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Statue of John Harvard

John Harvard is a sculpture in bronze by Daniel Chester French in Harvard Yard, Cambridge, Massachu­setts, honoring clergyman John Harvard (1607–1638), whose deathbed[2] bequest to the "schoale or Colledge" recently undertaken by the Massachu­setts Bay Colony was so gratefully received that it was consequently ordered "that the Colledge agreed upon formerly to bee built at Cambridg shalbee called Harvard Colledge." [3] There being nothing to indicate what John Harvard had looked like, French used a Harvard student collaterally descended from an early Harvard president as inspiration.

John Harvard

1884 (1884)

Bronze

  • Figure: 71 by 38.6 by 65 in
    (180 by 98 by 165 cm)
  • Plinth: 61 by 72 by 12 in
    (155 by 183 by 30 cm)[1]

Harvard Yard, Cambridge, Massachusetts

The statue's inscription‍—‌JOHN HARVARD  •   FOUNDER  • 1638‍—‌is the subject of an arch polemic[4] traditionally recited for visitors, questioning whether John Harvard justly merits the honorific founder. According to a Harvard official, the founding of the college was not the act of one but the work of many, and John Harvard is therefore considered not the founder, but rather a founder, of the school, though the timeliness and generosity of his contribution have made him the most honored of these.


Tourists often rub the toe of John Harvard's left shoe for luck.

The World (New York, New York; June 2, p. 2): "A Jocular Outrage — Harvard Students Exceed Decency in Celebrating."

Evening Gazette (Sterling, Illinois; June 2, p. 4): "Harvard Students on an Outra­geous Tear. — Slathers of Red Paint Used. — The Fine Statue of the College Founder Ruined by the Crazy ."

Scapegraces

Fort Wayne Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Indiana; June 2, p. 5): "The faculty will expel the criminals and persecute [sic] them if found."

The Philadelphia Record: "Painted Harvard Red — Disgraceful Antics of Rum-Crazed Students. — Cambridge is Horri­fied. — The Faculty Bent on Venge­ance ... Last night the whole college celebrated a wild orgie [] ... There were suppers, bonfires, fish-horns and a general pandemo­ni­um; but, save the insane acts of two of the students, who, overcome with enthusi­asm, deliber­ately threw their dress coats into the bonfire while dancing around the blaze, no great overt act was then commit­ted ... It was during the small hours that the vandals were abroad ... [John Harvard's] face, hands, books, and shoes were bright crimson, and his clothes striped like a zebra." [34]

sic

Public sculptures by Daniel Chester French

Statue of John Bridge

Life, vol. 10, no. 18 (May 5, 1941), cover (showing "John Harvard [statue] & Freshman") and pp. 22, 89–​99.

Harvard: America's Great University Now Leads the World

History of Harvard College (title page showing "Quincy seal")

Josiah Quincy

 – Detailed technical inventory

Smithsonian American Art Museum – Inventory of American Sculpture – John Harvard (sculpture)

42°22′28″N 71°07′02″W / 42.37447°N 71.11719°W / 42.37447; -71.11719