Diary Summary
John Leverett's diary begins the day Leverett was chosen president of Harvard College on October 28, 1707 and continues irregularly until August 23, 1723. The bulk of the entries in Leverett's diary document his interaction with members of the Corporation and Board of Overseers, including descriptions of Corporation and Overseers meetings and votes taken.
Contents of the diary include:
- Tabular summary of the diary years
- Benjamin Wadsworth's minutes of Leverett's installation as president of Harvard College in January 1708
- Details of Leverett's inauguration, including his Latin inaugural oration; Governor Joseph Dudley's Latin oration given at Leverett's inauguration, January 14, 1708
- Leverett's Latin addresses at the inaugurations of Joseph Stevens as Fellow of the College, February 14, 1712, Edward Holyoke as Resident Fellow, September 20, 1712, and Edward Wigglesworth as Hollis Professor of Divinity, October 23, 1722
- Address of Thirty-Nine Ministers to Governor Dudley, with their names and residences, in which the ministers express their happiness over the appointment of Leverett as president of Harvard College
- Description of the controversy involving student Ebenezer Pierpont and tutor Nicholas Sever(because of various infractions, Pierpont was denied his second degree by Sever)
- Copies of acts of the General Court related to the College charters
- Essay Concerning Innate or Inbred Knowledgeexcerpted from Bishop William Sherlock's work on immortality, A Discourse Concerning the Happiness of Good Men,1705.
Selected items within the diary have been published elsewhere. Governor Joseph Dudley's Latin oration given at Leverett's inauguration, January 14, 1708 was published in Publications of The Colonial Society of Massachusetts, vol. 49, pp. 221-223. Leverett's Latin address at the inauguration of Edward Wigglesworth was published in Manuscripta, vol. 22 (1978), pp. 109-112. The Address of Thirty-Nine Ministers to Governor Dudley was published in History of Harvard University by Josiah Quincy, vol. I, pp. 504-505.
Dates
- Creation: 1707-1723
Conditions on Use and Access
The Papers of John Leverett are open for research use. Access to fragile original documents may be restricted. Please consult the reference staff for further details.
Extent
2 cubic feet (2 document boxes, 2 legal half document boxes, 4 volumes, 2 flat boxes, 3 microfilm reels)Creator
- From the Series: Leverett, John, 1662-1724 (Person)
Repository Details
Part of the Harvard University Archives Repository
Holding nearly four centuries of materials, the Harvard University Archives is the principal repository for the institutional records of Harvard University and the personal archives of Harvard faculty, as well as collections related to students, alumni, Harvard-affiliates and other associated topics. The collections document the intellectual, cultural, administrative and social life of Harvard and the influence of the University as it emerged across the globe.
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