Harvard College is founded
Choose a PDF, read on screen, and try the word game.
Choose your PDF reading
All four include an image, vocabulary, comprehension questions, a follow-up reading, and teacher guidance. These English PDFs have selectable text; use the reading below for adjustable text and listening tools.
Read on this page

Words to know
- college
- a school for study after high school
- record
- information kept so people can use it later
- access
- a way to reach, enter, or use something
A college began in Cambridge in 1636. It later took the name Harvard. Early students were men. Many studied for religious work. Its history includes learning, exclusion, and people whose labor was exploited.
Talk about the reading
What happened? Point to a detail that supports your answer. What does the picture help you understand? What would you like to investigate next?
Follow-up: Anne Hutchinson challenges authority
Anne Hutchinson held meetings about religion. Leaders disagreed with her teachings. A court ordered her to leave Massachusetts Bay in 1637. She left in 1638. Her story raises questions about who could speak.
How are the two events connected or different? Their order does not prove that one caused the other.
Read the follow-up event →Word match: use the reading
Select a word, then select its meaning. You can use a keyboard or tap. Read the word bank if you need a clue.
Choose a word to begin.
Check the evidence
Research source for this event ↗
Original site illustration. Image source and rights ↗
Historical images, later portraits, reconstructions, and modern topic illustrations are identified in their captions. They are different kinds of evidence.
Try a source investigationVisit a Massachusetts place
Try a source investigation