A collection of features and graduate profiles covering Harvard’s 375th Commencement.
It was a historic thank you.
Harvard President Samuel Langdon and the fellows of the College held an assembly and voted to award Gen. George Washington an honorary doctoral degree on April 3, 1776, about two weeks after the Continental Army forced the British out of Boston, a turning point in the War for Independence.
“Harvard awarded Washington this degree partially to recognize the success of the work that he did as a general, driving the British forces from Boston and freeing the city and Harvard from occupation,” said University Archivist Virginia Hunt. “We conferred the degree as an expression of the gratitude of the College for his eminent service to his country and to society.”
Washington was neither the first, nor would he be the last, major figure of the Revolution to be honored by the University. But the degree reflected the close ties between the history of the institution, which holds its 375th commencement this year, and that of the nation’s founding 250 years ago.
