Announcements and Recent Events

NEW PLAQUE PLACED ON DUNSTER GRAVESITE IN 2011

Gravesite of Henry Dunster (1609-1659), first President of Harvard College, Old Burying Yard, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Photo - 2011.

A new plaque was placed on the Henry Dunster gravesite in the fall of 2011, correcting the year of birth (1609) and adding the Harvard motto "In Christi Gloriam" (For the Glory of Christ) to the plaque. For more background on the gravesite, click here.

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. (see below)

The city of Bury (Lancashire) planned to dedicate a new road called "Dunster Road" or "Dunster Way" in honor of the 400th anniversary of the birth of their native son...

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."

PUBLICATIONS, BROADCASTS and LINKS of INTEREST

"Who Was Henry Dunster?" (2010). December 13, 2010 radio interview by Bob Hagan with Arseny James Melnick on Henry Dunster as a model servant leader and the early Christian history and roots of Harvard College. On WFVA AM radio, Fredericksburg, Virginia (73.5 MB MP3 file).

"Henry Dunster's Life and Impact: 400 Years Later" (2009). Presentation at Dunster House, Harvard University, November 12, 2009 by Arseny James Melnick (PDF file)

"Digging Up Dunster: The Vital Link Between Bury Grammar School, Harvard University, and Higher Education in America" (2007), unpublished manuscript by Geoffrey Wandesforde-Smith (PDF file)

"Magdalene and America's First University: The Quatercentenary of Henry Dunster," Magdalene College Magazine, Centenary Issue (No. 53, 2008-2009, pp. 42-49) by Dr Ronald Hyam, College Archivist, Magdalene College, Cambridge University. (NOT AVAILABLE ONLINE)

Bury Grammar School Alumni visit to Harvard (The Bury Times - 2008)

Henry Dunster Association visit of Charles and Debbie Allen from Illinois to Bury (May 2008)