By April C. Armstrong *14
In this week’s installment of our recurring series, a tragic accident occurs, students are criticized, and more.
March 10, 1891—Legendary football star Henry C. “Tillie” Lamar, Class of 1886, drowns along with his fiancée, Louise Connelly, in an Augusta, Georgia canal after their rowboat capsizes in the rapids near Shamrock Mills.
March 12, 1915—The Roanoke Times editorializes disapprovingly at Princeton students’ reluctance to embrace military training. “It shows an anaemic [sic] spirit among the students of Princeton which is not in keeping with the red[-]blooded ideals of American youth. … And the sight of the thousands of Princeton students neglecting to prepare themselves for the great struggle which may come, because they haven’t the time to spare, convinces us that the Princeton yell should be changed for a Chautauqua salute and the Princeton tiger transformed into a peaceful old tabby cat.”
March 13, 1990—Approximately 125 students and faculty assemble in Firestone Plaza to commemorate the 30th anniversary of a civil rights protest at Woolworth’s on Nassau Street. The organizer of the 1960 protest, R. Hunter Morey ’62, sends a message to them: “Let’s not just commemorate, let’s demonstrate, until justice exists for everyone.”
March 15, 1871—Having met with a warm reception a few weeks ago, a troupe of female minstrel performers returns to Princeton. Students will write of their appearance, “We believe the entertainment was rather more decent than would be supposed.”
Did you read the previous installment in this series?
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