SOLVED MA - Jane Britton, 22, Harvard student, Cambridge, 7 Jan 1969

[TinfoilYarmulke]

FWIW, I was able to get the 1968-1969 academic calendar for Harvard University. Might be helpful when establishing a timeline.

 

[TinfoilYarmulke]

FWIW, I was able to get the 1968-1969 academic calendar for Harvard University. Might be helpful when establishing a timeline.

After getting some time to sit down and read the aforementioned attachment, I noticed it exclusively applies to undergrads. Still looking for the grad student calendar!

 

[DonMitchell]

TinfoilYarmulke -- you can put it back up. The calendar is the same for undergrads as for grads, in general, although some of the deadlines are different. But exam periods, semester beginning and ending dates, etc. were all the same.

I'm glad you found it, though. Good work.

 

[TinfoilYarmulke]

TinfoilYarmulke -- you can put it back up. The calendar is the same for undergrads as for grads, in general, although some of the deadlines are different. But exam periods, semester beginning and ending dates, etc. were all the same.

I'm glad you found it, though. Good work.

I would put it back up, but I do not want to violate the Harvard publication/copyright policies. I've contacted the proper channels to see if they are willing to grant permission though, as this could be really useful information.

 

[Fukiyama]

I would put it back up, but I do not want to violate the Harvard publication/copyright policies. I've contacted the proper channels to see if they are willing to grant permission though, as this could be really useful information.

An academic calendar from forty-seven years ago that you're not making any money on by posting? Put it up.

 

[TinfoilYarmulke]

Well, after checking their permissions section here: http://library.harvard.edu/university-archives/using-the-collections/permissions, I think this applies: "Records in general distribution at their time of creation are usually open without restriction. These include announcements, official University publications, calendars, brochures, and public reports." I already sent the email asking about permissions, so unless I hear anything negating that statement, I think it'll be okay.

Here is the academic calendar I originally posted:View attachment 1968_1969_academic_calendar.pdf

When I thought that the calendar only applied to undergrads, I emailed back to ask for the grad student calendar. Like Don, they also explained that grad students and undergrads used the same calendar. However... they sent me an additional calendar that is broader in scope and included more information. I was delighted that it included a map of campus as it was 1968-1969!

View attachment hu20_41_1968_69.pdf

Interestingly enough, the University Road building is missing from the map.

 

[DonMitchell]

Although HU owned the University Rd building, they wouldn't have shown it as a University building, because it had no University function. It was just a property that they owned (and they owned a lot of them).

It's nice to see that map. Thanks for finding it.

 

[Pink Panther]

So sad to come back here time and time again to see that no one is properly assigned to Jane's case. Cold cases are being opened and resolved all across the country! NOTHING happening here from those that should be investigating. : (

 

[Pink Panther]

Bumping and hoping that a cold case detective will be assigned to this very solvable case.

 

[Pink Panther]

Bump.

 

[Falcon500]

So sad to come back here time and time again to see that no one is properly assigned to Jane's case. Cold cases are being opened and resolved all across the country! NOTHING happening here from those that should be investigating. : (

How do you know that?

 

[rum]

Hi everyone. I'm a current student at Harvard. In working on a research paper to do with Harvard's history I delved down this rabbit hole (I live only a 2 minute walk from Jane's apartment) and now here I am. I've read the entire thread. Thank you for all your time spent here.

A question was asked about JH's PhD status many, many pages back that is very inconsequential, but I just wanted to let you all know that I checked and JH, Jane's then-boyfriend, definitely did not receive his PhD, though he did receive a Masters from the Graduate School in 1968. He seems to be alive to this day and living near Toronto.

Bumping this. The case deserves to be solved, for Jane's sake.

 

[scriptgirl]

Is Jane's family still looking for justice?

 

[dotr]

Hi everyone. I'm a current student at Harvard. In working on a research paper to do with Harvard's history I delved down this rabbit hole (I live only a 2 minute walk from Jane's apartment) and now here I am. I've read the entire thread. Thank you for all your time spent here.

A question was asked about JH's PhD status many, many pages back that is very inconsequential, but I just wanted to let you all know that I checked and JH, Jane's then-boyfriend, definitely did not receive his PhD, though he did receive a Masters from the Graduate School in 1968. He seems to be alive to this day and living near Toronto.

Bumping this. The case deserves to be solved, for Jane's sake.

Welcome to Ws rum, thanks for that extra tidbit of information!
Wondering what you think about the red ochre apparently sprinkled on Jane the night she was murdered, was it a red herring?

 

[dotr]

Speaking of ochre, Jane B is referenced here, scroll to comments..
http://www.designsponge.com/2013/05/color-of-the-day-ochre.html
[h=1]Color of The Day: Ochre[/h] Color History

 

[rum]

Welcome to Ws rum, thanks for that extra tidbit of information!
Wondering what you think about the red ochre apparently sprinkled on Jane the night she was murdered, was it a red herring?

Hi dotr. Is your premise that someone set this up to look like she was killed by someone from the anthropology department? If so, then no, I would be inclined to say it wasn't a red herring—if indeed the powder was sprinkled on her intentionally by the killer, I doubt it would have been by someone outwith the anthropology department (who else would have access to the knowledge that it was indeed a type of ritual for the dead, for example? If outwith the department and trying to set it up as such, the killer would also have had to assume that the police would recognize the powder as having anthropomorphic significance in the first instance). I think the chances of this being set up to look like an inter-anthro department murder by the real killer (if that is indeed your premise) are slim.

What are your thoughts on the matter? Apologies if mine don't make much sense, it's late and I'm typing from my cellphone!

 

[rum]

Is Jane's family still looking for justice?

If memory serves, Jane's only surviving relation is her brother. I don't believe he is actively seeking justice. I wouldn't want to misquote him on the matter, but if you look early in the thread you can find his comments.

 

[dotr]

Hi dotr. Is your premise that someone set this up to look like she was killed by someone from the anthropology department? If so, then no, I would be inclined to say it wasn't a red herring—if indeed the powder was sprinkled on her intentionally by the killer, I doubt it would have been by someone outwith the anthropology department (who else would have access to the knowledge that it was indeed a type of ritual for the dead, for example? If outwith the department and trying to set it up as such, the killer would also have had to assume that the police would recognize the powder as having anthropomorphic significance in the first instance). I think the chances of this being set up to look like an inter-anthro department murder by the real killer (if that is indeed your premise) are slim.

What are your thoughts on the matter? Apologies if mine don't make much sense, it's late and I'm typing from my cellphone!

Your comments make perfect sense, alas i am not, nor ever was a Harvard student, and even when cold stoned awake, i struggle to decide where to even put my commas, lol, so hoping to make some sense here.

Still unsure what to make of the powder, the perp reveals who he might be by using it, and if it was someone trying to redirect the investigation towards the anthropology department, then the perp would likely have second-hand knowledge of those burial practices, and to have planned the murder. imo.
On the other hand, maybe the ochre was important for the perp, perhaps even a ritual his family adheres to even in modern times?
speculation.
Quite surprised to find that red ochre was also used in burials to symbolize renewal of life by the Meadowood in Ontario, Canada!
3/4 down page
http://www.gedc.ca/upload/documents/heritage-marketplace-prehistory-of-ontario-jan-1999.pdf

 

[DonMitchell]

I am unwavering in my belief that the actual killing was meant to avoid the consequences of the original attack (the blow to the head) that was most likely the regular of an alcohol-fueled rage that emerged from an argument. No faculty member anywhere can emerge unscathed from knocking a student unconscious in her own apartment, and he knew this. Therefore he killed her and therefore being (in my opinion) an archaeologist and not in his right mind, cast the ochre on Jane, the flocatti rugs, and the wall. Although I don't know whether Jane had any ochre in her apartment, it's not unreasonable to suppose that she did.

So for my part, I'm not inclined to think of the ochre as being any part of clever plan either to deflect or cast suspicion on anybody. Anybody with archaeological knowledge just a bit beyond an intro course would know the use of ochre.

FWIW, remember that Jill Nash and I were the ones who recognized the ochre as such and called the Cambridge detectives to report it. The police completely missed it.

 

[kat913]

Whew...I have read this thread all night! 4 years worth. What twists and turns you all have done looking for the truth. Amazing that you have stayed tuned, Don all the way up until tonite! Thank you for all your insight and willingness to share with us all. I am inclined to believe you do know the information and that it has evaporated with his death. I'm sure if it happened the way you believe, he had many moments that were painful reliving the choices he made that night. So very sad for so many people. I researched him a bit as well...and he was at Harvard for such a brief stay...yet long enough to harm someone. So very sad that nothing can be done.