Henry Dunster

Background

Henry Dunster was born circa 1609 (baptized November 26, 1609) in Bury, Lancashire, England, the fifth child of a yeoman farmer.

Education

At 17 Henry entered Magdalene College at Cambridge University and, upon completion of requirements, received a Bachelor of Arts degree. He returned to Bury as a teacher and curate, studied Oriental languages, and in 1634 was granted a Master of Arts degree from Cambridge.

Career

Under spiritual stress, Dunster gravitated to Puritanism and emigrated to New England. Although relatively unknown, he was chosen president of Harvard College upon his arrival in Boston in 1640. He revived an institution that was virtually defunct, reuniting the scattered student body and establishing degree requirements. With Cambridge and Oxford as models, he was determined to put Harvard on secure foundations. The college laws were first codified in 1646, a charter obtained in 1650, and the holdings of the library increased through gifts.

Dunster and Thomas Shepard, the eminent Puritan and theologian, petitioned the New England Confederation for contributions from the inhabitants, obtaining £250 in gifts of wheat by 1653. Dunster advocated 4 years residence for the Bachelor of Arts degree, and although protesting students refused to pay commencement fees, he successfully instituted the change.

Public hostility to Dunster’s Baptist views led to demands for his resignation from Harvard. On October 24, 1654, he resigned, later becoming a minister in Scituate in Plymouth Colony. He died there in 1659.

Achievements

• Henry Dunster rescued Harvard on the verge of closing its doors and in all respects laid the groundwork for making it the leading institution of higher education in North America, and eventually in the world. Among his other notable achievements, he helped craft the Massachusetts school system, set up the first printing press, which evolved into Harvard University Press, and drafted the 1650 Charter for the President and Fellows of Harvard College (the Harvard Corporation), the first corporation chartered in the New World.

Religion

In 1653 Dunster scandalized the Massachusetts colony by adopting Baptist views and refusing to have his child baptized.

Connections

In 1641 Dunster married Elizabeth Harris Glover, the widow of Jose Glover. Marriage brought him financial security and also Glover's printing press. His wife's death in 1643 led to conflict between her children by her first marriage and Dunster over the estate. In 1644 he chose a second wife, Elizabeth Atkinson, who outlived him. Together they had five children.

Spouse:

Elizabeth Atkinson

Spouse:

Elizabeth Harris Glover

References

• Life of Henry Dunster: First President of Harvard College (Classic Reprint)