1969–1970 Harvard University unrest

During the Vietnam War, Harvard University was the site of a number of protests against both the war generally and Harvard's connections to the war specifically.

General unrest

As part of the wider anti-war movement of the 1960s, student organisations such as the Harvard chapter of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) ran anti-war activities on campus. In November 1966 for instance, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara was prevented from leaving the campus by a group of about 800 students. Forced from his car, he was hoisted up on the hood of a convertible, where he agreed to answer questions from the crowd on the Vietnam War.^[1] A letter signed by 2,700 Harvard undergraduates apologising to McNamara was sent to him a few days after.^[2]

A year later, in October 1967, a recruitment visit by

On the night of April 8 to 9, a group of about 300 students, led by the SDS, tacked a list of demands on the door of the home of Nathan Pusey, then President of Harvard. Not only did it call for the abolition of ROTC, but also for lower rent and student involvement in designing the curriculum for the Afro-American studies degree.^[4] The demands were later rejected by Pusey as baseless.^[5]: 27 At noon on April 9, a group of 30^[3] to 70^[4] students entered University Hall, ejecting administrative staff and faculty. While most left the building peacefully, some faculty like assistant dean Archie Epps were forcefully expelled.^[5]: 22 At 4:15pm Harvard Yard was closed off by the administration, citing safety concerns. The occupiers were threatened with criminal prosecution and disciplinary action if they did not leave by 4:30.^[5]: 24 The Boston Globe estimated the number of students inside University Hall to now be about 500,^[4] with at least 3000 onlookers in the Yard.^[5]: 27 At 5pm, a meeting between moderate students and Dean Fred Glimp was convened at Lowell Lecture Hall, both agreeing on a peaceful resolution of the conflict.^[5]: 27

At 10pm on April 9, Pusey decided to call in city and state police for help.^[4] At 4:45am that night, the mayor of Cambridge, Walter Sullivan, warned the occupiers to leave, before sending over 400 police officers in at 5am.^[5]: 28 Estimates on the number of people arrested vary between 100,^[4] 196,^[6]: 30 and 300.^[7] Amongst them were a number of press people, who got released immediately.^[5]: 28 At least 75 persons were injured,^[7] of which about 50 were treated at hospitals.^[6]: 30 Most of those arrested were charged with trespassing, of whom around 170 were fined twenty dollars. Three were charged with assault and battery, and two were sentenced to nine months in jail.^[4][6]: 30

After the

The march to Harvard Yard was described by The New York Times as largely peaceful,^[10] with rocks being thrown sporadically. A sound truck encouraged participants to “go all the way to Harvard Square – where the enemies are”.^[11] The number of protesters was estimated to be around 1,500 by the time they entered Harvard Square at 7pm.^[10] At 7:20pm, the street lights were turned off and police formed a line, wearing masks and no badges.^[11] Some protesters started rioting, throwing bricks, smashing windows, setting fires and taunting Harvard University students watching from their dormitories.^[10] While two buildings and two police cars were set on fire, fire trucks were able to quickly extinguish these. The roughly 2,000 police officers present started charging the protesters at 8:19pm, firing tear gas^[11] and occasionally throwing back bricks thrown at them. The streets were cleared at about 1am and the 2,000 National Guard soldiers who were standing by at their Boston and Cambridge armouries were dismissed at 2am. A curfew imposed that evening was lifted at 6am.^[10]

At least 314 people were treated for injuries at hospitals, including 35 policemen.^[10] 70 of those injuries were serious lacerations or bone fractures.^[11] The damages were estimated at $100,000 (equivalent to $780,000 in 2023) by the Cambridge city manager James L. Sullivan.^[10] Harvard University officials maintained that few Harvard students were involved and promised to provide legal assistance to any students arrested.^[11]

Future Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was at this event, and credits it for his becoming disillusioned with leftist movements and beginning his turn towards conservatism.^{[12][13][14][15]}

Bombing of the Harvard Semitic Museum

The Harvard Semitic Museum, now the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East, housed the Center for International Affairs (CFIA) on the top floors of its building.^[16] It provided economic advisory to developing countries and conducted research on international issues, but it was accused by the Students for a Democratic Society in 1965 as supporting the anti-Communist regime in Indonesia.^[17] Henry Kissinger was an Associate Director at the Center,^[16] but was working as Richard Nixon’s National Security Advisor at the time of the bombing.^[18] These factors made the CFIA and by extension the building in which it was housed a prime target for anti-war groups.

On October 14, 1970, a few minutes after 1am, a bomb placed in the desk of an Army colonel visiting Harvard for independent study, exploded on the third floor of the museum. Roughly 25 minutes earlier, a woman telephoned a warning to the Harvard Police. No one was in the building at that time.^[17]

In a letter sent to Boston news outlets the following day, the Proud Eagle Tribe claimed responsibility, describing themselves as a group of "revolutionary women" aiming to destroy "Amerikan [sic] imperialism".^[18][19] Museum staff had seen two unidentified young women in the building about 4 pm the day before the bombing.^[17] The FBI investigated but the case was not solved.^[18]

See also

• Occupy Harvard for similar political activities at Harvard University
• History of Harvard University

References