Charters and legislative acts relating to the governance of Harvard

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Original charter dated May 31, 1650. The charter is engrossed on sheepskin and signed by Thomas Dudley.

Scope and Contents This folder contains photostat copies of the handwritten copy of the Charter of 1650 held in the Public Record Office of London. The folder contains two photostat folio pages of the charter and the verso of one of the pages containing the handwritten note: "No power given in this charter to confer Degrees unless under the name of the bylaws." There is also a photocopy of the photostat pages. The original copy is described in the Calendar of State Papers,...

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Four-page folio-sized handwritten copy of the Charter of 1650 attested, "By the Court Edward Rawson, Secretary," in an unknown hand. The verso has a handwritten title: "Charter of Camb. College."

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Two-leaf folio-sized handwritten copy of the Charter of 1650 attested "By the Court Edward Rawson, Secret" in an unknown hand. The verso has a handwritten title: "Coppy of Colledge Charter."

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Two-leaf folio-sized handwritten copy of the 1642 General Court legislation and the Charter of 1650 attested, "Taken out of the College Records A true Copy compared p Henry Flynt." The verso has a handwritten title: "Constitution of Overseers and Corporation."

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Four-page handwritten copy of the Charter of 1650 attested, "Copy examd p J. Willard, Secry. A true copy, A true copy exam'd p Saml Phipps [Rev pac], A true copy examd p Saml Phipps Rev, A true copy examd p Samuel Tyley Rev." The verso has a handwritten title: "General Court Act for Incorporating ye College 1650."

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One folio-sized leaf with a copy of the Charter of 1650 attested "By the Court Edwd. Rawson, Sec." The verso has a handwritten title: "College Charter Copy."

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Wooden box likely made in the 1830s to house the folded parchment charter on formal occasions. The box is made of black morocco with gold tooling and has a center exterior panel that reads "The President and Fellows of Harvard College. A.D. 1650. Charters." The interior of the box is lined with red velvet.

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Original charter dated 1692 engrossed on sheepskin and signed by William Phips and Isaac Addington, Secretary. A section of text on degrees is annotated with a handwritten note attributed to Increase Mather: "empowr'd to give Degrees in Divinity." Only remnants of the Massachusetts seal remain.

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Two handwritten 19th century copies of the charter of 1692. The first copy is handwritten on two folio-sized leaves and is signed "The foregoing is a true copy from the College Book No. 4 Attest Joseph Willard President of Harvard." The copy includes some struck-out words. The second copy does not include the Willard certification and uses ampersands instead of spelling out "and" as the first copy does.

Scope and Contents This series contains the original Charter of 1697 signed by the acting Governor of Massachusetts, William Stoughton on June 4, 1697. The Charter of 1697 amended the Charter of 1692 with the creation of a supervisory group of visitors for the College and increased the size of the Corporation to include fourteen Fellows. But, as with the 1692 Charter, it did not acknowledge the King's power of visitation and was disallowed by the King in Council. The Charter of 1697 is engrossed on sheepskin...

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A six-page typed copy of the 1700 draft of the charter with the note: "From a copy of the Draught in the possession of the Bishop of London; Brought to America by Bishop Ingram for inspection in October 1907.

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A four-page folio-sized handwritten copy of the resolve of 1700.

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This series contains the original Resolve of 1707 written on parchment and signed by Massachusetts Governor Joseph Dudley. The concurrent resolve, signed on December 6, 1707, authorized President John Leverett’s election, assigned him a salary of 150, and declared that as the Charter of 1650 had never been “repealed or Nulled,” the Corporation should “regulate them selves according to the Rules of the Constitution.”

Scope and Contents This series contains a fragment of the proposed charter believed to be in John Leverett's hand, ca. 1723. Leverett drafted the charter to accompany a request for a royal charter from King George I following contentious debate among Harvard tutors, the Corporation and Board of Overseers, and the Massachusetts General Court about the right of Tutors to be elected as Fellows of the Corporation. The draft was never presented, and when Leverett died on May 3, 1724, the matter was abandoned. The...

Scope and Contents This series contains the original 1810 legislation with the seal of the State of Massachusetts engrossed on sheepskin with the seal of the State of Massachusetts. The Act to alter and amend the Constitution of the Board of Overseers of Harvard College, passed on March 6, 1810, reduced the number of ex-officio ministerial and political Overseers, and allowed for the Board to elect fifteen new laymen as members. The Act of 1810 was repealed on February 29, 1812, but on February 28, 1814, the...

Scope and Contents This series contains the original 1814 legislation engrossed on parchment with the seal of the State of Massachusetts and approved by Governor Caleb Strong. The Act to restore the Board of Overseers of Harvard College, passed February 28, 1814, repealed the Act of 1812 that had repealed the Act of 1810. The 1814 legislation restored the 1810 layout of the Board of Overseers and added the State Senate as ex-officio members. The copy is attested to by Alden Bradford, Secretary of the...