The Harvard Crimson

The Harvard Crimson was one of many college newspapers founded shortly after the end of Civil War. The paper describes itself as "the nation's oldest continuously published daily college newspaper", although this description is contested by other college newspapers.[9] The Crimson traces its origin to the first issue of The Magenta, published January 24, 1873, despite strong discouragement from the Dean. The faculty of the College had suspended the existence of several previous student newspapers, including the Collegian, whose motto Dulce et Periculum ("sweet and dangerous") represented the precarious place of the student press at Harvard University in the late 19th century. The Magenta's editors declined Dean Burney's advice and moved forward with a biweekly paper, "a thin layer of editorial content surrounded by an even thinner wrapper of advertising".

The paper changed its name to The Crimson in 1875 when Harvard changed its official color by a vote of the student body—the announcement came with a full-page editorial announcing "magenta is not now, and ... never has been, the right color of Harvard." This particular issue, May 21, 1875, also included several reports on athletic events, a concert review, and a call for local shopkeepers to stock the exact shade of crimson ribbon, to avoid "startling variations in the colors worn by Harvard men at the races".

The Crimson included more substance in the 1880s, as the paper's editors were more eager to engage in a quality of journalism like that of muckraking big-city newspapers; it was at this time that the paper moved first from a biweekly to a weekly, and then to a daily in 1883.

In 1885, The Crimson switched from a fortnightly publication to a daily newspaper.[10]

The paper flourished at the beginning of the 20th century with the commission of its own building in 1915, located at 14 Plympton Street in Cambridge, which remains the paper's headquarters, and its purchase of Harvard Illustrated Magazine and the establishment of an editorial board in 1911.[11] The Illustrated's editors became Crimson photographers, and thereby established the photographic board. The newspaper's president no longer authored editorials single-handedly, and the paper took stronger editorial positions.

During 1930s and 1940s, reduced financial resources and competition from a publication established by ex-editors represented serious challenges to the Crimson's viability. In 1943, the banner on the paper read Harvard Service News, and the stories focused almost exclusively on Harvard's contribution to World War II. Under the authority of so-called wartime administrative necessity, alumni discouraged the Service News from editorializing. The paper was administered during the war by a board of Harvard University administrators, alumni, and students.

In 1934, The Crimson defended a proposal by Adolf Hitler's press secretary, Ernst F. Sedgwick Hanfstaengl, to donate to Harvard a prize scholarship to enable a Harvard student to attend a Nazi university. The Harvard Corporation voted unanimously to refuse the offer: "We are unwilling to accept a gift from one who has been so closely identified with the leadership of a political party which has inflicted damage on the universities of Germany through measures which have struck at principles we believe to be fundamental to universities throughout the world." The Crimson defended it, "That political theories should prevent a Harvard student from enjoying an opportunity for research in one of the world's greatest cultural centers is most unfortunate and scarcely in line with the liberal traditions of which Harvard is pardonably proud."[12]

The paper returned to its traditional civilian version in 1946, and it grew larger, more financially secure, more diversified, and began more extensive coverage of the world outside the campus during the early Cold War era.

While financially independent and independent of editorial control by the Harvard University administration, the newspaper remained under the university's administrative control with its student staff subject to university rules and discipline. Radcliffe women on staff were forced to follow curfews to which Harvard men were not subject, and that interfered greatly with the late hours required in producing a newspaper. Throughout the 1950s, The Crimson and various university officials exchanged letters debating these restrictions. Crimson editors pushed for later curfews for their female writers, who grew increasingly involved in the newspaper's daily operations. Under president Phillip Cronin ('53), women became staff members rather than Radcliffe correspondents.

Crimson writers were involved in national issues, especially when anti-communist investigative committees came to Harvard. Future Pulitzer Prize–winning writer Anthony Lukas' stories, including an interview with HUAC witness Wendell H. Furry, were sometimes picked up by the Associated Press. Not even a staff writer yet, Lukas had arrived at the university with Joseph McCarthy's home number in his pocket. His father was an opponent of McCarthy's and a member of the American Jewish Committee, the group that produced Commentary magazine.

In 1966, The Harvard Crimson, Inc. was incorporated as a nonprofit Massachusetts corporation. The incorporation was involuntarily revoked, then revived, in 1986.[13] The paper's key leadership include a president, managing editor, and business manager.

In 1991, student reporters for The Crimson were the first to break the news that Harvard had selected former Neil Leon Rudenstine, then Princeton University's provost, to succeed Derek Bok as the university's president. The reporters, who had learned of a secret meeting in New York City, got their confirmation when they approached a surprised Rudenstine on his plane ride back to Boston. The story appeared in an extra bearing the dateline "Somewhere Over New England". Crimson editors repeated the scoop in 2001, beating out national media outlets to report that Lawrence Summers would succeed Rudenstine, and again in 2007, being the first to report Drew Gilpin Faust's ascension to the presidency.[14]

Throughout the 1990s, there was a great deal of focus on making the staff of the paper more inclusive and diverse. Over time, a financial aid program was instituted to try to address the problem of a lack of socio-economic diversity. Today, some 90 editors participate in the financial aid program every semester.

On January 12, 2004, The Crimson printed its first color edition after obtaining and installing four new Goss Community color presses. The date also marked the unveiling of a major redesign of the paper itself.

In 2004, The Crimson filed a lawsuit against Harvard University to force the Harvard University Police Department to release more complete records to the public. The case was heard before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in November 2005. In January 2006, the court decided the case against The Crimson and in favor of the university.

In November 2005, The Crimson had its records subpoenaed by ConnectU in relation to its lawsuit against Facebook. The Crimson challenged the subpoena, stating that it would not comply with ConnectU's demands for documents.

On April 23, 2006, The Crimson was the first to allege that portions of Harvard student Kaavya Viswanathan's highly publicized debut young adult novel How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life had been plagiarized from two bestselling books by novelist Megan McCafferty.[15][16][17] Further allegations were later made that Viswanathan's novel had drawn inappropriately from other novels as well.[15][16][17]

In 2019, The Harvard Crimson came under fire from some Harvard student groups after an article on a campus protest calling for the abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The article included the fact that ICE did not respond to a request for comment, leading to backlash from Harvard student groups who said that reaching out to ICE endangered Harvard students. The Crimson stood by its reporting and received support from journalistic ethics experts.[18][19]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, The Crimson abruptly switched to an internet-only format in March 2020. Paper editions were later restored during the fall 2021 semester. In July 2022, the paper announced that it was changing from daily to weekly issues that fall as part of a shift to digital-first journalism.[20]

On April 29, 2022, the paper editorialized support for the BDS movement.[21] In a May 1, 2022 editorial, the editors wrote, "We are proud to finally lend our support to both Palestinian liberation and BDS — and we call on everyone to do the same." The paper's editorial board admitted that where it previously held a "skeptical" stance on the matter, it has now shifted to fully supporting the BDS campaign, insisting that, "The weight of this moment — of Israel's human rights and international law violations and of Palestine's cry for freedom — demands this step".[22]