by April C. Armstrong *14

In this week’s installment of our recurring series, students greet a war hero, a British doctor condemns Princeton’s president, and more.

September 28, 1994—The chief justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio, Thomas J. Moyer, signs a document alongside representatives from ARD/Checci that was written by Princeton senior James Garland ’95. The memorandum of understanding is the first step in drafting a constitution for the newly independent Ukraine after the breakup of the Soviet Union.

October 1, 1956—In response to rumors that Yale would become coeducational, a Princeton student’s editorial describes the concept of women at an Ivy League school as “hell on Earth.”

October 2, 1899—A crowd of 700 students gathers to greet Admiral George Dewey, who is on his way to Washington. At the train station, Dewey speaks to them from the rear of the train, pointing out that his son is a Princeton graduate and Dewey himself has an honorary Princeton degree, and thus, he is “one of you now.” This will later be reported in the New York Tribune.

October 4, 1783—Christian Frederic Michaelis, head physician of the general hospital in New York (which the British control), summarizes Princeton’s recent Commencement for Major George Beckwith. Of Princeton’s president, John Witherspoon, Michaelis writes, “He poisons the minds of his young students, and through them the continent.”

Did you read the previous installment in this series?

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