Alum Explains ‘Harvard A to Z’ In New Book

Those students with too few electives to spare one for Religion 1513, “History of Harvard and Its Presidents,” now have another option. Harvard University Press has released Harvard A to Z, a book about, well, itself.

The next installment in the Press’s “A to Z” series, Harvard A to Z reads more like a quick reference guide that an exhaustive encylopedia, replete with all juicy factoid students love to brag about. Topics range from ordinary “Widener Library” and “Athletics” to obscure “Z Closet.”

John T. Bethell ’54, who wrote many of the non-academic entries for the book, says Harvard history has been a long-standing interest. He returned to campus in 1966 to edit the Harvard Magazine. While working on the project, “I had an office in Wadsworth House,” he said. “Just being there, in that old building, really piqued my interest in Harvard history.”

Not surprisingly, Wadsworth gets its own entry in the book. The little noticed house on Massachusetts Avenue, near Boylston Hall, is the second oldest Harvard building still standing and former residence of Ralph W. Emerson, Class of 1821.

After spending almost 30 years as editor of Harvard Magazine, Bethell became an authority on Harvard history. In the mid-nineties, he began work on his first book, Harvard Observed: An Illustrated History of the University in the Twentieth Century.

At the same time, Bethell’s friends, Richard M. Hunt, Ph.D. ’60, and Robert Shenton, Ph.D. ’62, began research for Harvard A to Z.

“I thought we were on a little race to see who could finish first,” Bethell said, “but [Hunt and Shenton] moved more slowly than I did. We all worked on nights and weekends.”

In 1998, Bethell won the race and subsequently moved away from his Harvard career to assume the position of Senior Editor of The American Scholar. Meanwhile, the writers of Harvard A to Z made slow progress. The writing halted entirely in February 2000, when Robert Shenton died in a vacationing accident.

“The loss of Robert Shenton was a major setback,” Bethell said. “Rick Hunt thought he couldn’t finish the project on his own, so he invited me to pick up some of the research.” Although Bethell was still working at The American Scholar, he said he realized his friend sorely needed the help.

Working as a team, Hunt and Bethell divided the remaining work. “[Hunt] did most of the mainstream articles, like the ones on the college, the graduate schools and the libraries,” Bethell said. “I tended to play around the edges. I have always been interested in the elements of Harvard that are not directly related to academics.”

As a result, Bethell’s entries encompassed everything from bells and bridges to achitecture and fires to athletics and Harvard in the movies. For the listing “Hollywood’s Harvard,” Bethell said he compiled “the most complete listing of Harvard movies that I know of.” The entry also features a synopsis and the authors’ star rating for each movie.

Some of the movies were so old that they could not be obtained, so the entries were based on other reviews, according to Bethell. Others movies were simply not worth viewing. “You know you can get on the Web and see the trailers for movies,” Bethell said. “I have to admit, that’s about all I did for How High.”

The four most recent Harvard movies, including How High, Harvard Man, Stealing Harvard and Prozac Nation, all received one-star ratings and harsh critique. Apparently, unlike Harvard’s financial security (see “Endowment” for all the dirty details), the quality of Harvard movies hasn’t improved much over time.

Moving towards the end, the letters “X” and “Z” provide some of the most obscure and amusing entries in the book. The X-Cage was a locked repository for particularly salacious and graphic works, formerly located in Widener but since moved to the Harvard Depository in Southborough.

“X-Cage holdings may be accessed by qualified researchers,” according to the entry. However, Bethell said he was not able to browse them for his own work. He laughed and said, “I had to talk to some librarians—who were very reliable sources—instead.”

Bethell and Hunt will be speaking about Harvard A to Z next Thursday in the SacklerMuseum. Tickets are available at the Harvard Bookstore.