Guided Tour

    This website was put into service in November 1999 and completed in April 2000.  The research reflected in this site was conducted by Jon Rose '00 and covers the history of the Forum from its founding in 1946 to 2000.  Research resources included records, posters, correspondence, transcripts, and recordings from the Harvard Law School Forum archive, the Harvard Libraries, the Harvard Media Production Center, the Harvard Law School Record, and various other libraries and internet resources across the United States.  The results of this research are presented here as a comprehensive web site containing some 400 html pages, over 100 photos, and over 100 hours of streaming audio recordings.  In addition to its function as a historical resource, this website serves as a bulletin board for upcoming and recent Forum events. 

    So that one need not explore this site in a random fashion, this guided tour is designed to briefly outline the contents of each major section.  Feel free to use any of the links to the left or below to navigate away from this page.  To return, the "Back" button on the browser may be used.  We sincerely hope that you find this site useful and informative.

SECTION 1 - Upcoming Speakers

    In this section, view the Forum's calendar of upcoming events

SECTION 2 - Recent Speakers

    In this section, view a record of Forum events over the last year.  Each event is listed by date, title, and speaker(s).  When available, photographs, news articles, and audio recordings for these events are posted.

SECTION 3 - History

    In this section, view a brief history of the Forum in narrative form.  Also read the original dedication of the Forum, to the Harvard Law School students who lost their lives in World War II, penned in 1946 by Professor Zechariah Chaffee.  View the names of these 83 men to whom the Forum is dedicated.

SECTION 4 - Sampling of Past Speakers

    In this section, view a list of some of the most prominent men and women of the 20th Century who addressed the Forum.

SECTION 5 - Guide to Past Programs 

    In this, the largest section of the website, view a comprehensive chronicle of each of the over 500 Forum programs since 1946.  Each event is listed by date, title, and speaker(s), and moderator.   When available, photographs, news articles, and audio recordings for these events are posted as well.  For some events, entire transcripts are posted.  This section is broken into subsections by decade.

SECTION 6 - Photo Gallery

    In this section, view publicity photos and event photos spanning this history of the Forum.  See speakers as diverse as Claude Pepper (1947), Thurgood Marshall (1952), Eleanor Roosevelt (1958),  Fidel Castro (1959), Billy Graham (1962), Martin Luther King, Jr. (1962), Stevie Wonder (1983), and Jean-Bertrand Aristide (1994) take the Forum stage.  Also view a telegram from Congressman John F. Kennedy (1949) accepting a Forum invitation, as well as a telegram of regret from Nikita Kruschev (1960) explaining that, although he would like to accept the Forum's invitation, he was denied permission by the United States Department permission to travel to Cambridge.

SECTION 7 - Past Programs in Real Audio

    In this, the most frequently visited section of the Forum website, listen to Forum events from as early as 1956.  For example, hear:
-Harvard President Nathan Pusey and others discuss "Crisis in Education" in 1956, 
-Eleanor Roosevelt discuss "Unrest Within the Democratic Party" in 1961, 
-Billy Graham discuss "Evangelism and the Intellectual" in 1962, 
-Jimmy Hoffa discuss "Area Contracts and the Teamsters" in 1962, 
-Martin Luther King, Jr. discuss "The Future of Integration" in 1962, 
-Dr. Timothy Leary and Dr. Norman Zinberg discuss "LSD: Methods of Control" in 
    1966, 
-Dr. Wernher Von Braun discuss "After the Moon -- What?" in 1970, 
-Shimon Peres discuss "Israel:  Today and Tomorrow" in 1983, 
-Rudolph Giuliani discuss ""Organized Crime, Corruption, and Insider Trading: Current 
    Happenings in the U.S. Attorney's Office" in 1987,
-Charlton Heston address "Winning the Cultural War" in 1999,
as well as many other historically significant speeches.
    Most of these speeches are available in their entirety and require a RealAudio player.

SECTION 8 - Sponsors

   In this section, view a list of the sponsors of the Harvard Law School Forum, to whom we are deeply indebted.
   The Harvard Law School Forum is supported by the Harvard Law School Council, by an endowment from  Jerome Lyle Rappaport, '49 (the founding president of the Forum) establishing the Rappaport Lecture Series, and by law firms and other members of the business community who are dedicated to open dialogue on the Harvard Law School campus.  To become a Forum sponsor, please call the Forum office or email hlsforum@law.harvard.edu .

SECTION 9 - Executive Board

   In this section, view the names of those Harvard Law School Students serving on the Executive Board for the current academic year.  The Forum is a student organization of Harvard Law School and is completely directed and staffed by students on a volunteer basis.