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Dear Mr. Mudd: Why Does My Princeton Diploma Spell “University” as “Vniuersitatis”?
By April C. Armstrong *14 on behalf of “Mr. Mudd“ Dear Mr. Mudd, My fiancé just noticed that my Princeton diploma spells “university” in Latin as “Vniuersitatis,” rather than “Universitatis.” We have searched, but haven’t been able to find an explanation for this (nor have we found an alternative Latin spelling). Could you tell us?…
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Dear Mr. Mudd: Have There Been Any Princeton Students Who Went to Prison for Serious Crimes?
By April C. Armstrong *14 Dear Mr. Mudd, Have there been any Princeton students who went to prison for serious crimes? Although there are some Princetonians who have ended up in prison for their infamous deeds, including James Hogue (alias Alexi Santana) and Lyle Menendez, it’s probably more commonly the case that in the past…
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Dear Mr. Mudd: Why Do You Have a Piece of a Railroad Track in the Library?
Dear Mr. Mudd, Why do you have a “cross section of railroad” in your Memorabilia Collection (AC053)? In 1855, for the second time in its near-century of existence, Nassau Hall suffered a devastating fire. At the time, Nassau Hall still served in part as one of Princeton’s dormitories. An undergraduate had gone to Maclean…
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Dear Mr. Mudd: Why Was There a Woman in Princeton University’s Texas Club Before Coeducation?
Dear Mr. Mudd, Looking at the photograph posted on the Princeton University Archives Tumblr of the Texas Club in 1960, I see a woman, but Princeton wasn’t fully coeducational until 1969. Where did she come from? Although to some extent this woman remains a mystery to us as well, there are other women we can…
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Dear Mr. Mudd: How Did Princeton Students Treat Campus Servants?
This post is the second in a two-part series. Dear Mr. Mudd, If Princeton University dormitories could not have housed enslaved persons, why does the rumor persist that they did? What were the experiences of campus servants really like? How did students treat them? Last week, I outlined the factual evidence that proves that…
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Dear Mr. Mudd: Did Enslaved People Live in Princeton’s Dormitories?
This post is the first in a two-part series. Dear Mr. Mudd, Rumor has it the dorms at Princeton were designed to allow students to bring enslaved people with them to live in adjoining rooms and serve them. Is this true? Though one often hears a rumor about enslaved people accompanying students to…
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Dear Mr. Mudd: Were Workers Killed Installing a Sculpture on Princeton’s Campus?
Dear Mr. Mudd, Is it true that people were killed during the installation of a sculpture the Princeton campus? Is the sculpture still there? Indeed, this occurred, and the story is quite gruesome. In 1970, workers with Industrial Engineering Works, Inc. attempted to install a sculpture by Alexander Calder on campus, then known as “Orange…
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Dear Mr. Mudd: Have Orange and Black Always Been Princeton’s Colors?
Dear Mr. Mudd: Have orange and black always been Princeton’s colors? There were no official school colors at the College of New Jersey (better known simply as “Princeton” as early as 1756) until it assumed the name Princeton University in 1896. Students complained about this in the June 1867 Nassau Literary Magazine, then the baseball team wore…
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Dear Mr. Mudd: Did Thich Nhat Hanh Attend or Teach at Princeton University?
Dear Mr. Mudd, I’ve read that Thich Nhat Hanh was a Princeton student, and also that he taught there. Do you have records associated with this? In Fragrant Palm Leaves, set for re-release in 2020, prominent Buddist peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh wrote about his time in Princeton, New Jersey in the 1960s. The way…
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Dear Mr. Mudd: What Information Do You Have about Michelle Obama’s Time at Princeton?
By Christa Cleeton with April C. Armstrong *14 and Dan Linke Dear Mr. Mudd, What do you have in your collections about Michelle Obama? There is not that much information available, but we do have some material. Michelle Obama–then named Michelle LaVaughn Robinson–graduated from Princeton University with the Class of 1985. The University Archives holds…
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