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Who was Henry Adams? Print this article
At age 20, Henry Adams (1838-1918) aspired to become president of the United States. His hopes were not realized. He planned to study law, but that didn’t work out either. He was a middling student at Harvard University, often bored with his courses. Yet because of his writing ability, he was asked to give the prestigious Class Day Oration.
It was a sunny, blisteringly hot day in June of 1858 when Adams, robed in a black gown, stepped up to the podium to give his oration. Instead of delivering bromides, he denounced Boston’s commercial and materialistic bent. “Man,” Adams railed, “has reduced the universe to a machine.” And Harvard “had done its best to dilute all wonder, mystery, and experimentation from the human experience.”