Nathan Pusey

TL;DR -- Continuing with the look at the Heads of Harvard, we chose the one who succeeded James Bryant Conant in the role. Conant started the testing focus. Pusey continued the work. Pusey also was of the time of the student unrest which grew faster than anyone expected. His decisions as Head may have not been popular. We look at Pusey and his heritage. Is he an example of being cancelled? 

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There is a lot of motivation for this review, as there have been thirty-two Heads of Harvard if one considers that a couple were not counted as they were considered interim for a few years plus we have the first one who was run out on a rail, so to speak. Those not counted were Samuel Willard and Eliphalet Pearson, both of whom we have looked at, briefly. We have noticed that some of these folks are ignored as seen by sparsity of their information on Wikipedia and WikiTree. This can be corrected. But, too, we can discuss the 'cancel' culture which is really nothing new (witch hunts, for instance, and their hangings). 

We picked Nathan Pusey due to his name which we have seen in the New England milieu. Nathan does have a WikiTree profile (Pusey-1124) which is very sparse. Even his wife's heritage is an empty bucket. However, from the Wikipedia profile, we see that a great-uncle of Nathan was William Henry Mills Pusey (WikiTree: Pusey-111). 

William's WikiTree profile has information about his paternal ancestry which would then be the same as that of Nathan's. The Pusey family came into PA in the early 1700s. William was born in PA but went to IA after being admitted into the bar in PA. Nathan was born in Council Bluffs, IA. So, this was a great find for several reasons which will be explained, over time. Meanwhile, this task is very finite; albeit, once we organize the material, there will no end to showing how the 'lights' of New England are transcendental yet very much pertaining to the U.S. and its history and future. 

Nathan was admitted to Harvard. It would be interesting to trace his Harvard roots, as at that time, there was a New England focus with regard to admission. In his term as Head, Nathan continued what Conant started which emphasized testing to allow a broader mix of students to obtain admission. Nathan was the Head who succeeded Conant (see History of Harvard). 

Nathan's time at Harvard coincided with the rise of up rest in the 60s. He was not a fan of student advocacy. So, his life and times need further elucidation from the perspective of Harvard and the 400+ years of the U.S.  

Remarks: Modified: 12/11/2021

12/10/2021 --  Working in a way to provide views that extend the primary look at the Head into related areas. Is Pusey an example of being cancelled? There is not much written on him. We have only looked at a few Heads, so far. Analysis awaits completing a larger set of these looks. So, another post was motivated: U.S. and Harvard, I. 

12/11/2021 -- Added link to History of Harvard.