Harvard Archivist Is Retiring

Clifford K. Shipton, archivist and bibliographer, who once described himself as "a climber of family trees," is retiring as Custodian of the Harvard University Archives, a position he has held since 1938.

In addition to his work at Harvard, Dr. Shipton served also as Librarian and Director of the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester from 1940 to 1967, and for the year 1967-68 he was President of the Society of American Archivists.

He is best known for his "Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of the Harvard College Classes of 1690-1760," of which 11 volumes appeared between 1933 and 1968. His remark years ago that, "If I live to be 80, I can get to the class of 1800" still stands. He set out to portray these early Harvard men "warts and all," and he observed that "Those who were hanged are just as important as the ones ordained." Of one early graduate, he wrote, "Certainly he achieved no distinction at Harvard beyond that which resulted from his participation in disorders."