In view of the coming celebration, it may be interesting to know in what way our fathers celebrated the birthday of their Alma Mater fifty years ago. The following account of the doings of that memorable day is taken from the History of Harvard University, written by President Quincy in 1860:

"It was soon ascertained, that, on the 8th of September, there would be a general attendance of the Alumni of Harvard University, from all parts of the United States; and preparations, chiefly under the direction of Henry F. Baker, of the class of 1815, were accordingly made on a corresponding scale.

A pavilion was erected within the college grounds, as a dining-hall for the Alumni, which extended over nearly eighteen thousand square feet; being one hundred and fifty feet in length, and one hundred and twenty in breadth. It was constructed in successive stories, covered with white canvas, and supported in the centre by a pillar sixty-five feet in height.

The lower story was sustained by forty-four pillars, on which rested a frame-work, from whence beams extended toward the centre, and thus formed a foundation for the scaffolding of the story above, and so on in succession to the top. The pillars were wreathed with evergreens and flowers, and pendants or streamers, of blue and white, radiated from the centre to the sides of the tent. The pavilion was erected on sloping ground, and the tables rose one above another in the form of an amphitheatre. On the lowest sides of the area, tables were placed on an elevated platform, for the President and Vice-Presidents of the day, and the eldest and most distinguished of the Alumni and their invited guests, to the number of one hundred. By this arrangement, every individual seated in the amphitheatre would face the table at which the president of the day and the principal guests were seated. Behind the chair was an arch covered with white drapery, richly decorated with evergreens and flowers, on which was inscribed "SEPTEMBER 8, 1836," and between the supporting columns were placed the arms of the University.

As the day of the celebration approached, extensive and tasteful arrangements were also made by the Undergraduates for the decoration of the College edifices. The entrance to Harvard Hall, and the porticos of Dane and University Halls, were wreathed with evergreens and flowers; and arches decorated in the same manner were erected over the three principal entrances to the College grounds. The name of Harvard was placed over the centre arch, between Massachusetts and Harvard Halls, while those of Dunster and Chauncy, the first two Presidents of the University, surmounted respectively the two side arches. Arrangements were also made for a general illumination of the College buildings.

On the morning of the 8th of September, 1836, a white banner, on which the device of the first seal of the University was emblazoned, was raised on the summit of the pavilion. At an early hour all the avenues leading from the city of Boston and its environs to Cambridge were thronged; and by nine o'clock the Alumni and invited guests, to the number of more than fifteen hundred, assembled in University Hall.

Blank books were presented for the signatures of the Alumni and their guests, and during the day more than eleven hundred recorded their names.*

Robert C. Winthrop acted as Chief Marshal of the Day.

At ten o'clock, a procession was formed at University Hall, in the following order:

Undergraduates.

Band of Music.

Chief Marshal and Aids.

Committee of Arrangements.

President Quincy and the Chaplain of the Day.

The Corporation of the University.