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The Cat Telephone
By Arthur Kim ’18 What do a cat and a telephone have in common? They were the same thing in an experiment conducted in 1929 by Professor Ernest Glen Wever and his research assistant Charles William Bray here at Princeton University. Wever and Bray took an unconscious, but alive, cat and transformed it into a…
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This Week in Princeton History for April 24-30
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, a senior signs an NFL contract, Daylight Saving Time causes confusion, and more. April 26, 1771—The New Jersey General Assembly passes “An Act to erect the District of Prince-Town into a Town by the…
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James A. Baker Papers Opening Soon
By Dan Linke James A. Baker III ’52, the distinguished public servant and five-time presidential campaign manager who served as the 61st U.S. Secretary of State, will open his papers that are held at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library at Princeton University on January 1, 2018. Donated in 2002, originally the papers were to…
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This Week in Princeton History for April 17-23
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, protesters demand changes to the curriculum, a Dean’s List is instituted, and more. April 18, 1878—The Princetonian urges the College to allow the Librarian to install gas lights in the library so that it…
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Margaret Niemann Rost ’85 on Softball and the Senior Thesis
By Cailin Hong ’17 With the women’s softball season underway, Mudd reflects on the team’s not-so-humble origins with a retrospective on Margaret Niemann Rost ’85, former co-captain and one of the team’s first members after the fledgling sport was promoted to varsity status. Rost was a religion major from Ridgewood, New Jersey, who played on…
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This Week in Princeton History for April 10-16
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, Chaim Potok kicks off Jewish Heritage Week, a sit in ends, and more. April 10, 1994—McCosh 50 and two overflow auditoriums fill to hear Chaim Potok’s address to kick off Princeton’s celebration of Jewish…
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This Week in Princeton History for April 3-9
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, a trespasser is found cooking eggs, the campus mourns Martin Luther King, Jr., and more. April 3, 1958—While out of town on a trip with the team, Princeton University baseball trainer Fred “Bobo” Holmes…
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This Week in Princeton History for March 27-April 2
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, eastern colleges convene to discuss the future of African Americans, a new invention draws interest, and more. March 27, 1972—A petition to end coeducation is circulating among undergraduates, the Daily Princetonian reports, quoting one…
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The Tigress
In 1969, after several years of experiments integrating women into the classroom, Princeton University announced that it would become fully coeducational, admitting women to all of its degree programs. Female undergraduates brought many changes to Princeton traditions with them, but not all of these are present on the 21st-century campus. One new tradition from the 1970s…
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This Week in Princeton History for March 20-26
In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, a junior wins a game show, a graduate makes history at MoMA, and more. March 20, 2003—Three students are arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and obstructing a highway when they sit in the middle…
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