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Author: April C. Armstrong *14

  • This Week in Princeton History for July 25-31

    In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, Presbyterians worry about drinking, the campus operator has a bit less to do, and more. July 27, 1937—William H. Smathers, who represents New Jersey in the U.S. Senate, writes a response to a letter from…

  • “Womanhood on Tiger Territory”: The First Women to Live in Princeton University Dormitories

    We have previously written about the first women to take a class at Princeton University, unseating nearly two centuries of tradition. Today, we’re highlighting what our collections tell us about another group of women who changed Princeton’s established patterns as the first to live in campus dorms, another result of World War II’s radical changes…

  • This Week in Princeton History for July 18-24

    In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, a group is disciplined for a bovine prank, an alumnus opens the Democratic National Convention, and more. July 18, 1790—Three students are expelled and a fourth is disciplined for an incident the previous June…

  • This Week in Princeton History for July 11-17

    In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, the logistics of emancipation are debated, plans for a School of Science are approved, and more. July 11, 1944—Robert S. Ward ’42, a forward artillery observer, is killed in action in France. July 12,…

  • This Week in Princeton History for July 4-10

    In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, a new mandatory fitness program begins, a professor’s research revises a 50-year-old theory, and more. July 4, 1938—A record-setting crowd of 25,000 turns out to view a fireworks display in Palmer Stadium that includes exploding…

  • Dr. Levi Myers and Antebellum American Jewishness

    In our previous research into the earliest records of Jewish presence at Princeton University, we uncovered something unexpected. Our Undergraduate Alumni Records 1748-1920 file on Mordecai Myers, Class of 1812, contains correspondence between Mordecai’s father, Levi Myers, and a man named Cleland Kinlock. Though they do not mention Princeton or Mordecai Myers, and thus would…

  • This Week in Princeton History for June 27-July 3

    In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, Ulysses S Grant visits the campus, women take classes for the first time, and more. June 27, 1871—Sitting U.S. President Ulysses S Grant visits the College of New Jersey (Princeton) for the first time.

  • The Bank Holiday of 1933 at Princeton University

    Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated President of the United States on Saturday, March 4, 1933. Immediately following his inauguration weekend, at 1:00 AM on March 6, Roosevelt issued Proclamation 2039. This action ordered all banks in the United States to close. No one would be able to withdraw, transfer, or deposit money between Monday, March…

  • This Week in Princeton History for June 20-26

    In this week’s installment of our ongoing series bringing you the history of Princeton University and its faculty, students, and alumni, the first collegiate track contest is held on campus, Japanese visitors ceremonially forgive scientists for their role in the development of the atomic bomb, and more. June 20, 1779—William Richardson Davie (Class of 1776)…

  • “A Princeton Student’s Letter to His Father” and the Election of 1912

    With Father’s Day coming up this weekend and the United States in the midst of a particularly contentious election season, this seemed like perfect timing to highlight a 1912 pamphlet found in the Princeton University Publications Collection (AC364), “A Princeton Student’s Letter to His Father and His Father’s Reply” (Box 2).