Ceremony Honors Early Indian Students
On this day in 1997, over 300 people gathered in Harvard Yard to commemorate a long forgotten part of the college's history. A plaque was unveiled that read, "Near this spot, from 1655 to 1698, stood the Indian College. Here American Indian and English students lived and studied in accordance with the 1650 Charter of Harvard College calling for 'The Education of the English and Indian Youth of this Country.'" During the four decades of the Indian College's existence, the building housed one of the first printing presses in the colonies. The press issued 15 books in the Algonquin language and 85 in English. The Indian Bible printed there in 1663 was the first Bible in any language to be printed in British North America.
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