THE 400th ANNIVERSARY QUATERCENTENARY: COMMEMORATIONS DURING 2009 AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY, MAGDALENE COLLEGE (CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY), AND BURY (LANCASHIRE)
The 400th anniversary in 2009 of Henry Dunster's birth in 1609 was celebrated by the following events:
Harvard University Archives successfully digitized the Henry Dunster Papers in time for the 400th anniversary in part through generous support from the Sidney Verba Fund. The Dunster Papers are available online here. The University Archives' Call Number for the Dunster Papers is UAI 15.850.
Magdalene College (Cambridge University) celebrated Dunster's 400th anniversary during Michaelmas Term with a special Choral Evensong service on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 2009, that included music from the Bay Psalm Book and other American melodies, as well as a reading from Dunster's 'Confession of Faith.' A special commemorative article on Harvard and Dunster was also published in Magdalene College Magazine, "Magdalene and America's First University: The Quatercentenary of Henry Dunster," (No. 53, 2008-2009, pp. 42-49) by Dr Ronald Hyam, College Archivist, Magdalene College, Cambridge University.
The city of Bury (Lancashire) now has a road called "Dunster Road." It is 168 meters in length.
The rector of the Bury Parish Church in Bury, Lancashire, offered a special prayer on November 29, 2009, in honor of Dunster, noting his "zeal for the Gospel of Christ, and wisdom to guide the studies of the young: accept our thanks for his ministry in Bury and in Harvard...sustain in the bonds of fellowship those who honour his name, in the Old World and in the New; through him who is the beginning and end of all things, even Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
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Plaque on gravesite of Henry Dunster (1609-1659). First President of Harvard College, Old Burying Yard, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Photo - 2011 "In Christi Gloriam" means "For the Glory of Christ"
Restored Henry Dunster gravesite after 2015 cleaning