College Book 4, 1686-1750 Digital

Regular recording of Corporation meetings began in College Book 4, which includes minutes from July 23, 1686 through September 5, 1750. Its spine title reads "College Book 4 & 5" due to a nineteenth century labeling error. The creation of College Book 4 was precipitated by the English Court of Chancery's October 1684 judgment, which annulled the Royal Charter of the Massachusetts Colony and seemed to render the College Charter of 1650 – and with it the Corporation and Board of Overseers – defunct. In May 1686, Joseph Dudley (Harvard AB 1665) received a commission as the President of the Council of New England, and on July 23, 1686, Dudley and the Council met in Boston to create a provisional College governing board led by Increase Mather as Rector of the College and John Leverett and William Brattle as Tutors. The "Rector and Tutors" mirrored in purpose if not in name the Corporation's "President and Fellows," and the agreements of President Dudley and the Council creating the new governing board comprise the first entry in College Book 4. In June 1692, a new act of incorporation for Harvard College was passed in the Massachusetts Legislature and signed by the Governor. The Charter of 1692 merged the functions of the Board of Overseers and the Corporation into one Corporation consisting of the President, Treasurer, and eight Fellows. As the Corporation created by this 1692 act (and modified in later versions of the Charter) grew unwieldy, its members met less frequently. As a result, the Faculty (known until 1825 as the "Immediate Government") assumed more responsibility in managing the College's daily operations and addressing student discipline. On December 6, 1707 the Massachusetts General Court restored the Charter of 1650, thus reestablishing the Board of Overseers and the Corporation as the governing bodies of Harvard College. The changes in name and composition of the Harvard Corporation between 1686 and 1707 are documented in the proceedings recorded in College Book 4.

College Book 4 consists primarily of meeting minutes which cover the following topics, in addition to those just described: student disorders and expulsions; College laws and policies; faculty and staff appointments and salaries; land and property belonging to Harvard, particularly on Merriconeag Neck (Maine) and in Rowley, Massachusetts; the College's relationship with the Colonial Governors and the Massachusetts General Court; the re-use of bricks originally intended for the Indian College; Treasurers' reports and other information related to College finances; the price of food and other commodities; currency depreciation; donations from Thomas Hollis and the creation of two Hollis professorships; relations with King George (including transcriptions of multiple letters to both King George and his son, George); the Fellowship controversy of 1720-1723; instruction of Indians; donations of books and the publication of library catalogs; memorials on various subjects, submitted to the General Court; the establishment of endowed positions; and the threat of smallpox's effects on the Harvard community. Also noteworthy are minutes from a June 17, 1712 meeting which report that "George Hussey being Convict[ed] of Dressing himself in Women's apparell and walking in the Street in that Scandalous dress, was publickly admonish'd, and made A publick Confession, and degraded."

This volume is in tête-bêche format, with texts beginning at both the front and back covers rotated 180⁰ from one another. Entries at the back of the volume contain early Corporation minutes, beginning in 1686, and many extracts from wills and other deeds of gift granting money or property to the College.