Film Honors John Harvard’s 400th

About 40 students celebrated the 400th anniversary of John Harvard’s birthday at a screening of the first fictional film interpretation of the final moments in the life of the University’s namesake.

Directed by Extension School student Michael Van Devere, “John Harvard” depicts the last few hours before Harvard’s death, during which he drafted his will and bequeathed his 300-book library and half of his estate to a small college in Newtown that became the famed research institution in Cambridge.

“My hope is for the students to find in John Harvard a role model, the opportunity to be altruistic, and most importantly, to give,” Van Devere said.

A dearth of biographical information about Harvard has left dramatists like Van Devere with a unique opportunity.

There have been few attempts to dramatize the life of this Puritan reverend in the last 400 years, and Van Devere took this opportunity to add what he called his “personal sense of human touch” to Harvard’s story.

“Now’s the time or never to bring John Harvard forward again back from the past,” Van Devere said. “As a dramatist, I look at this blank slate and don’t have to impose anything. I can pull things out that have been obscured by time.”

Consisting of several Harvard undergraduates, the cast of “John Harvard” started rehearsing two and a half months prior to the two days of filming in April.

The movie was filmed primarily at the Hooper-Lee-Nichols House at the Cambridge Historical Society, the second oldest house in Cambridge.

Alex R. Breaux ’09, a psychology concentrator interested in pursuing acting after graduation, donned breeches and stockings for the lead. In order to prepare for the role, Breaux read up on Harvard’s historical background.

“It was good to know John Harvard’s background and history,” said Breaux, who is also a wide receiver on Harvard’s football team. “But in terms of developing and playing the character, the emotions naturally arise in playing a successful man dying younger than expected.”

“Michael definitely loves what he’s doing,” said Jon-Mark Overvold ’09, another member of the cast. “It’s really nice to work with someone who’s so passionate in what he does.”