HSSPA originates from the Society of Harvard Dames founded in 1896 by Anna P. Lowell “with the objective of promoting acquaintance and social fellowship among its members”.
The Society of Harvard Dames met on a weekly basis, and its activities included various lectures, talks, and high-class conversations over a cup of tea. Upon Mrs. Lowell's death, her husband Abbot Lawrence Lowell, the former President of Harvard University, established a fund in her memory in 1930.
Thanks to his contribution, The Society of Harvard Dames continued to meet, and after several reorganizations it became the Harvard Students’ Spouses and Partners Association. For a very long time the membership was quite limited – only “the wives of Harvard students in any department of the University, and mothers who temporarily resided in Cambridge while their sons were Harvard students ” were allowed to join.
Anna Parker Lowell, Mrs. Abbott Lawrence Lowell, Portrait: 1930, 40 x 36 inches, Oil