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Did Aaron Burr, Jr. argue against dueling?
Question: Did Aaron Burr, Jr. take part in a Whig or Clio debate in which he argued against dueling? What information on Aaron Burr, Jr. exists within university records? There is nothing in the records of either organization, in early University records, or in Burr’s memoirs that would confirm that such a debate took place.…
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Did James Madison suffer a nervous collapse due to the intensity of his studies?
Question: While at Princeton, did James Madison suffer a nervous collapse due to the intensity of his studies? The story of Madison’s supposed nervous collapse in the days before commencement and its place in Princeton lore are primarily the result of a brief note in MacLean’s “History of the College of New Jersey” which states…
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Alexander Hamilton’s connection to Princeton
Question: Is there any evidence about Alexander Hamilton’s potential admission to Princeton? When discussing the cannonball legend, it has sometimes been suggested that Hamilton took a certain delight in firing on Old Nassau since he had been admitted to the college and then later denied entrance. The oldest reference to Hamilton’s alleged admission to Princeton…
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Alexander Hamilton shooting the cannonball that destroys the portrait of King George
Question: What book contains the first reference to Alexander Hamilton shooting the cannonball that crashes through Nassau Hall and destroys the portrait of King George? According to a popular story told and retold over the years, during the Battle of Princeton young artillery commander Alexander Hamilton directed his cannons at the remaining redcoats who had…
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Allen Dulles papers released by CIA to Princeton are now online
The Central Intelligence Agency has released to Princeton University some 7,800 documents covering the career of Allen W. Dulles, the agency’s longest-serving director, which now can be viewed online at http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/st74cq497. Dulles (1893-1969), a Princeton alumnus who headed the CIA from 1953 to 1961, was renowned for his role in shaping U.S. intelligence operations during…
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Alumni give 1836 Copybook to University Archives
A wonderful end of the year gift came to the Princeton University Archives through the generosity of eight alumni who serve on the Princetoniana Committee. The item, a copybook from Class of 1836 graduate Samuel Humes Porter, was for sale on eBay. Dave Cleaves ’78, the organizer of “pBay”–a group of alumni who collect Princetoniana–noted…
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First use of Houseparties term?
Question: Can you definitively document the first use of “Houseparties” as a term for the Spring club bacchanal? Answer:Writing in the Princeton Alumni Weekly in 1960, Brown Rolston 1910 makes the claim that “It was my section of the Cottage Club and that of Cap and Gown which started Houseparties. It took considerable argument and…
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Introducing Dear Mr. Mudd
The staff of the Mudd Manuscript Library answers over 2,000 e-mail inquiries a year, and those which should be of interest to a wider audience will be shared via this blog. This blog category is named Dear Mr. Mudd because in a few instances some of the e-mails sent to our general library account are…
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Meet Mudd’s Adriane Hanson
Adriane working on the Lee Walp Family Juvenile Book Collection as a processing intern at the Special Collections Library at the University of Michigan, 2004. Name: Adriane Hanson Title and Duties: Project Archivist, Public Policy Papers. I am responsible for planning the processing of collections, supervising their arrangement and rehousing, and writing finding aids (guides)…
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Meet Mudd’s Dan Brennan
Name: Dan Brennan Title and Duties: Special Collections Assistant IV, responsible for cataloging and processing of University Archives collections Recent projects: Processing the Department of Oriental Studies Records, Department of Music Records, Department of Politics Records, Office of Government Affairs Records, and Dean of Undergraduate Students Records, as well as tying together the last stages…
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