As mid-term examinations slowly creep up on current undergraduates thanks to the new, advanced Harvard academic calendar, we thought it might be appropriate to show you a bit of the testing rigors FDR endured. Our new research assistant Nina Ranalli (a senior at Eliot House) and I were poking around the Archives last week, and come upon quite a cache of information in the memorabilia of Clement Scott, a fellow member of FDR’s class of 1904. Though the two didn’t share a great number of classes, they did share some, and unlike FDR, Mr. Scott was kind enough to save many of his examinations, complete with scribbles, notes and arcane markings. This is an invaluable trove of information, because while we do know what courses FDR took at Harvard, (thanks to another one of our students, Justin Roshak, who researched and compiled the list) we don’t know much about the content of individual classes. To my knowledge, these exams have never been published before, and as you can see, the questions aren’t easy:

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I don’t know about you, but the memory of exam time gives me the shivers…

And speaking of shivers, I had a similar fright last week when I looked into the Foundation’s bank account, and saw very little but dust and bits of paper (and none of those with denominations!). Not only do your continuing generous donations fund the physical restoration of the Suite, but they also provide invaluable research opportunities for our student scholars. To this end, we’ve instituted an new annual membership program to quantify giving and support our efforts. Won’t you consider donating at one of the levels below?

Member: $75

Supporter: $250

Donor: $500

Trustee: $1000

Angel: $5000

Contributions should be made out to the FDR Suite Foundation, Inc.  Adams House, 26 Plympton Street, Cambridge MA  02138. The Foundation has applied for charitable 501(c)3 status, and your contributions are fully tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

We truly need and value your support!