Named Lecture Series

Frequency: Annually, between May and December 
Theme: The “Immortality of Man” 

The Ingersoll Lectures were initiated by Harvard president Charles W. Eliot in 1896 with funding from the bequest of Caroline Haskell Ingersoll (d. 1893). Caroline Ingersoll’s gift carried out the wishes of her father, Harvard alumnus Rev. George Goldthwaite Ingersoll. Rev. Ingersoll was born in Boston in 1796 and led parishes in Vermont, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire until his death in 1863.  

Caroline Ingersoll stipulated that the lecture ‘not form a part of the usual college course’ and was ‘not to be delivered by any Professor or Tutor as part of his usual routine of instruction.’ The Ingersoll lecture was to be given once a year; the choice of the lecturer was not to be restricted to any one denomination or profession. Ingersoll further directed that the lecture should be made available to the public gratis in written form. 

This fund was increased by a bequest of Mary S. Rauber. 

Frequency: Annually 
Theme: The Varieties of Religious Experience with reference to the scholarship of William James 

Harvard Divinity School inaugurated the annual William James Lectures on Religious Experience on October 14, 1970 

A 1968 gift from the John Lindsley Fund established the William James Lectures at the Harvard Divinity School, inspired by Thayer Lindsley’s long-standing interest in William James as a teacher and in his religious ideas, especially James’ book The Varieties of Religious Experience. Thayer Lindsley (1882-1976) graduated from Harvard College in 1903 and was one of the 20th Century's most prominent mine developers. 

Frequency: Annually

Theme: A rotating schedule between natural religion, revealed religion, Roman Catholicism, and Presbyterian or Congregational Ordination. 

Paul Dudley was born on September 3, 1675, in Roxbury, Massachusetts. He was the son of Governor Joseph Dudley and the grandson of Governor Thomas Dudley, one of the colony’s founders. After graduating from The Roxbury Latin School, Paul Dudley attended Harvard University, graduating at the age of 15 in 1690. He studied law at the Temple in London and later served as the Attorney General of Massachusetts from 1702 to 1718. Dudley was a member of the Royal Society of London, and he contributed several papers on the natural history of New England to the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, its scientific journal. He became the Associate Justice of the Superior Court of Judicature from 1718 to 1745, before becoming the Chief Justice from 1745 until his death in 1751.  

Dudley left a bequest to Harvard University in 1751 to fund an annual lecture, making the Dudleian Lecture one of Harvard's oldest foundations. Dudley provided the fund so that a series of four topics would be addressed on a rotating basis, addressing one of the following topics per year: 1) Natural Religion, 2) Revealed Religion, 3) Roman Catholicism, and 4) Presbyterian or Congregational Ordination. 

As detailed in the Report of the Presidential Committee on Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery, Paul Dudley benefited financially from human slavery and enslaved at least two people of African descent.  Dudley also fully participated in the anti-Catholic prejudices prevalent in his culture.  These historical realities will be considered carefully when selecting lecturers, whose work may help shine a light on past harms or provide resources for a more just future.

Frequency: Every third year 
Theme: A topic inspired by the Latin ‘Christo et Ecclesiae’, which appeared on the Harvard University seal in the 1800s. 

Mr. Horace de Y. Lentz was a Harvard College graduate (Class of 1891). He went on to become a lawyer and member of the bar in Carbon County, Pennsylvania. As the first agent of the Palmer Land Company, Mr. Lentz played an active part in the establishment of the now thriving town of Palmerton. 

The Horace de Y. Lentz Memorial Lectureship was established by Mr. Lentz’s bequest to the University.