bethell. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1998.
- Harvard University Handbook: An Official Guide to the grounds, buildings, libraries, museums, and laboratories, with notes on the history, development and activities of all departments of the University. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1936.
- The History of Harvard University by Josiah Quincy. Cambridge: Published by John Owen, 1840.
- Making Harvard Modern: The Rise of America's University by Morton Keller and Phyllis Keller. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
- Three Centuries of Harvard, 1636-1936 (Find It @ Harvard) by Samuel Eliot Morison. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1936.
A Calendar of Harvard History (requires Harvard network connection)
This Calendar provides access to information about people, events, policies, academic and extracurricular student life, and other activities at Harvard from 1636 to the present. It is searchable by date and keyword.
Harvard University Archives Research Guides
Browse the guides for information and sources about a variety of topics relating to Harvard history.
Harvard-Radcliffe Online Historical Reference Shelf
The Harvard-Radcliffe Online Historical Reference Shelf contains digitized versions of the annual reports of the presidents and treasurers of Harvard and Radcliffe, 1826–1995, narrative histories, official University publications, student and alumni publications, information about Cambridge buildings, and more.
Annual reports of the presidents and treasurers of Harvard (1826-1995) and Radcliffe (1879-1988); and later
The annual reports of the presidents and treasurers of Harvard (1826-1995) and Radcliffe (1879-1888), which include reports from deans of the faculties, librarians, and other department heads, provide a detailed view of life at Harvard and Radcliffe and shed light on the history of higher education in America. The reports contain discussions of University policies and programs, documentation of teaching and research trends, statistical analyses of student populations, and commentary on academic and social issues of the day.
Harvard University Catalogs
- Early catalogs list University administrators and faculty, students’ names and addresses, academic programs, admission requirements, tuition, and courses of instruction.
- Catalogs from 1923 to 1998 are not yet available online. Original volumes for this time period are available for use in the Archives’ reading room.
- Courses of Instruction, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, 1999 to Present
- A-Cats: Archived Harvard University Online Course Catalogs, Fall 2005 to Present Archived Harvard University Online Course Catalogs (A-Cats) contain course descriptions, lists of instructors, and academic calendars from 2005 to the present in three separate, searchable databases: Courses, Faculty, and Calendars. Contains information for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (Harvard College, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Summer School, and Extension School), Harvard Business School, Harvard Graduate School of Design, Harvard Divinity School, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and the Harvard School of Public Health.
Archived Websites
The Harvard University Archives collects two categories of websites: sites created by Schools, departments, and administrative units throughout the University (A-Sites), and sites created by the broader Harvard community, including faculty, students, visiting scholars, and staff (H-Sites). The Archives has been collecting websites since 2007.
Harvard Gazette
The Harvard Gazette has been published by the University under various titles and formats since 1881. Full-text online articles from 1997 to the present can be searched and browsed via the Gazette's website.