HDS: 200 YEARS OF NEW KNOWLEDGE, NEW VOICES, AND NEW IDEAS

1816

“The theological seminary of the University” is first mentioned in the minutes of the October 18 meeting of the Harvard Corporation, signaling the founding of Harvard Divinity School.

Harvard Divinity School: 200 Years of New Knowledge, New Voices, and New Ideas

1826

The School dedicates its first building, Divinity Hall. “We want powerful ministers, not graceful declaimers, not elegant essayists . . . to make themselves felt in society,” declares the Rev. William Ellery Channing, the day’s featured speaker.

1838

Ralph Waldo Emerson, HDS ’26, urges the School’s senior class to “cast behind you all conformity, and acquaint men at first hand with Deity.” His “Divinity School Address” causes a furor and Emerson is not invited back to campus until 1874.

1872

Charles Carroll Everett, HDS ’59, Bussey Professor of New Testament and Dean of the School, offers a class on East Asian religions, the first comparative religion course given in the United States.