Harvard University. Board of Overseers
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Harvard University. Board of Overseers
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Harvard University. Board of Overseers
Harvard Board of Overseers
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Harvard Board of Overseers
Board of Overseers of Harvard University
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Board of Overseers of Harvard University
Harvard University. Overseers
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Harvard University. Overseers
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Biographical History
The Visiting Committee Prize for Undergraduate Book Collecting was established in the spring of 1977 to recognize and encourage book collecting by undergraduates at Harvard. It is sponsored by the Members of the Board of Overseer's Committee to Visit the Harvard University Library.
The Board of Overseers is one of Harvard's two Governing Boards, the other one being the President and Fellows, more commonly known as the Corporation. The Board of Overseers consists of thirty alumni of the University elected by degree holders in groups of five each year for terms of six years. In addition, the President and Treasurer of the University are ex officio members of Board. Overseers' principal duties are visitation and counsel, which are carried out through the Board's numerous Visiting and Standing Committees. The Secretary of the Board of Overseers and Office of the Governing Boards staff provide administrative services to Board members and act as liaisons between Overseer committees, faculty, University administration, and the Corporation.
The following is an organizational, functional, and legal history of the Board of Overseers of Harvard College. It is only a summary and is intended to serve as a general outline. More detailed history notes are found at the series and subseries level in this finding aid. In addition, numerous published and unpublished sources on the history and development of Harvard University and the role of the Board of Overseers are easily accessible and readily available to the general public. The bibliography at the end of this finding aid offers a listing of some of these resources. Researchers should also consult Harvard's on-line integrated library system (HOLLIS), Harvard's Online Archival Search Information System (OASIS), and the Harvard/Radcliffe Online Historical Reference Shelf for web access to primary and secondary historical sources. Please contact Reference Staff for more assistance.
The Board of Overseers is one of Harvard's two Governing Boards, the other being the President and Fellows, more commonly known as the Corporation. It consists of thirty alumni of the University elected at large by fellow degree holders in annual classes of five members elected for six-year terms. The President and Treasurer of the University are ex officio members of Board. All degree holders, including recipients of honorary degrees, are entitled to vote in Overseers elections. Overseers' principal duties are visitation, counsel, and consent.
The Board of Overseers is the senior of the two governing boards, as it was first appointed in 1637 and then formally founded by an Act of the Great and General Court of Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1642 to oversee College affairs. Originally, the membership of the Board consisted of the President of the College, the Governor, Deputy Governor, and all magistrates of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and the ordained ministers of Cambridge, Watertown, Charlestown, Boston, Roxbury, and Dorchester.
The Charter of 1650, granted by the General Court at the request of Harvard's first president, Henry Dunster, recognized the College as a Corporation consisting of the President, five Fellows, and the Treasurer, and defined the relations of the Corporation to the older Board of Overseers. The Charter, however, failed to clearly delineate the powers between the two Governing Boards, and in 1657 the Board of Overseers petitioned the General Court for a clarification. The Appendix of 1657, added by the General Court to the Charter of 1650, made clear that the Corporation was expected to act as the superior governing board with responsibility for decisions regarding the order and work of the College. However, no Corporation vote, except in emergency cases, was to be considered valid without the consent of the Overseers. In addition to granting consent, the Overseers' primary concern was to be informing themselves about the welfare of the College.
From 1686 to 1707, the Board of Overseers was suspended as a result of a struggle between the Crown and the provincial government over colonial legislative authority. England considered the Charter of 1650 null and void since it had not been granted by the King. A number of interim Charters were proposed and governance of the College shifted between the President and Corporation. However, in 1707 the Charter of 1650 was restored and with it the Board of Overseers were restored as organized under the Act of 1642, with one exception, the Councilors of the Province (and after 1775 of the State) took the place of the Magistrates of the Colony.
During the 19th century, a series of Acts by the Massachusetts Legislature reorganized the membership of the Board of Overseers, did away with the distinction between clerical and lay members, and extended the right to vote in Overseers elections. By 1865, all ex-officio members of the Board were abolished, save for the President of the University, and a total of thirty Overseers constituted the Board. Overseers were elected from residents of Massachusetts by graduates of the University who had either the A.B., A.M., or an honorary degree. In order to vote, Massachusetts resident alumni had to be present at the College on Commencement. Before the end of the century non-resident alumni were eligible for election to and voting for the Board of Overseers. In 1915, the right to vote for Overseers was extended to holders of any Harvard degree and finally in 1921, the right to vote in Overseers' elections was extended beyond the few alumni actually present at Harvard on Commencement Day, to all alumni by means of a mail ballot.
As mentioned earlier, the principal functions of the Board of Overseers are that of visitation and counsel. Originally, under the Act of 1642, the General Court retained the common law power to visit and inspect all areas of the University to ensure the proper administration of charitable funds handled by Harvard. After the Charter of 1650, which led to the separation of Harvard's governmental structure from the colonial legislature, the visitation function was bestowed on the Overseers. In 1780, the adoption of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts confirmed the visitation power conferred on the Overseers by the Charter of 1650. The Board carries out its principle duties of visitation and counsel through its numerous Visiting and Standing Committees.
In the early part of the 18th century, the Board began the systematic exercise of its visitation power through a committee appointed to inquire about the state of the college. The committee reported its findings to the full Board, which would then offer advice and counsel to the President of the College, the Corporation, and the colonial and later the state legislature. By the first third of the 19th century, the Board of Overseers had voted to require annual reports from the President, Treasurer, and Department heads of the College. In addition, the number of the Board's general and special committees to inquire, visit, and examine the College had increased ten fold.
Towards the end of the 19th century, the growth in size of the College's faculty, student body, academic departments, and physical plant placed new and heavy demands on the Board's visiting committees, which were increasingly overwhelmed by committee work, lack of expertise, and/or lack of interest by members. A more effective visiting process was needed and in 1889, the Board of Overseers reorganized its visiting committee structure to better perform its functions of visitation, advice, and counsel and to more adequately meet the needs of the modern University. The reorganization included amending the Board's rules and bylaws to redefine who and how many could serve on committees, clearly stating the duties and areas of responsibility of the various committees, and establishing reporting schedules.
In the years following the reorganization of the Overseers' visiting committees system in 1888-1889, there occurred a significant increase in the number and type of committees and in the volume of the routine administrative, clerical, and financial duties of the Board's Secretary. In 1937, in order to ease the administrative load carried by then Secretary Winthrop H. Wade, the Board of Overseers elected Jerome D. Greene to the newly established office of Assistant Secretary of the Board of Overseers. Prior to 1938, the Secretary of the Board had traditionally been a teaching fellow, an alumnus, and/or a member of the Board of Overseers. The purpose of the new office was to provide administrative and clerical support to the Secretary of the Board. In particular, it was to assist the visiting committees in the performance of their duties. Greene held this position in addition to that of Secretary to the Corporation. The following year Wade retired and Greene was elected Secretary of the Board of Overseers. Thereafter, the Board of Overseers has traditionally elected the Secretary to the Corporation to serve simultaneously as Secretary of the Board.
The Overseers' visiting committee system as reorganized in 1888-1889 remained for the most part unchanged, save for the creation of new visiting committees, until the 1970s. In the late 1960s, student protests and political unrest at Harvard were of great concern to Harvard Alumni who wanted their voices to be heard as well. In addition, many Overseers and alumni had increasingly become frustrated with the organization and functioning of the visiting committee system, as they carried a greater burden of routine administrative tasks and perceived a decline in the impact and usefulness of their committee reports.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s the Board of Overseers continued to address Overseer and alumni dissatisfaction concerning the Board's role or lack thereof in the governance of the University, and in particular the part that visitation played in governance. A number of special committees were appointed to reconsider the role, membership, and procedures of the visiting committees and to review nomination and election procedures for Overseers as well. Among the numerous reforms that have been implemented over the years are the appointment of more experts to visiting committees, a greater role for the standing committees in the reporting system, the requirement of follow-up reports after visits, greater assistance from the staff of the Office of the Governing Boards to help committees improve the quality of their reports, efforts to broaden the search for a more diverse slate of Overseer candidates, and programs to educate and invigorate the alumni electorate.
As recently as 1994, the Board conducted an in depth review of the visitation process in order to ascertain the state and future of the visiting committee system. The resulting report re-affirmed the important work of the visiting committees and recommended that committees begin to concentrate more on long-term planning and ways in which to connect the work of their departments with others throughout the university. This effort coincided with a University-wide campaign to integrate and build stronger ties among Harvard's numerous schools, faculties, and administrative offices.
The Harvard College Board of Overseers was legally established by the General Court of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay in 1642. It is one of Harvard's two governing boards, the other being the President and Fellows of Harvard College (often referred to as "the Corporation"), and now consists of thirty members who are elected by alumni to serve 6-year terms. In addition, Harvard's President and Treasurer serve as ex officio members. Broadly speaking, the function of the Board of Overseers is to encourage the University to maintain the highest attainable standards as a place of learning. To do this, Overseers serve on various standing and visiting committees at the University, through which they conduct research on a range of topics and advise academic and administrative bodies on their strategic directions, priorities, and planning. The Overseers direct the visitation process by which Harvard's schools and departments are periodically reviewed and assessed, and they advise University leaders, including the President. In conjunction with the Corporation, the Overseers approve high-level teaching and administrative appointments. They are also charged with conferring degrees. The Board of Overseers as a whole typically meets five times during the academic year, including a meeting held each year at the time of Harvard's Commencement. At these meetings, the Board hears formal reports from various standing committees and senior University Administrators, including the President. In addition to these meetings of the Board as a whole, individual Overseers meet on separate occasions with the visiting committees and standing committees to which they belong.
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Board of Overseers was involved in a wide range of decisions related to Harvard College, actively shaping its academic priorities and administrative decisions in conjunction with the Corporation. The Board's membership was decidedly different then than it is today, though, as it included (per the General Court's Act of 1642) the Governor, Deputy Governor and the magistrates of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, as well as "the teaching elders of the six next adjoining towns, viz. Cambridge, Watertown, Charlestown, Boston, Roxbury, and Dorchester." For decades following the American Revolution, the membership criteria changed only slightly and the Board included representatives from the government of the new Commonwealth of Massachusetts: the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Counselors, President of the Senate, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, in addition to the aforementioned "teaching elders." Significant changes in the Board of Overseers' composition occurred in 1810, when it was decided that some of the Board's members should be elected, in order to draw upon the expertise and experience of those outside the Board's traditional constituency. An act was passed in March 1810 which declared that, although the core membership would remain the same, the Board of Overseers should also include "fifteen ministers of Congregational churches and fifteen laymen, all inhabitants within the state, to be elected." Although this change in the constitution of the Board of Overseers would prove controversial, and faced serious opposition in 1812 when it was temporarily repealed, by 1814 it had become the established criterion for the Board's membership. Not until the General Court's Act of April 28, 1865, which separated the Overseers from the control of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, would the membership of the Board of Overseers undergo another structural change.
The Secretary of the Board of Overseers is an elected officer of the Board and serves as its chief administrator. The primary duties and responsibilities of the Secretary were laid out by a series of Board of Overseers votes in the early eighteenth century and include the following: notifying Overseers of all regular and special meetings, recording and circulating votes and proceedings of the Board among all members, preparing and furnishing members of the Board with agendas and dockets, and communicating Overseers' votes, routine matters, and other information to the Corporation. In addition, the Secretary and other staff plan and arrange meetings of the full Board, provide administrative assistance to the Board's Standing Committees, provide advice and counsel to Overseers (in particular to the President of the Board and committee chairmen), conduct research and prepare background materials for committee meetings, inform Overseers about Governing Boards' policies and procedures, and facilitate communication between the Board and the Corporation, University administrators, Faculty, students, and alumni.
Prior to 1938, the Secretary of the Board was traditionally a teaching fellow, a Harvard alumnus, and/or a member of the Board of Overseers. However, as the twentieth century progressed and the Secretary's responsibilities and demands grew, the need to professionalize the position became apparent. In the years following the reorganization of the Overseers' Visiting Committees system in 1888-1889, there had been a significant increase in the number and type of committees, as well as in the volume of the routine administrative, clerical, and financial duties of the Secretary. In 1937, in order to ease the administrative load carried by then-Secretary Winthrop H. Wade, the Board of Overseers elected Jerome D. Greene to the newly established office of Assistant Secretary of the Board of Overseers. The purpose of this new office was to provide administrative and clerical support to the Secretary of the Board and to assist the Visiting Committees in performing their duties. Greene held this position, in addition to that of Secretary to the Corporation. In 1938 Wade retired and Greene was elected Secretary of the Board of Overseers. From that time forward, the Board of Overseers has traditionally elected the Secretary to the Corporation to serve simultaneously in that role and as Secretary to the Board of Overseers.
The Harvard College Board of Overseers was legally established by the General Court of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay in 1642. It is one of Harvard's two governing boards, the other being the President and Fellows of Harvard College (often referred to as "the Corporation"), and now consists of thirty members who are elected by alumni to serve 6-year terms. In addition, Harvard's President and Treasurer serve as ex officio members. Broadly speaking, the function of the Board of Overseers is to encourage the University to maintain the highest attainable standards as a place of learning. To do this, Overseers serve on various standing and visiting committees at the University, through which they conduct research on a range of topics and advise academic and administrative bodies on their strategic directions, priorities, and planning. The Overseers direct the visitation process by which Harvard's schools and departments are periodically reviewed and assessed, and they advise University leaders, including the President. In conjunction with the Corporation, the Overseers approve high-level teaching and administrative appointments. They are also charged with conferring degrees. The Board of Overseers as a whole typically meets five times during the academic year, including a meeting held each year at the time of Harvard's Commencement. At these meetings, the Board hears formal reports from various standing committees and senior University Administrators, including the President. In addition to these meetings of the Board as a whole, individual Overseers meet on separate occasions with the visiting committees and standing committees to which they belong.
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Board of Overseers was involved in a wide range of decisions related to Harvard College, actively shaping its academic priorities and administrative decisions in conjunction with the Corporation. The Board's membership was decidedly different then than it is today, as it included (per the Massachusetts General Court's Act of 1642) the Governor, Deputy Governor and the magistrates of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, as well as "the teaching elders of the six next adjoining towns, viz. Cambridge, Watertown, Charlestown, Boston, Roxbury, and Dorchester." For decades following the American Revolution, the membership criteria changed only slightly and the Board included representatives from the government of the new Commonwealth of Massachusetts: the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Counselors, President of the Senate, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, in addition to the aforementioned "teaching elders." Significant changes in the Board of Overseers' composition occurred in 1810, when it was decided that some of the Board's members should be elected, in order to draw upon the expertise and experience of those outside the Board's traditional constituency. An act was passed in March 1810 which declared that, although the core membership would remain the same, the Board of Overseers should also include "fifteen ministers of Congregational churches and fifteen laymen, all inhabitants within the state, to be elected." Although this change in the constitution of the Board of Overseers would prove somewhat controversial, and faced serious opposition in 1812 when it was temporarily repealed, by 1814 it had become the established criterion for the Board's membership. Not until the Massachusetts General Court's Act of April 28, 1865, which separated the Overseers from the control of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, would the membership of the Board of Overseers undergo another structural change.
Nathan Prince (1698-1748) led an adventurous and often tumultuous life. Although educated at Harvard College and employed as one of its Tutors for almost twenty years, he was ultimately forced out of that position because of alleged intemperance and slanderous remarks about his colleagues. After his departure from the College, Prince eventually accepted a position as missionary to the Miskito Indians on the island of Roatán. He died within a year of his arrival.
Nathan Prince was born to Samuel Prince and Mercy (Hinckley) Prince on November 30, 1698 in Sandwich, Massachusetts. He was their twelfth child. Prince attended Harvard College and graduated with the class of 1718; his brother, Thomas Prince, had graduated with the class of 1707. Immediately after graduation, he moved to Bristol, Rhode Island, where he kept school for a year. The following year Nathan kept school in Plymouth, Massachusetts. By the fall of 1720, though, Prince had returned to Cambridge, to renew his studies at Harvard. He received an A.M. from Harvard in 1721 and was recommended by the College's President, John Leverett, to preach at Westerly, Rhode Island. He preached at Westerly until April 1722, when he left to preach at Nantucket and Yarmouth.
In April of 1723, Prince was appointed a Tutor at Harvard College, a position to "be holden without Limitation of time." He taught at Harvard until his dismissal in 1742, and served as a Fellow from 1728 through 1742. Many of Prince's peers believed him to be a remarkable scholar of mathematics and natural philosophy, although he published only one scientific article (on the Aurora Borealis). John Eliot asserted in his Biographical Dictionary that Prince was "in mathematicks and natural philosophy superiour to any man in New England." Prince was also widely known, though, to be hot-tempered and unreliable, and these qualities were likely contributing factors to his being overlooked as a candidate for the Hollis Professorship of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. When John Winthrop was chosen for the position in 1738, following the resignation of Isaac Greenwood (due to intemperance), Prince was deeply disappointed. The rest of his years at Harvard were tumultuous.
From 1738 onwards, Harvard students and faculty appear to have become increasingly upset by Prince and his behavior. Complaints against him were filed regularly, but it was unclear which, if either, of Harvard's governing bodies – the Corporation and the Board of Overseers – had the authority to dismiss him. Ultimately the Board of Overseers filed the series of complaints against Prince which led to his dismissal. They accused him of intemperance, disturbing the peace, contemptuous speech towards the President and Fellows, stirring up strife, ridiculing his peers, and numerous other misdeeds. In February of 1741/2 the Overseers found Prince guilty of all these charges, and although he appealed their decision they refused his appeal. He then appealed to the General Court for assistance, publishing The Constitution and Government of Harvard-College in an effort to prove that his dismissal violated Harvard's constitution, but the Court also refused to hear his argument.
Following his dismissal, Prince fled to Boston, where after some difficulties establishing himself he was eventually allowed, in February 1742/3, to set up a school. The school was unsuccessful, and a year later Prince relocated once again, to Stratford, Connecticut, home of his brother Joseph. Prince taught in Stratford for several years before accepting a position as schoolmaster on the man-of-war Vigilant. He taught aboard the ship until it landed in Lisbon, Portugal in the summer of 1746, when he learned that the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel wished to employ him as a missionary to the Miskito (then called Mosquito) Indians. Prince accepted their offer and traveled on to Portsmouth and London, England for further instructions.
On March 5, 1747/8, Prince sailed for the West Indies aboard the Duke of Bedford. Although the ship was damaged in a storm, it safely arrived in Jamaica in June 1748. The Governor instructed Prince to settle on the "Island of Rattan" (Roatán), which he apparently did in the last month of his life. Nathan Prince died in Roatán on July 25, 1748.
The Harvard College Board of Overseers was legally established by the General Court of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay in 1642. It is one of Harvard's two governing boards, the other being the President and Fellows of Harvard College (often referred to as "the Corporation"), and now consists of thirty members who are elected by alumni to serve 6-year terms. In addition, Harvard's President and Treasurer serve as ex officio members. Broadly speaking, the function of the Board of Overseers is to encourage the University to maintain the highest attainable standards as a place of learning. To do this, Overseers serve on various standing and visiting committees at the University, through which they conduct research on a range of topics and advise academic and administrative bodies on their strategic directions, priorities, and planning. The Overseers direct the visitation process by which Harvard's schools and departments are periodically reviewed and assessed, and they advise University leaders, including the President. In conjunction with the Corporation, the Overseers approve high-level teaching and administrative appointments. They are also charged with conferring degrees. The Board of Overseers as a whole typically meets five times during the academic year, including a meeting held each year at the time of Harvard's Commencement. At these meetings, the Board hears formal reports from various standing committees and senior University Administrators, including the President. In addition to these meetings of the Board as a whole, individual Overseers meet on separate occasions with the visiting committees and standing committees to which they belong.
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Board of Overseers was involved in a wide range of decisions related to Harvard College, actively shaping its academic priorities and administrative decisions in conjunction with the Corporation. The Board's membership was decidedly different then than it is today, though, as it included (per the General Court's Act of 1642) the Governor, Deputy Governor and the magistrates of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, as well as "the teaching elders of the six next adjoining towns, viz. Cambridge, Watertown, Charlestown, Boston, Roxbury, and Dorchester." For decades following the American Revolution, the membership criteria changed only slightly and the Board included representatives from the government of the new Commonwealth of Massachusetts: the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Counselors, President of the Senate, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, in addition to the aforementioned "teaching elders." Significant changes in the Board of Overseers' composition occurred in 1810, when it was decided that some of the Board's members should be elected, in order to draw upon the expertise and experience of those outside the Board's traditional constituency. An act was passed in March 1810 which declared that, although the core membership would remain the same, the Board of Overseers should also include "fifteen ministers of Congregational churches and fifteen laymen, all inhabitants within the state, to be elected." Although this change in the constitution of the Board of Overseers would prove somewhat controversial, and faced serious opposition in 1812 when it was temporarily repealed, by 1814 it had become the established criterion for the Board's membership. Not until the General Court's Act of April 28, 1865, which separated the Overseers from the control of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, would the membership of the Board of Overseers undergo another structural change.
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