Photos: Harvard's past pomp and circumstances
Confetti fell during commencement for Harvard University at Harvard Stadium in Boston on June 22, 1939.
Boston Globe Archive
Harvard president James B. Conant and Reginald Fitz, president of the alumni association, led graduates during commencement on June 29, 1944. War and the uniforms of the armed forces predominated in the abbreviated ceremonies, illustrating what Conant remarked in his report to the alumni as "the effect of total war on a university dedicated to the arts of peace." In all schools of the university, Conant conferred only 251 degrees, the smallest number since 1875.
Boston Globe Archive
Harvard University students posed for a photo with the John Harvard statue in Harvard Yard on their way to commencement on June 23, 1949.
Charles F. McCormick/Globe Staff
Part of the crowd at the Harvard commencement at Harvard Yard in Cambridge on June 24, 1949.
Boston Globe Archive
Coretta Scott King gave the Harvard Class Day address in Sanders Theatre at Harvard University in Cambridge, on June 12, 1958.
Phil Preston/Globe Staff
Graduates listened during the Harvard University commencement on June 12, 1969. Students walked out during the commencement following a speech by Students For A Democratic Society member Bruce Allen, who was suspended for participating in the April occupation of University Hall.
Ted Dully/Globe Staff
John Lithgow and his assistants turned the humorous Ivy Oration into oratorio at Harvard's Class Day ceremonies during his own commencement in 1967.
William Tobey/Harvard News Offic
A group of Cambridge residents took over the stage to demand university land for low-income housing during the 1970 Harvard University commencement in Cambridge on Jun. 11, 1970.
Phil Preston/Globe Staff
A protest against Harvard holdings in Gulf Oil took place during the 1972 Harvard University commencement in Cambridge on Jun. 15, 1972.
Ted Dully/Globe Staff
Graduates wore women's liberation signs during the 1972 Harvard University commencement in Cambridge on Jun. 15, 1972. Harvard and Radcliffe College held joint commencement exercises for the first time in 1970. The two schools, segregated by gender, wouldn't fully merge until 1999.
Ted Dully/Globe Staff
Muhammad Ali spoke during the Harvard Business School commencement in Cambridge on June 4, 1975.
David L. Ryan/Globe Staff
A man used a newspaper as a hat to shield himself from the rain during Harvard commencement on June 12, 1975.
Ted Dully/Globe Staff
Roger Baldwin, class of 1905, and Larry Newell, class of 1904, stood in the associated Harvard alumni procession during the school's commencement on June 17, 1976.
Bill Curtis/Globe Staff
Russian novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn stood in a doorway with Harvard University president Derek Bok during the 1978 Harvard commencement in Cambridge on Jun. 8, 1978.
Paul Connell/Globe Staff
Muppet character Kermit the Frog appeared at pre-commencement activities at Harvard University in Cambridge, on June 7, 1982.
David L. Ryan/Globe Staff
Mother Teresa and John Kenneth Galbraith met before commencement at Harvard University in Cambridge on July 10, 1982.
Ted Dully/Globe Staff
Jim Hammerman kept a close eye on his daughter Hannah, 16 months, during the Harvard University commencement on Jun. 8, 1989. Hammerman received a master's degree in education.
Barry Chin/Globe Staff
Harvard University graduates cheered and held balloons during the Harvard University commencement in Cambridge on Jun. 10, 1993. The balloons, reading "Lift The Ban," were in reference to the prohibition of gay and lesbian people openly serving in the military.
Mark Wilson/Globe Staff
Inflatable sharks flew through the air as the graduates from Harvard School of Law celebrated their commencement on June 5, 1997.
CHIN, Barry GLOBE STAFF
Graduates from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University celebrated their commencement on June 4, 1998.
CHIN, Barry GLOBE STAFF
Bill Russell, Harvard University president Larry Summers, and Bill Gates sat on stage during the school's commencement ceremony on June 7, 2007.
Ryan, David L. Globe Staff
Kevin Michael Bache celebrated with other Harvard graduates during the commencement on June 7, 2007.
Ryan, David L. Globe Staff
While standing to receive her honorary degree, US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was surprised with a serenade from Spanish tenor Placido Domingo after he received his honorary degree at Harvard University commencement on May 26, 2011.
Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and Oprah Winfrey laughed during the Harvard commencement on May 30, 2013.
David L. Ryan
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