Visit The Harvard Archives

We all know Harvard is historic — which is why it’s so surprising just how rarely students engage with that rich history firsthand.

A significant part of Harvard’s appeal is its fabled past. There’s a unique feeling walking past freshman dorms or upperclassman Houses, and wondering which storied alumni lived there at some point.

Despite their age, these spaces don’t always display their history ostentatiously. For example, no student will ever live in the old freshman dorm of President John F. Kennedy ’40 in Weld Hall since it is now an elevator. As Harvard continues to renovate its centuries-old campus, it is inevitable that these historic spaces will lose some of their charm.

But there’s one place on campus where students can directly connect with Harvard’s past, and engage with the writings of the figures who made Harvard so historical: The Harvard University Archives.

All undergraduates should be forced to go at least once — it’s for our own good.

Accessible in reading rooms in Harvard Yard, the University archives are an easily viewed fixture of Harvard’s library system — a fixture which students rarely rely on. But in the archives are centuries of resources — essays, letters, trinkets, and more — from some of the most influential figures in American history.

Have you ever wanted to see and hold the personal papers of Henry Dunster, the first president of Harvard? They’re in the archives. Letters and documents from esteemed philosopher John B. Rawls? Nobel laureates? Founding Fathers? A former American president? They’re all in the archives.

These materials can be requested online and are usually available within days. Even better, our University library system has hundreds of staff, including several archivists.

But in conversations with peers, it seems that few undergraduates I know have used the archives for class — let alone for fun. Whether this issue comes from a lack of coursework that engages with Harvard’s archives or a mere lack of knowledge, a whole world of intellectual engagement is lost.

Yet, the real value of Harvard’s archives to us as students is due to their status as examples of original scholarship from those who once stood in our shoes as Harvard students.

In the world of modern scholarship, it seems the majority of undergraduate research consists in synthesising the writing of all-knowing scholars. I’m certainly not saying that this sort of synthesis isn’t an important academic skill. But, for those wishing to go beyond this monotony, the University archives stand as an underutilized resource.

Supplementing any project with archival research often elevates it instantly. It’s nearly impossible to understand the real time reaction of a figure from a biography or textbook, no matter how well-written it is. Such a perspective is more easily gleaned from personal papers in the archives.

Archival research also enables students to understand our University on a deeper level. With Harvard under more scrutiny than ever, it is important that we as students read about the pasts of our administrators, professors, and fellow students in their own words. Only through a visit to the University archives can we learn lessons relevant to the present day from stories of how affiliates have navigated similar challenges over the last four centuries.

To both introduce students to and encourage them to use the University archives, archival work should be a mandatory part of the undergraduate curriculum. For example, all Expository Writing 20 classes could incorporate an archive visit. Archival research should be treated no differently than other standardized learning about Harvard’s library resources.

Our University’s history is far more extensive than buildings and statues. The direct experiences and ponderings of its founders, most notable alumni, and more are at our finger tips.

Students just need to know — and more importantly, actively remember — how to access them.

Mac M. Mertens ’26, a Crimson Editorial editor, is a Classics and History double concentrator in Mather House.