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Recent coverage from @wgbh highlights that American colleges in the 18th century were “training grounds for young minds who carried new political ideas into the world.”
That’s exactly what our current exhibition, Harvard and the American Revolution, examines: what Harvard students experienced on campus and how they helped shape a new nation as alumni.
Explore the full exhibition in person at the Harvard University Archives or online via link in bio.
Pusey Library is free and open to the public weekdays from 10a-6p. Check our website for exceptions!
#harvarduniversity #america250 #harvarduniversityarchives #harvardlibrary
Image: Detail from "A Plan of the Colleges with the Land Adjoining containing about six acres as survey'd in June 1784," drawing by Joshua Green, HUV 2181.
Study spots that hit the spot. 📚
Woodberry Poetry Room in Lamont, Tozzer Library, and Loker Reading Room in Widener — just a few of our spaces supporting our students this reading period.
Best of luck on your finals, Harvard!
#HarvardLibrary #Finals
From training the leaders of the emerging American nation to housing soldiers during the American Revolution, Harvard played an important role in early America.
Our new Harvard and the American Revolution exhibit reveals how the Harvard community helped shape—and was shaped by—the birth of the American republic.
Visit the exhibit to learn how Harvard contributed to the nation’s struggle for independence.
Harvard University Archives, Pusey Library, Harvard Yard. Open to the public. 10am - 6pm, Monday to Friday.
#America250 #HarvardLibrary #HarvardUniversityArchives
The January-February 2026 Issue of the Harvard Magazine featured an article about Daniel Mendoza, England’s first sports megastar in the late 1700s. This lithograph image is a part of the Fine Arts Library’s “Portraits of boxers and other athletes” collection. Evert Jansen Wendell (A.B. Harvard 1882) was an avid sportsman in his student days. In later life, he collected sporting images among thousands of other portrait images and upon his death donated them to his alma mater. The featured image captures a 72-round bout on September 20th in 1790 between Daniel Mendoza and Richard Humphreys, who was Mendoza’s mentor-turned-rival.
Mendoza was a very popular prizefighter and published two books on the subject (The Art of Boxing and The Modern Art of Boxing) and played a key role in advancing scientific technique in boxing. His first fight occurred by accident when he was just 16 and working for a tea dealer. One day in 1780, a dispute arose between the tea dealer and a porter over payment for a consignment of tea and the porter challenged the owner to a duel with fists. Mendoza stepped in for his frail employer, believing that the porter was cheating. The fight took place in the street within a hastily constructed ring and lasted for 45 minutes, ending when the porter was declared unable to continue.
Wendell, Evert Jansen, and Samuel William Fores. 1790. The Manner in Which Mendoza Caught Humphries Twice, and Generously Laid Him down without Taking the Advantage of His Situation.
30cm x 39cm, Lithograph
HOLLIS number: olvwork707712
#DanielMendoza #Boxer #HarvardFineArtsLibrary #HarvardLibrary #SpecialCollections @harvardmagazine@harvardlibrary
